The Snowbird

by Patricia Calvert

Book Overview

Following the murder of her parents Willanna faces an uncertain future as she and her younger brother move from Tennessee in 1883 to the Dakota Territory where she trains her first horse This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451149718
• ISBN13: 9780451149718
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Signet Vista
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Growing to be Accountable

Despite its young protagonist, this book is not your typical YA fare. The dark, brooding plot unfolds with tragic relentlessness in the harsh setting of the Dakota Territory of the mid 1880's. Thirteen-year-old Willanna Bannerman and her 9-year-old brother, TJ, must leave their Tennessee home, traveling by train to their only kin-an uncle after a disastrous fire in which their parents died. Haunted by private fury that her newspaper editor father was murdered because he uncovered a scandal, Willie refuses to accept the public version that it was just an accident. Life at House Place with their kind uncle proves vastly different from all the orphaned siblings have ever known. Untamable Belle, with her questionable past, her red hair and Irish imagination, provides loving warmth, yet she is a restless dreamer--not cut out for the cruel realities of frontier living. Hired hand July earns Willie's respect and even her unspoken love, serving as her confident re her feelings for an older immigrant youth. This Polish American, so skilled in horse healing, realizes her need to be a Dreamer and a Teller of those dreams. Is headstrong Willie more like Belle than she cares to admit? Which of them is better suited to rugged Life on the northern prairie? The Bannermans hope their luck will change with the birth of the silvery filly-considered by international folklore to be a harbinger of good luck. Willie comes of age during the course of this short novel, as a result of a series of tragedies-which make this story much more serious than middle school readers normally enjoy. How to come to terms with her past, as well as carve out her own path for the future? The world will always need people who Dream, as well as people who can Tell those dreams. So what is the role of this silvery filly in Willie's young life? Will it help her grow into Willanna someday? Serious fare which will captivate mature readers.

About this book..

This book is one of my favorites. It's about a young girl and her younger brother that have become orphans and go to live w/ their uncle and aunt.She is on the road of discovery and she meets a teacher who she can connect w/ and talk to..Along meet new friends and falls in love w/ a horse which she names "Snowbird".A good classic.