Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm....how to describe
Review: This book, I have a hard time even describing. I picked it up for the first time in high school, for a book report. I was completely mesmerized by the story. Maybe not even the story, but the feeling the book gives off. Intense sadness, isolation by choice, integration by force....then there's the way it's brought into the beautiful, painful scenery. It's been a couple of years since I've read this, so I'm not going to quote exact details. However, it's a rare book that I can look back on, and set myself into, because I remembered the way scenes felt. That's not just good writing. That's fantastic writing, in my opinion. If you want a book that will stick with you, long after you've finished it, try this one. I don't think you'll be dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Reaching To See
Review: "When Legends Die", is more than a story about a man who
turned his anger on the horses he rode in the rodeo. In dealing with another culture, we lack the ability to really understand. Like, "I heard the Owl Call My Name", The Education of Little Tree", and "Two Old Women", this life story of a native man manages to almost cross that vast desert that separates the stone age culture of Native Americans and present day whites... if you let it. You are required to reach inside to a place of love, to trust that all people are connected, to feel those feelings that put a person on "Indian Time" and away from the modern thought of time schedules and using every moment to make more and more money. Most artists will get it. I truly loved this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Well Fought Struggle
Review: When The Legends Die is the kind of story that will grab and hold your enthusiasm. This story starts off with a young boy named Tom Black Bear being left in the wilderness alone, after his parents both die of sickness and injury. Tom is the member of the Ute tribe, and in an effort to revive his traditions, he moves into town. Tom gets tricked into going to school, but he later escapes to become a bronco rider. Tom meets many characters on his quest to find inner peace, and most of these people take advantage of him. When Tom's friends die, he takes his life to the mountain that he was raised on. Tom lives with his grief until he lets go of all the pain he has suffered. The story ends with Tom reaching complete happiness in his home on top of Granite Mountain.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because the author, Hal Borland paints a very precise image in your mind. He mixes Tom's delicate emotions with the enormous strength that Tom possesses very well. This story can relate to almost anyone he has ever fought for something, because that is what the core of this story is about. Tom struggles to survive the hardships of life, and the decision to live or die is his alone. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an exciting book that makes you feel like you have accomplished something when you finish reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Legends do die
Review: I was forced to read this book for a highschool English class during the 90's, but it wasn't bad. I recently cleaned out a bookcase and discovered the book again. I read it once more and it was lots better than I had remembered. It was a great book about finding yourself, hardship and loss. This is not my typical genre of book and yet I still enjoyed it. I would recommend this book as a adequate read, but not something that keeps you at the edge of your seat.
Rating:
Summary: Tragic Story
Review: This is a very tragic story of an indian boy who had a run of very hard luck as a child and became what I felt was a very disfunctional adult. After the death of his parents Thomas struggles to survive as his people did in the past. Living off the the land, and avoiding the white man and his world. This was a very well written book, and enjoyable, but I spent much of my time wondering what the main character Thomas Black Bull was hoping to accomplish. Regardless, it is a story I would recommend to anyone as it gives a peak into a different culture, and exhibits the importance of obeserving a heritage, but also of the human ability to adapt to circumstance.
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