Walks Alone

by Brian Burks

Book Overview

This powerful, factually based novel explores the human instinct for survival and self-determination through one Apache girl's fortitude in the face of extreme hardship and loss. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152024727
• ISBN13: 9780152024727
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 4.5" x 7.0"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

Great Story Until the End

Walks Alone is a teenaged Native American girl living in the Southwest at the time when the United States is rapidly expanding. Her people are being forced off of the land where they have lived for generations and placed on reservations where conditions aren't as good and are often deadly for them. Walks Alone is a member of a tribe led by Victorio, who is angry at their treatment and refuses to stay on the reservation. Therefore, their people are hunted and must continue moving to stay safe. One day while Walks Alone is getting water with her little brother, her people are attacked. When she goes back to their camp, many people, including her mother, are dead. Everyone who was not killed in the attack is on the move to somewhere safer. Now Walks Alone must find a way to survive on her own and take care of her brother while trying to catch up with her tribe. She must be careful, though, to avoid those whoe killed her people and would be just as willing to kill her. This book seemed very realistic; I don't think it sugarcoated the experience of the Native Americans, and it didn't try to justify what the white men were doing. It was interesting to read about some of the Native American traditions, from marriage to childbirth to treatment of the dead. I didn't like the shocking ending of the book; it really took me by surprise.

Walks Alone

I thought this was a great book. It was easy to read and I loved it! I recommend this book.