Do Drums Beat There?

Rating:
Summary: Nothing like it
Review: From the minute I bought this book I couldn't put it down. This sounds like a cliche but it's the truth. This is the first book I have seen that addresses lesbianism and native american issues in the same pages. It is tragic, it is hope, it is activism, and it is oppression. No matter what your reading pleasures may be this book is a short tale with many twists that we can all relate to.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing like it
Review: From the minute I bought this book I couldn't put it down. This sounds like a cliche but it's the truth. This is the first book I have seen that addresses lesbianism and native american issues in the same pages. It is tragic, it is hope, it is activism, and it is oppression. No matter what your reading pleasures may be this book is a short tale with many twists that we can all relate to.

Rating:
Summary: Hear the song.
Review: Set in the late '60s, this book mixes hippie, Native American, lesbian and San Franscisco cultures. An old school bus of hippies rescue a teenage Native American girl, Ritta. The victim of brutality by the reservation police, Ritta must escape South Dakota and Montana to avoid further persecution by the police. She is picked up by the bus load of hippies and while on the road trip, explores her first sexual longings. There are feelings for River, the nice man who saved her, but amazing longings for Mazie, a black woman. Overloaded with culture shock and new feelings, Ritta makes her own personal journey as the group travels across country to San Francisco.

In San Francisco Ritta becomes involved in the group of Native Americans who occupied Alcatraz under the claim it was surplus land that by treaty should be returned to Native people. With her three legged wonder-dog Patches, she explores the city, politics, the sexual revolution, crime and cultural issues. She encounters her first drag queen, becomes a political activist and experiences the joy of another woman.

The book is a good read. There is a wide cast of interesting characters and social issues. The rate of maturation -- changing from naive reservation girl to participant in San Francisco counterculture is accelerated beyond a 16 year-old's developmental capabilities, but the reader can easily suspend any disbelief. This is a fine book by a talented young writer and an important reminder about a time and issues which still shape our lives.

Rating:
Summary: Hear the song.
Review: Set in the late '60s, this book mixes hippie, Native American, lesbian and San Franscisco cultures. An old school bus of hippies rescue a teenage Native American girl, Ritta. The victim of brutality by the reservation police, Ritta must escape South Dakota and Montana to avoid further persecution by the police. She is picked up by the bus load of hippies and while on the road trip, explores her first sexual longings. There are feelings for River, the nice man who saved her, but amazing longings for Mazie, a black woman. Overloaded with culture shock and new feelings, Ritta makes her own personal journey as the group travels across country to San Francisco.

In San Francisco Ritta becomes involved in the group of Native Americans who occupied Alcatraz under the claim it was surplus land that by treaty should be returned to Native people. With her three legged wonder-dog Patches, she explores the city, politics, the sexual revolution, crime and cultural issues. She encounters her first drag queen, becomes a political activist and experiences the joy of another woman.

The book is a good read. There is a wide cast of interesting characters and social issues. The rate of maturation -- changing from naive reservation girl to participant in San Francisco counterculture is accelerated beyond a 16 year-old's developmental capabilities, but the reader can easily suspend any disbelief. This is a fine book by a talented young writer and an important reminder about a time and issues which still shape our lives.