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Bowman's Store: A Journey to Myself

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Joseph Bruchac lived through a childhood few would envy. His parents used him as a weapon in their own endless battle. However, he lived with his warm and loving grandparents, and this story retells his life with them. His grandfather, the "Bowman" who owned the store, claimed to be "French Canadian" to his Indian-hating neighbors. Forced to hide his heritage, Bowman still taught his grandson how to grow up strong and proud of himself and his achievements. Now that Bruchac has recovered his Indian heritage, and become a well-known writer and editor of Indian works, this biography shows both the power of that heritage, and the need contemporary Indians feel to recover it.

Bruchac does a wonderful job of mixing Indian tales and legends with the stories of his life. I found myself asking questions about events in one chapter, only to have them answered in a later chapter. Bruchac gives you enough detail to put you in the story, but doesn't inundate you with it. I hope someday to attend a storytelling festival where he is featured. His ease with the language and his experiences in life make Bruchac a fabulous storyteller. Thank you for sharing your memories and those of a great people.

Bruchac's autobiography holds the reader's interest to the end. It's a well told story that could be read and enjoyed by young adults, as well as their parents.

'Bowman's Store' resonated with me because of my own history. I was told that my great-grandmother was French Canadian. I never saw a photograph of her - or even knew one existed - until a cousin showed me a picture from one of her own family albums. There is no mistaking the ethnic background of the woman with the intricately beaded collar and sober mien; no doubt about that of the unknown child at her side. This discovery came long after my mother's death. There was no one left to whom I could address my many questions - no answers to be had.

The silence seems impenetrable. What were my great-grandmother's origins - and by extension - mine? I can't reach her. She's carefully hidden from view by the traditions of shame that were felt by later generations. The same kind of silence experienced by Joseph Bruchac.

Bowman's Store - the rememberances, of today and yesterday in an Abenaki life. The discovery of whispers in the blood and the path of discovery in the recovery and claiming of heritage. Circles are begun, completed, and heralded. This story will echo, for anyone who remembers family and celebrates their own. For Jr. High School readers and up. It should be in every library that wishes to have books by and for Indian people. John D. Berry, Native American Studies Librarian, U.C. Berkeley

I read this back when my son was in 4th grade, since he was reading it. It resonates with what makes our country great. A frugal but moral upbringing and the trials that are endured. I still think about the journey presented and the success that comes from hard work.

This is a very wonderful story of the growth of a young boy and his strong yet gentle grandfather. Having met this boy as a man, I was very touched by his story, his roots and amazing growth as a human being. He adds much light to the world.

This book wonderfully portrays the search for one's own family history and identity. Bowman's Store: A Journey to Myself by Joseph Bruchac is an autobiography that traces the author's journey from childhood into adulthood, exploring his Abenaki Indian heritage and his love for his grandparents. His maternal grandfather, Jesse E. Bowman, was of Abenaki Indian descent, but like other Abenaki Indians in the Greenfield Center, New York area where they lived, this fact was hidden and never discussed with anyone since racism was very prevalent in those times. Bruchac shares stories of his childhood fears, loves, lack of friends, pets, and dreams and the support that his grandparents gave him, while also weaving in historical information and tribal stories of the Abenaki and other American Indian tribes.
Bruchac describes all of these stories, both of his own childhood and American Indian stories, in such a loving manner. His writing is both fast paced and elegant and his stories reach out and touch the reader's heart.