Book Review: Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell

Sing Down the Moon
by Scott O'Dell
Non-series

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN-10: 0-547-40632-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-40632-9
Publication Date: September, 2010
List Price: $6.99

Review: I'll be the first to admit it; Sing Down the Moon is one of my favorite books. Scott O'Dell once again scores a home run as far as popularity goes. He mixes emotion into a wonderful story with a Navaho girl, Bright Morning, who's captured by Spaniards to work as a slave. She doesn't know who to trust when a treacherous turn of events follows.

Scott O'Dell's sequel, Sing Down the Moon, follows up after Island of the Blue Dolphins. I love the way that Scott O'Dell creates a plot against the American soldiers and I actually believed that they were the evil enemy, and in a way they are. He says "I watched him in the saddle, stooped, and my heart went out to him". Talk about emotion! He uses excellent figurative language all throughout the story. I was hooked right away. The Navajo girl, Bright Morning, is captured by Spaniards. She's taken to a settlement and eventually flees with her friend as a "guide." They return to Bright Morning's tribe, only to find that they immediately have to flee from the American soldiers. They're taken to an Army camp and they eventually escape. What will they do now? Scott O'Dell's ending is remarkable. I like the way that Scott O'Dell mixes history in all of his stories. Personally, I like the way that he uses Native American names to bring across the characters' personalities. I love it. I hated the American soldiers when they tried to take over the Navajo people.

Review written by Colleen (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of Sing Down the Moon for this review.

Have you read Sing Down the Moon? How would you rate it?