The Beaded Moccasins: The Story of Mary Campbell [Hardcover]

Lynda Durrant (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Mary Campbell gets angry with her mother and storms out of the cabin-never to return. As she picks wild strawberries and plans her apology, Mary is captured by Delaware Indians and plunged into a life that is fearsome, strenuous, and utterly unlike the one she knows, beginning with the journey on foot from Pennsylvania to the Delawares' new home in Ohio Territory. As the idea of escape becomes less feasible and less urgent, Mary finds herself adapting to the routines, traditions, and beliefs of her captors, and discovers within herself reserves of strength she hadn't known were hers. The life of the real Mary Campbell, taken by Delawares in 1759, is the basis for this enthralling, historically detailed adventure, and for the perceptive portrait of a young woman finding her place in a culture vastly different from her own.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8AWith historical and cultural detail, Durrant tells the story of 12-year-old Mary Campbell's capture and first year of captivity among the Delaware Indians. Based on a real incident, this fictionalized account is entertaining, insightful, and compassionate. Kidnapped in 1759 from her Pennsylvania home, Mary is selected to replace the deceased granddaughter of the chief. Angry, lonely, and frightened, she resists assimilation into the tribe. However, by story's end, she recognizes her Indian family's genuine affection for her, helps with daily chores, and earns the name Woman-Who-Saved-the-Corn for her valiant efforts to salvage the tribe's crops. Throughout her ordeal, Mary weighs the amenities and relationships of her past life against the hardships and isolation of her current existence. The dissatisfaction she once felt for her real family fades as she struggles to understand the values of her tribal family. Mary's quaint, observant narrative reveals a young girl coming of age, discovering her inner strength, and gaining sensitivity to the needs and hopes of others. A glossary of Delaware terms, a list of sources, and an afterword that completes the facts of Campbell's true story are included. Readers will find Mary an appealing, courageous, perceptive character. Language-arts and social-studies teachers can integrate the girl's experiences into discussions of multicultural awareness, family values, and colonial-Indian conflicts.AGerry Larson, Durham Magnet Center, Durham, NC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5^-9. In this strong fictionalization, Durrant tells the story of 12-year-old Mary Campbell, who was kidnapped by the Delaware Indians from her family farm in Pennsylvania in 1759. She was to replace the dead granddaughter of the Delaware leader. Mary's first-person, present-tense narrative will hold readers fast: the terror of her capture, the physicalness of the arduous winter journey across the mountains to Ohio, and the candor about her inner struggle as a captive who begins to feel part of her new family. Few of the Delaware are individualized, except for her adoptive grandfather, but there is no reverential stereotyping. Mary has seen him order the scalping of a baby, but he is gentle with her, and she comes to love and respect him. Nor is there nostalgia for her lost home. Like the girl in Karen Cushman's Ballad of Lucy Whipple (1996), Mary has always resented her father for uprooting the family from their town in Connecticut and dragging them on his "westering" adventure. Far away now in a mountain cave, she is ashamed of that anger and bitterness, even while she knows it was not all her fault. She gets too articulate and messagey at the end of the story, but readers will be moved by the psychological truth of her adjustment and her yearning to prove herself and belong. Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books; First Edition edition (March 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395853982
• ISBN-13: 978-0395853986
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too short!, March 7, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Beaded Moccasins: The Story of Mary Campbell (Hardcover)

I was really disappointed that this book was so short; I could have read on and on about Mary Campbell. I just loved reading as she transformed from a petulant, selfish brat to a person who put the good of her family and community before her own needs. "The Beaded Moccassins" does not simplify this transformation by making judgements about Europeans or Indians, instead it shows this transformation as something that occurs out of sense of maturity and a desire to belong. A coming of age story as well as the story of an Indian captive.

As I said before I wish it had been longer. It only covers the first year or so of what turned into a six year long captivity. It would have been great to see the person Mary became among the Indians at age 18, and how she and both her families, white and red, reacted to her return to the whites.

I grew up near the area where most of this book takes place.(I am a native of Cleveland, Ohio.) Yet I never heard of Mary Campbell before I read "The Beaded Moccassins." I enjoyed this book so much that the next time I go back to Ohio for a visit, I plan on taking some time to visit that cave where Mary spent her first winter among the Indians.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, February 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Beaded Moccasins: The Story of Mary Campbell (Hardcover)

On the morning of her twelth birthday, angry with her mother and sick and tired of pioneer life, Mary Campbell storms of her family's log cabin home on the Pennsylvania frontier. She runs into the woods and starts picking berries, planning to appologize to her mother. Then, Delaware Indians come out of nowhere and take Mary captive. They also take Mary's neighbor, Mrs. Stewart, and Mrs. Stewart's little son, Sammy. Mary is miserable. The Indians force her to march with them to their new home in Ohio, a journey that takes weeks. Then, they expect her to replace the dead granddaughter of their tribe's leader. How can Mary act like total strangers are her family? Mary wants to escape but its impossible. Will Mary ever find a way back to her family, or will she remain a captive forever?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!!!, January 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Beaded Moccasins: The Story of Mary Campbell (Hardcover)

This is a great book about a girl who gets captured by Delaware Indians I loved it sooo much I suggest it to anyone who loves to read about pioneer life!