The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

In pop culture, witches represent good or evil, light or darkness, all-powerful or outcast, to name a few. They show up in fantasy, fairy tales, folk tales, the Bible, and legends, and have been around for thousands of years. In history, witches haven't fared so well, most of them women accused of witchcraft and oftentimes because they were outside the social norm. Many were victims of prejudice and injustice suffering at witch trials that brought false charges just because they were unconventional. Kelly Barnhill has two witches in her book. One appearing to be good, but with dark intentions. The other appearing to be evil, but with good intentions. One accepted, the other a pariah. The evil one (that seems good) is presenting false stories to the public as a way to control them and spread fear. "Fake news," is what we'd call it today. The propagandist stories have a power of their own; they can empower or enslave the listener or speaker. These stories can be muddied by superstitions, hate, and fear, revealing that people will lie to serve their own purposes and retain their position of power. On the flip side, these stories empower people to question the facts and find answers to their questions instead of blindly accepting the status quo.

Antain is apprenticed to his uncle, the Grand Elder of the Council of Elders. One of the Elders' jobs is to collect a baby every year to sacrifice to a witch on "The Day of Sacrifice." Their village, called the "Protectorate" or "City of Sorrows" is shrouded by clouds, sadness, and fog with a dangerous forest on one side and a bog on the other. The road is the only way in and out of town and the Elders control it and the people. When Antain goes with the Elders to collect the sacrificial baby from the selected family with his Uncle, he is disturbed by the ritual and has questions no one will answer. The baby is left in the forest and Antain doesn't know if animals or the witch got to it first. He wants to wait but is admonished for his questions. He regrets not taking action against the Elders.

A Witch comes to collect the baby as she does every year. She lives in the forest with a monster and miniature dragon. When the Witch collects the babies, she feeds them starlight and finds them adoptive homes in the Free Cities on the other side of the forest.  She accidentally feeds the woman's baby (that Antain witnessed being taken by the Elders) moonlight instead of starlight and fills the infant with magic. She can't send the baby to another family because a magical child will need a special upbringing. The witch decides to adopt the baby naming her, "Luna," and teaching her magic. This causes all sorts of problems when the toddler humorously starts changing people into bunnies and bedclothes into swans.

Between these two stories is a third point of view in italicized chapters where the narrator, who can be different people in the village, is telling a story to an unknown listener. These chapters represent oral storytelling and show how stories can grow and change as people embellish the truth. The stories are used to scare children, keep people from breaking societal norms and give the town's history and some of its rituals. Among the symbolism and themes, is a nod toward creation stories and how myths are used to explain science. The reason for volcanoes erupting and babies disappearing is related to some god or witch. This ties in with Antain and Luna's story as they both search for truth amid myths and try to find answers to norms that don't make sense - such as sacrificing babies to an unknown or vague witchy source like some pagan ritual.

Ethyne's mother is one of the people that tells stories in the italicized chapters and she is scarred from having to give up her son to the Witch many years earlier. Her stories have become embellished over the years and she doesn't know the changing nature of them. She eventually becomes lost in them and loses touch with reality. Ethyne's mother says, "I only tell true stories", but the reader knows that they might have an element of truth but are also full of lies or mythical in nature.

 *spoiler*
When a madwoman, Luna's mother, claims she knows the story of the Witch with a tiger heart and claims it to be Sister Ignacia, the Sister refutes it claiming she started all the stories and the Tiger-Heart-Witch story is fake. The story is critical of Sister Ignacia as a person causing her to not like what she hears. Today, "fake news" is flooding the media and press credibility is suffering. Fake news is false information or propaganda published and masked as truth. President Donald Trump has accused journalism institutions of creating "fake news" for criticizing him and his administration and he has restricted free access by the media to briefings, something never done in U.S. history that is troubling. Historically, despots remove critics and control the press so they can serve their own interests. However, fake news also reflects the loss of gatekeepers who check facts as people use the Internet and social media to post true or false information for different motives. It is easy to see why the media is under attack because of false information. It's not exactly Yellow Journalism, but it will be interesting to see how the media responds to the times. This 2017 Newbery winner reflects the current national debate giving it one distinguished element in a repertoire of many.

Symbolism abounds in the novel with references to lunar deities in mythology. The moon goddess worshiped by the Celts, for instance, was associated with the lunar cycles and is reflected in Luna's name. The crescent birthmark on Luna's head symbolizes not only the crescent moon but more importantly, in Latin the meaning, "to bring forth or grow and thrive." A theme or message is about reaching one's potential or falling short. The Grand Elder has hardened his heart to the point where he will sacrifice his nephew to retain his power. Even when he is stripped of his power and has the option to change his ways, he doesn't, living in misery. It reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia where certain characters fall short of their potential to live a happy life. It is the choices people make that define who they are in life.

Luna's magic is creative as a child, so much so, that the Witch, Xan, binds her magic so it cannot be used until her 13th birthday. A consequence of this binding is that Luna cannot hear or talk about magic. Whenever anyone brings it up she zones out like she's having a seizure. Her memory loss is a theme that is prevalent in many of the characters. Xan has lived for five hundred years and has chosen to not remember her past suffering; yet, if she had remembered it, then she would have looked into why the villagers were leaving babies in the forest. Sister Ignacia blocked her suffering and chose to ignore it making her feast on other people's grief. Xan realizes that to block out memory means to not learn from the past, which can lead to people blindly following ways that might be harmful.

The bad Witch, Sister Ignatia, suppressed her memories resulting in her becoming not only a symbol of sorrow but one who preys on others sorrow, eating it in a figurative way. She's called, "The Sorrow Eater." At the end, Luna sees the loss that Sister Ignacia suffered and how she "...walled off her heart, again and again, making it smooth and bright and unfeeling." Luna gains an understanding of Sister Ignacia's choices and thinks of how awful it is to be cut off from memories. Luna uses magic to make Sister Ignacia remember what it is like to love. Because Sister Ignacia does not address her grief, it stunts her from living a full life at her potential. Xan, along with Glerk, realizes that it is important for her to remember the past even if it makes her sad. Xan chooses to not wall off her heart like Sister Ignacia. Truth is masked by many characters either suppressing memories or lying. There are many different lies from Fyrian, the miniature dragon, pretending he is large, to Xan and Luna not talking about Xan's deteriorating health, to Sister Ignacia pretending she is doing the right thing for the townspeople. All of them have different motives and some lies are delusional while others are malicious.

The women are empowered in this story making good and bad choices. The bad Witch has an all-female military. They make choices at the end that support one of their own, Ethyne, who left the order to move into civilian life again. Ethyne, becomes a force in the story choosing her own destiny and fighting against the societal norms to do what is right. Antain, her husband, decides to fight against it as well, but he goes through much suffering before reaching this decision. Luna's mother is a victim of the system but even she breaks free as symbolized in her paper birds that come alive and magically do things for her. The characters and townspeople must learn to hope in order to move forward in life and find happiness despite their oppressive governmental leadership. Ethyne and Antain also realize that blind allegiance is not a good thing. Sometimes a person must take a stand against existing norms.

Many characters grieve. Luna's mother goes insane when her daughter is taken from her as an infant. She seems to suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Xan must deal with losing her magic to Luna and eventually her life. The dragon is grieving the loss of his mother. The plot explores what it is like to be an orphan and adopted; grieving the loss of biological parents. The babies sacrificed each year that Xan has found homes for are adopted and described as having more light than other people. They have been fed starlight, a symbol of love. Later Luna comes to terms with learning about her biological mother and knowing the love of her adopted mother, Xan. When Luna starts to draw, she starts to wonder about who her biological parents might be. The instances of light and darkness symbolizing love and hate in characters and the village abounds throughout the pages. Light bends toward Luna and other orphans. The city is ironically called, "the Protectorate," because the villagers think the government protects them, but it is shrouded in fog, sorrow, and darkness as they can't see the oppressive circumstances of their lives. The other cities are called, "the Free Cities," in contrast.

Birds also symbolize flight from entrapment, predators, and freedom. The paper birds struck me as a metaphor for writing and loneliness. Like the "Lady of Shalott," the madwoman is cursed to remain in a tower day after day trying to write and communicate with the world outside. The paper birds cut skin. They hurt. They are beautiful. They take flight. They prey. The paper birds cut Antain and scarred him just like the incident he witnessed so many years before. His wounds from the paper birds fester just like his psychological wound of not acting when the Elders' took away the madwoman's child (Luna's mom) on The Day of Sacrifice. He says his scars always hurt, " [the] dull ache of something lost." When he does get the chance to act again, he does not miss the chance. The madwoman becomes free when she flies away on her paper birds. Birds of prey are symbolized in the form of falcons and hawks. Interestingly, at the end, Xan transforms into a sparrow which is known to be eaten by birds of prey. She will be consumed by Luna's magic and Antain's revenge. When the madwoman sends a paper bird that is a falcon the words on it say, "Don't forget" and the other side says, "I mean it." Remembering the past is woven through the entire plot.

The madwoman in the tower symbolizes the solitude of writing. She can't remember names for they had "flown away, like a bird." She only thinks of paper. The madwoman's thoughts could equate to a writer bogged down with cranking out 100,000 plus words for a book: "She dreamed of a paper moon hovering over paper cities and paper forests and paper people. A world of paper. A universe of paper. She dreamed of oceans of ink and forests of quills and an endless bog of words. She dreamed of all of it in abundance." The madwoman tries to send Antain a paper bird in the form of a hawk that says her daughter is alive, but it falls at his feet with a broken wing. The lame paper bird is crushed under Antain's foot. He cannot see that those in charge are preying on the populace of the Protectorate, he's ashamed of his past inaction, and he is angry at being attacked by the paper birds.

The story deals with death of a grandparent and the author's writing is beautiful and lyrical. The creation story surrounds the bog which first came into existence with Glerk the monster emerging from it. Glerk loves poetry. He sings it. He repeats lines and stanzas adding to the cadence and rhythm of the sentences. Ancient Sumarian texts use poetry in the form of hymns and it was also a way to remember oral history. Again, this is just one of many elements that make this book distinguished. The author gives a nod toward history while creating her own unique style. I've read several books this year examining changing narratives. "The Underground Railroad," examines changing narratives in history and how to break out of oppression, while "The Sellout" looks at narratives and reveals that they haven't changed, but needs to through self-awareness. This one looks at the narrative and tells readers to not take it at face value and blindly follow the status quo, but question what is true or false.

5 Smileys

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

I just toured Soweto where Trevor Noah grew up in South Africa. Soweto has 50 plus townships where blacks, Indians, and colored people were displaced or forced to live during Apartheid. Nobel Peace prize winners Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu lived on the same block in Soweto and its face has changed over the years reflecting a growing black middle class. Trevor's raw look growing up in post-apartheid Soweto in the 1990s, whose population is over 1 million today, is riveting.

"Born a crime" is how he describes his birth as it was illegal for a white man and black woman to be together in the 1980s. His Swiss dad and Xhosa mom didn't marry when he was conceived, but even then his life was dangerous because of his light skin. He didn't know anyone else whose heritage was of black-and-white descent making unique situations for him and his mom. If he was with his dad, his mother had to walk on the other side of the road. Or if his mother was walking with him and the police came by she'd have to drop his hand and pretend he wasn't her child or else she would be accused of kidnapping a white person's baby.

The overarching theme in Trevor's book is honoring the tenacity, cleverness, and education his mother gave him growing up during a time when there were not many opportunities for South African blacks. He gives personal details interspersed with nonfiction facts that are helpful in understanding the current climate and culture in South Africa. For instance, I'm baffled as a foreigner by the crazy minibus taxi drivers that overload their vans with passengers and drive through lights, drive on sidewalks, drive on walkings paths, drive through fields, stop anywhere they want to pick up passengers, block lanes, and seem to pride themselves in their maniacal driving. In six months I've seen them almost hit a person walking as they spun out of control on the shoulder, tip a van over on its side driving too fast on a roundabout, and go over an embankment trying to pass another van, to name a few. There has been a turf war too, where drivers from two groups shot and killed each other because one group was taking what others considered their routes. Turf wars are common and Trevor describes this hell-on-wheels, gang-like transportation system that most of the population uses to get to and from work. His harrowing experience in one of these taxis and getting tossed out of it while it was moving as a nine-year-old is one of many stories that will keep you flipping the pages.

Trevor's experience in different schools shows the variety of learning experiences that influenced him and his gift with languages that allowed him to be liked by different groups of people, while at the same time, remain an outcast. I didn't understand when he wrote about the Bantu education system and had to look that up on my own. Basically, the 1953 Bantu education act extended Apartheid to black schools and implemented an inferior and racist education system that denied black children the same educational opportunities as white children.

The chapters about Trevor's abusive stepfather shooting his mother execution style and threatening others is frightening in its portrayal of the violence Trevor dealt with in his life. It's amazing that his mom survived her gunshot wounds and joked about it with Trevor in the hospital. The mix of humor and seriousness helps balance the dark spots and makes for an engrossing read. While I enjoyed the book I did think the pacing was off. The end felt rushed and too much time covered leaving me with questions.

Also, some parts of the plot are not always in context and the last chapter repeats a beginning part, but none of this takes away from an easy-to-read authentic tale. In the last chapter, I wasn't quite sure if the mom was engaged. And did others in the group get shot at like her fiance? It sounded like it. His brothers and his relationship with them are not always clear and Isaac's age conflicts with the age Trevor says his mom was at this time. The editing seemed sloppy in parts. But these are minor details. The excellent character development of Trevor's stepfather's dual sides of being charming and violent show a complex person. The relationship with his biological dad is heartwarming and heartbreaking. Many things are done well such as how there was no recourse for his mother with the police and how the justice system didn't serve her.  Trevor's love for his mom holds the plot together giving it cohesiveness even if the context is uneven. I hope he pens another book explaining his journey to the US and breaking into national media.

4 Smileys

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

This interesting graphic novel takes three seemingly different stories and weaves them together in a story that shows the struggles of what it is like growing up in a country as a teenage immigrant and trying to fit in. The first story is a 500-year-old Chinese myth about the Monkey King. This arrogant monkey thinks that he is a god and learns humility and caring for others after getting knocked down. The second story is about a young Asian boy in love with a white girl, but afraid to ask her out. And the last is about a white boy that has to tolerate his cousin portrayed deliberately as a negative Asian immigrant stereotype. The three stories come together in an unlikely way that uses visual and print images to convey messages about immigrants, stereotypes, identity, bullies, and love. The author packs a lot into this book that only took me an hour to read.

Yang takes the Monkey King fable and presents a cocky monkey that tries to become immortal only to have the creator bury him under a mountain of rock. The god-like creator of human beings, Tze-Yo-Tzuh, is a mix of East and West religions, similar to the Christian God and the Taoist, Lao-Tsu. The Monkey King does not free himself until he learns to accept his identity and humble himself.

The second story is about an Asian boy that desperately wants to fit in with other students at school. He perms his hair and avoids the other Asian students until a new boy shows up from China. The Asian boy betrays their friendship and has to make amends. The third story is about a white boy with an Asian cousin who embarrasses him with his immigrant accent, looks, and behavior.

In comics and films, negative Asian stereotyped characters were often presented as wearing a type of sedge hat, having buck teeth, slanty eyes, and a ponytail. The "coolie", a derogatory term for a manual laborer, was usually the sidekick to the white hero. Yang's character is reminiscent of characters such as Chop-Chop, Yellow Peril, and Fu Manchu. Or maybe the immigrant Siamese Twins in Chip-n-Dale's Rescue Ranger with their bad accents are closer to the mark. Either way, I had no idea where Yang was going with the plot on this third story. The first two are about identity and trying to fit in but the third was offensive in its caricature. Yang creatively works this into the plot with a terrific ending - don't worry, I won't give it away. Another winner by the talented artist.

5 Smileys

The Complete Maus (Maus, #1-2) by Art Spiegelman

What a fantastic book for our book club discussion where members ranged in age from 13-50 plus. Media propaganda and popular culture have a plethora of anti-semitic caricatures and stereotypes used throughout history to sway public opinion. Art Spiegelman was taking a course in college studying this type of propaganda and political art in comics when he came up with the idea of writing a comic book on his father's survival of the Holocaust. He studied artists such as comic writer, R. Crumb, who drew anti-semitic cartoons against African Americans and Jews during the 1960s. He also studied German political cartoonists like Phillipp Rupprecht, a.k.a.Fips, who worked creating Nazi propaganda during WWII where Jews were portrayed as vicious rats and made scapegoats for various reasons such as the economic problems following WWI. Spiegelman explains this in an article promoting his book, MetaMaus, that it was out of this university class that the idea for writing this graphic novel took seed (Spiegelman).

Spiegelman takes this idea of vermin and turns his father's story into one where Jews are represented as helpless mice; an uncomfortable yet ironic mirror of negative political caricatures. The mice have no expressions on their mouths only when they scream or cry and the pictures are simple, not overly detailed. One person suggested during book club that the lack of a mouth was a symbol of silence while another brought up that Hitler gassed Jews using the same pesticide used to exterminate vermin. The attempt to extinguish a race was conducted in a frighteningly systematic way.

Spiegelman's mice are fearful, loving, and burrow underground to hide from the Nazis.  He tells the story of his father's remarkable resourcefulness and survival skills during a terrible time and the abstraction of anthropomorphizing the characters as mice helps put distance between the horrors of the story making it accessible to a wider and younger audience. The simple illustrations don't distract from the narrative. If the pictures were too detailed, the story flow or fluency might become too interrupted.

I was uncomfortable with the anthropomorphic representations: Jews are mice, Poles pigs, French frogs, German's cats, and Americans dogs. However, the negative caricatures are perhaps the author's way to point to the political and manipulative power of those in government who use images to demean ethnic groups. Or is this representing his father's racist views. He hated Poles and Blacks. Perhaps this is addressed in, "MetaMaus," his book about writing "Maus."

When in the present, the author portrays himself as wearing a mask of a mouse. Is he trying to unmask stereotypes or is it about being a second generation survivor of the Holocaust - a child whose father passed on his guilt of surviving when others didn't? Or is Speigelman symbolizing how difficult it is to write about something that he didn't experience? This is the memory of an event that his father narrates and he wasn't there and doesn't know the details. The author is constructing a past and identity that seems futile; hence, the Samuel Beckett quote and writer's block that is revealed in the therapist session. The comic took 13 years to write leading him to therapy sessions. Or maybe he is trying to unmask his own identity and come to terms with his own trauma.

The story is framed by the author interviewing his father whose behavior was irrational, contradictory, and loving at times; yet, understandable as someone who had to survive by his wits and broad base of knowledge during the Holocaust. His son had an inferiority complex never feeling good enough, but the father seemed to be projecting his Holocaust survival skills onto his son in their relationship. It becomes evident as the father's tale unfolds that he survived Auschwitz because he knew a little bit of many jobs and was able to fake it until he gained new skills; he shows this as he becomes a cobbler, tinsmith, and salesman, to name a few. He also bribed when necessary, saving his bread and trading to get some protection. If he didn't have the answer, he found someone that did. Spiegelman captures the complexity of his father's love, flaws, and damage caused by the Holocaust through the metafictional story of their relationship as he interviews him for the book he is writing.

The story also shows the author struggling with guilt. He feels guilty that his book was so successful it won the Pulitzer Prize and that he actually profited from the Holocaust. Spiegelman discusses his guilt with a therapist, and his ambivalence toward it:  "No matter what I accomplish, it doesn't seem like much compared to surviving Auschwitz." The therapist suggests that his father took his guilt out on him for surviving the camps. The therapist also says that the victims can't tell their story. Spiegelman quotes Samuel Beckett, "Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness" revealing how words are necessary to tell this tragic story but inadequate.

Quoting Beckett shows how Spiegelman stumbles to find words to name the unnameable. The novel has an insert about his mother's suicide when he was young. He expresses a desire to know her story but his father has burned all her diaries. Much of the story revolves around the unresolved trauma of his father losing his firstborn, Richlieu, and the death of the mother. Her story is untold and silent just like the mouths of the mice. Spiegelman must deal with that trauma in his own way.  In a powerful ending, when Spiegelman's father's health is failing he calls the author his dead first son's name, Richlieu, revealing just how deep the loss has been for him. A terrific book and not to be missed.

5 Smileys

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach

Every time I sit down to write this review, I struggle with the right words and can't help but feel like a "goober" myself. Journalist Mary Roach has a terrific voice that makes this science piece easy-to-read and while I laughed, for the most part, there were other times when it was too much. I am glad I read it after, "The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency" by Annie Jacobsen because it gave me some historical context that is lacking in Roach's book. Roach is upfront about not specializing in history or science, "I'm the goober with the flashlight, stumbling into corners and crannies..." Parts of her story were interesting, others not, and the end definitely abrupt; however, I appreciate the attempt to create characters that are easily visualized. Although even that got repetitive at times. The book doesn't quite nail it, but it is worth reading if you want to know about the side of the military that gets little press such as fabric design for combat, blast wounds, medic training, hearing loss, types of repellents, phalloplasty, and diarrhea to name a few.

Her self-deprecating humor and figurative language add to the light tone and great voice. She pokes fun at her lack of knowledge throughout such as thinking that a mechanic's tattoo of pistons are martial arts weapons because of his fierce appearance. On a ship, she makes the mistake of identifying rifle holders as cup holders. She creates characters through detailed descriptions that I liked but became somewhat repetitious, particularly at the start. It seemed most people were gorgeous, adorable, or muscular: "She is gorgeous, articulate, fast-moving, powerful. Lesser humans left blinking in her wake" or "...with a superhero jaw and muscles so big that when he walks in front of the slide projector, entire images can be viewed on his forearm" or " you wouldn't use the word distinguished but adorable." Another officer is "droll" and "adorable". Even the maggots are "adorable" as "they move like inchworms, like something you might see humping along the pages of a children's book." That image gave me pause. Here's another one, "His incisors touch down on his lower lip like children jumping on a bed." No adorable, but an interesting simile. A fun made-up word is, "The whole business is straight off my fathometer." Sometimes she kapow's the reader with phrases that hide her lack of depth on a topic. 

Other times the book has a seriousness and poignancy that is insightful. She admires the bonding of soldiers and selflessness that defies reason. A man that lost both legs was more concerned about his fellow soldiers being okay than the fact he'd just stepped on an IED. Or how another soldier lost his limbs but said the worst part was losing his hearing because it made it so difficult to communicate with his wife and children. Or the part about how much the government spent millions on shark repellent based on one man's experience and another's political connections. She nails it sometimes and misses the mark at others. And the chapters are connected in a loose manner. As a journalism major, I enjoyed and admired how Mary Roach wrote this piece. She tackles many different topics and perhaps this is the downfall. It might have been better if she had focused on fewer. If you are looking for something historical or scientific then you might want to pair this with another book.

4 Smileys

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan

This captures African culture and universal human desires juxtaposed with slavery. I'm living in South Africa. Last weekend we went to Soweto to see Nelson Mandela's house. A young man wanting money walked us across the street pounding on his chest creating a drumbeat and singing a Soweto welcome song trying to earn some money. The song was fun, joyful, and uplifting. Music is an integral part of this culture. Students break into spontaneous song and dance and any student-centered event includes open mic. A day later I read in this book, "Drums were forbidden./Owners feared that messages could be carried by drum./We used our bodies /to beat out rhythms/Clapping hands, slapping sides/stamping feet." Through free verse Ashley Bryan describes how slaves used talents such as music to ease burdens and help with survival.

Bryan is now 93 and still cranking out books and artwork. This tale captures an indefatigable spirit and vibrant culture in an oppressive time as it shows 11 slaves being sold on the Fairfield estate. His illustrations show the face of each slave and the money they are being sold for at an auction. Each slave has unique skills that give them pride and they find freedom in performing each day. The first page explains their skills and situation while the following page has the slave's dreams that contain their given name from Africa and his or her desire for a better future. Slavery was meant to strip blacks of their dignity and demoralize them. The section of each slave's dreams shows their humanity and universal desires that all people have regardless of race.

The free verse repeats the words, freedom, dreams, and memorable phrases such as "My knowledge makes me/ hunger for more" and "Learning how to work/ with measurements and tools/ gives me an inner strength." This would be good for class discussions grades 3-5. You could just read part of it if the students get twitchy. The illustrations remind me of woodcuts and some are very detailed while others are not. I read this as an ebook and the format was fine. I can see why it has won three awards.

5 Smileys

Presenting Buffalo Bill: The Man Who Invented the Wild West by Candace Fleming

In the U.S. cultural perceptions of gunslinging cowboys, fierce Native Americans, shoot-outs, and showdowns in the West were influenced by Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in 1883, but as Candace Fleming shows, many of Cody's stories were tall tales, embellished for entertainment: "It's a stirring story. Too bad it's not accurate." This book explores the myths surrounding Buffalo Bill Cody compared to historical truths. A fascinating glimpse into Westward Expansion and colonial cultural encounters with the Native Americans, Fleming reveals the good and evil in Buffalo Bill. A man of contradictions he influenced the Wild West myth and perpetuated a stereotype that exists even today for some: that America's conquest of the West was won by white people who bravely fought savage Native Americans spreading civilization and creating a democratic society by taking "free" land.

A man of contradictions, Buffalo Bill Cody painted himself as a hero, but he had a shady past. As a youth, his family was victim to hostile settlers, their lives threatened and home robbed when his father had to flee for his life. Yet as a teenager, Cody inflicted on others the same thing done to his family as a child as he enlisted with militant bands of fighters that stole, persecuted, and burned the homes of innocent people. In his Wild West show, Cody exploited hired Native American's to make whites feel superior, but he also treated the Indians well in terms of food, money, and certain freedoms. He claimed he was "equal" with Chief Sitting Bull, but scalped an Indian for his own glory and portrayed the Indians as savages in his show. When he died the Oglala Lakota Indians issued a statement expressing their sympathies and calling him a "warm and lasting friend." He was respectful and disrespectful. He was generous and exploitive. He was flawed and real.

Why did hundreds of Indians agree and show up for tryouts year-after-year (that lasted 30 years) to be in Cody's show when he went to the reservations seeking talent? The show was demeaning. In sections called, "Panning The Truth," Fleming reveals the historical context and the horrible conditions of the reservations where Native Americans were starving. Cody paid his employees fairly well with enough to feed their relatives. On reservations, Native Americans couldn't practice their religion in sweat lodges, sing, dance, wear traditional costumes, speak their native language, ride horses, live in tipis, or leave without the government's permission, to name a few. Acting in the show let them reclaim their past and pass on traditions they were afraid of losing. They could visit other relatives on different reservations. Chief Sitting Bull joined the show to save his tribe from starvation. And he came to hate the show. Fleming's task of presenting the complexities of Buffalo Bill's character and self-centeredness is handled with skill and care. Readers can decide for themselves what to think of him.

The Indians were one of the Wild West show's main attractions with the U.S. government approving whether or not over a hundred could perform in the show. Cody re-enacted a Buffalo hunt, battle between Native Americans and colonialists, and a stagecoach attack. These scenes required Indians for authenticity; however, when on tour in Europe seven died from diseases and accidents. The government began an investigation that threatened to revoke the use of Native Americans in the show (not because they feared for their safety and well-being but because they wanted to make them live like the "white man" and Cody's show perpetuated their traditions). In response to the investigation, Cody sought out and added to his show skilled foreign horsemanship from Russian, South America, and Arabs countries. In a strange twist, the government not only dropped their investigation but gave thirty Native Americans the choice of going to prison or joining Buffalo Bill's show after the Wounded Knee Massacre. Twenty-three signed up with Cody's show and brought their families totaling more than seventy people. Cody's show had 650 employees, buffaloes, horses, elk, deer, and more. It was an enormous production requiring large outdoor spaces to perform.

Lately, I've been reading books like, "The Underground Railroad," by Colson Whitehead with the theme of the victor or dominant group in a society controlling the narrative of history or literature to suit themselves and their agenda. Candace Fleming uses this same theme revealing how Buffalo Bill created a show that romanticized the West, but was a far cry from the realistic brutality, racism, and selfish exploitation of the times. Buffalo Bill was an international celebrity during his life. A superstar who knew how to sell himself. And While Fleming doesn't judge, readers might feel some cognitive dissonance that reveals self-awareness of racial prejudices. Or not. If you just want a fun yarn, you can get that from it too. Don't miss this one.

5 Smileys