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Summary: A new point of view
Review: I did not know anything about this book when I bought it. I had to pick out a book for a class assignment, and I was short on time. So, I went to a local large chain bookstore and picked this one up because it was on the suggestion list and was short (just over the page requirement). I thought it would be a drag, (seeing as so many assignment books are) but it turned out to be and excellent book. It gives you insight into the traditional values and way of life of a Cherokee in the 1930s. It's a true autobiographical account, so you know it's accurate. It's a touching story, and rather funny until about the last quarter, when it starts getting sad. It's a great book for learning as well as enjoyment.
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Summary: Indian Childs Honest Life Story
Review: I just finished this book and I must tell you that I learned so much. This is such a loving and warm story. I just fell in love with this little boy and his grandparents. Little Tree only knows how to tell it just the way it is, truthfully. I want all my friends to read it.
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Summary: Miseducation
Review: This story, with its amazingly random plot, was dull, dull, dull!!! In fact, it was so dull, it took me a week to read what should have been a one sitting book. The saccharin portrayal of the Native Americans as romantic mystic "noble savages" was beyond nauseating. I'm glad I did not know the extent of the controversy before I read the book because, I would have found it difficult to review objectively. Contemplating the book with the knowledge of Carter's racist past I see more than just a syrupy story. Knowing that Carter, a speech writer for George Wallace, penned the phrase "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," the book takes on a more sinister quality. I saw The Education of Little Tree as a subtle quasi-reverse psychology justification of segregation. One of the book's strongest themes is trust no one. The Native Americans are mistrustful of the white man's government, churches, and culture. And really, who could blame them??? Certainly we can all understand that these Native Americans would want to segregate themselves from a culture that caused them so much pain. To me Carter was saying segregation was a good thing for these people and if it was good for them, it might just be good for the rest of us.
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Summary: Peter Coyote's Presentation Is Wonderful
Review: I noticed that my review below was automatically carried over to the audio presentation from the book. The two are really quite different in some ways. Peter Coyote adds authenticity to the presentation, making it a real joy for the commute. His sonorous voice has a friendly charm and was a great choice for the part.Unfortunately cutting any portion of the story is a great loss and since the audio presentation is abridged there is a bit of choppiness. This however pales in comparison with the positive aspects of the work. In many ways I enjoyed the tape more than the book.
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Summary: Moving
Review: Carter always claimed this book was autobiography, even though it now turn out it probably wasn't. (Well, we might have guessed that, especially during Disneyesque scenes like the two swindlers getting lost on the mountain.) But that doesn't matter - it's a fine novel, depicting the life of a young boy growing up with his grandparents and dogs in the mountains of Cherokee country in the Depression. The young boy's point of view makes for many comic and touching moments. We grow to care about these characters and their struggle to live free amidst discrimination a good deal, which makes the end all the more emotional. This is a fine book for both adults and junior high/high school readers.
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Summary: Is it really an autobiography?
Review: Please, before you read or recommend this book, read thisarticle published on the NativeWeb... It calls into question theauthenticity of the author. The community has asked the publisher to re-classify the book as a novel, not as an autobiography.
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Summary: ONE OF THOSE BOOKS I WILL ALWAYS RECOMMEND......NOT TO READ!
Review: The Education Of Little Tree is one of those books that I will always recommend...not to read! I hated, wait, hate is such a strong word, but it truly describes the way I felt about this book. I have read many critics' opinions on this book after reading it, I agree strongly with almost everything that a lot of the critics have said about this book. I thought it could have been written a little, I mean a lot better. Every time that I start reading a book for school, I think 'Oh great, another pointless and boring book', and there are only some books that I have read that have contradicted that. The Education of Little Tree was not one of them. I may have used a lot of powerful words in this discussion, but that is the way I feel about books like this one. I really hope that we don't have to read books like this one during this school year.
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Summary: The Education of Little Tree
Review: This book is heart-warming. Written from the perspective of the author as a child - it's naivety & humour make you laugh & cry. Beautiful simple memories of this boys life growing up with his grandparents & how they made him see the world....
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Summary: The End Was Incredibly Quick
Review: Throughout the meat of the book, it was an amazing (even if not certainly true) book. Filled with lessons from the Cherokee's ways, it enhanced the damage out government and army did to them. However, the last chapter seemed as if it was hurried, and but a bad impression on the rest of this great book.
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Summary: must read
Review: The controversy surrounding the author of this book should be completely ignored, and this beautiful work should be read by all. If I could, I'd buy it for all American high school and college students. Little Tree's upbringing by his Cherokee grandparents makes me yearn for a society that is more loving and friendly to mother nature and to each other. I laughed and I cried while reading this beautiful story.
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