When tenth grader Vivi Hartman arrives with her rabbi father at a Seneca reservation to arrange the funeral of a Jewish girl who died violently, she finds herself investigating rumors of murder.
Death on Sacred Ground (Young Adult Fiction)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 6-9-Impossibilities vie with implausibilities in this problematic novel. Vivi, a high school student from Buffalo, accompanies her rabbi father to a tiny New York village where a Jewish girl was supposedly felled by an unknown archer. She then sets to work to help a new friend disprove popular belief that a resident Seneca teenager is the murderer. While the author provides respectful glosses on being Jewish in a remote American rural town and how Seneca people ascribe kinship ties, she founders on many more fronts pertinent to her story. The accused archer is nearly blind; his friends willingly take Vivi into their confidence, even allowing her to dress in an ancestor's ceremonial clothing; the evangelical Christians at the local high school, led by the handsome young English teacher, are up to no good from the get-go; and, most alarming, the murdered girl's mother, a known child abuser, is never threatened with the loss of her younger daughters. That the murdered girl's body cannot be retrieved from where she fell because would-be rescuers are repelled by lively snakes-in December, in upstate New York-is not a plot twist that helps readers take any of this seriously. Even more issues are trotted onto center stage, however briefly. Few readers will swallow the array of oddities and foregone conclusions offered here.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-10. In this third title in the Vivi Hartman mystery series, tenth-grader Vivi and her rabbi father travel to the funeral of a young Orthodox Jewish girl. It seems that pretty, rebellious Mindy Solomon was shot to death during a high-school archery club outing, and the police want to know why she died on snake-ridden Seneca Indian sacred ground, well away from the rest of the group. To complicate things, Seneca teen Jimmy Cloud is missing, and his Jewish girlfriend confides to Vivi that she is being stalked. As Vivi snoops around the tense little town, she discovers other suspects, including local teens who resent the Senecas; members of a born-again-Christian group who have been recruiting Jewish teens; and even Mindy's father. Secondary characters are somewhat flat, but Vivi and her father are appealing, and there's plenty of authentic atmosphere. A multicultural mystery for larger collections. Jean Franklin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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4.0 out of 5 stars
learning experience about different religions,
By Reader Views "Reviews, by readers, for readers" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Death on Sacred Ground (Young Adult Fiction) (School & Library Binding)
Reviewed by Karma Barry (age 13) for Reader Views (11/07)Harriet K. Feder has the logical creativity that is required for the writing of a superb mystery story, which is also reflected in her writing and kept me guessing through the entire book. However, I do believe that there should be more description on places and persons, whether they are of major importance or not, both to bring you farther into the character's world and bring more suspicion or curiosity about the final page and ending. There were only very minor mistakes in grammar, such as placing a period where a comma should be, but the mistakes were simple enough to understand what the author was saying and, in my opinion, not big enough to worry over. I also liked the use of vocabulary with words such as `autonomy.' I would suggest this book to children between the ages of 12 and 15 who enjoy attempting to solve the murder before the truth is revealed or those who just like to read for their pleasure; those whose parents are divorced, like my self, may be more likely to relate to the characters than those whose parents are still married. "Death on Sacred Ground" also provided a learning experience about different religions and new cultures, in a finer detail than I knew of, while at the same time teaching me how to use deductive reasoning. And though I am not one to normally read murders or mysteries I enjoyed the book all the same, and I may be missing a couple pages from how quickly and desperately I wanted to know the truth. Book received free of charge.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful,
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This review is from: Death on Sacred Ground (Young Adult Fiction) (School & Library Binding)
This book was wonderful. I really enjoy the Vivi Hartman adventures. This third edition to the seeming series is as good as the first and second. Vivi and her father travel down to an Indian Reservation for a funeral. All is not as it seems though. Vivi finds that the town is up in arms over the circumstances of the girl's death. Can Vivi figure out who did it before it is too late? Buy to find out.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Mystery,
By A Customer
This review is from: Death on Sacred Ground (Young Adult Fiction) (School & Library Binding)
Death on Sacred Ground is a supremely readable, exciting, suspenseful contemporary sequel in the Vivi Hartman mystery series. The plot is intricate but not too complicated; it nicely weaves together the storyline and characters, by including their ethnic, cultural, religious and social lives. The setting is a rural though remote western New York community. A high school student has been found dead on sacred Indian ground, shot by an arrow, presumably murdered. An honor Native-American Iroquois student disappears and becomes a suspect. Vivi gets involved, when she accompanies her Rabbi father, who will conduct the funeral. As a middle school educator, I appreciate the honest, authentic manner in which the author depicts not only the Iroquois but other school minorities and factions in a non-urban environment. Stereotypes are dispelled, but reality is not glossed over. Dialogue is good, realistic, right on target. The young people are shown to be deeply connected to their traditions, something the casual observer and peers may fail to see and perhaps dismiss. Even the savvy Viv whouses Torah logic to solve the murder, was surprised and "embarrassed by her ignorance" when she sees her friend dressed for the Midwinter Festival in eighteenth century Iroquois clothing. By participating in each other's ceremonies Viv, her Iroquois peers and of course the reader realize the similarities and universality of their traditions. In summary, Feder has written a fast paced, engaging mystery. High school and advanced middle school students will love it. Amherst, New York
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