Drums of Change (Women of the West #12) [Hardcover]

Janette Oke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

Young Running Fawn of the Blackfoot tribe in southern Alberta, is caught in the changing of the "old ways." When a white man's disease devastates her family, Running Fawn must care care for her father and also the ailing missionary to her tribe. Her father's newfoundfaith in the white man's religion causes an even greater struggle within Running Fawn.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In mid-19th-century Alberta, young Running Fawn's world of beauty and serenity is disrupted by the violence of white settlers stealing Blackfoot lands and by the increasing harshness of life on assigned reservations. Although Running Fawn slowly resigns herself to life on the reservation, she struggles fiercely with the strange beliefs of the Christian missionary who has come to live and teach among her tribe. Because of the strength of Running Fawn's convictions about the corrupt nature of the settlers and Christianity, her final conversion rings false. Still, Oke (The Red Geranium, LJ 11/1/95) combines the panorama of Alberta's history with the typical, gentle simplicity of her storytelling to fashion a tale that will be popular among her many fans.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Christian romance writer Oke, whose sales have now topped 13 million, turns in a sensitive story of a young Blackfoot girl coming of age in nineteenth-century Alberta. Running Fawn's people have been devastated by smallpox and are struggling to make a new life on the reserve. A naive young missionary, Martin Forbes, arrives to preach that Jesus died for everyone, not just whites. He begins a simple school and selects his two most promising students, Running Fawn and the chief's son, Silver Fox, for the mission school in Calgary. Oke's at her best in the school scenes, through which Running Fawn is in constant distress; Silver Fox holds his own rather better, since he is determined to lead his people into rapprochement with the whites. Running Fawn decides to walk home from the school--several hundred miles--when she learns of her father's illness, and there are some nice passages, delivered in simple, almost poetic sentences, describing her as she fashions moccasins and snares a jackrabbit. And there's a love story, of course, as the lonely young missionary tries to marry Running Fawn and as Silver Fox actually does. Much more appealing than Oke's last offering, the gimmicky A Gown of Spanish Lace. John Mort

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers; BC ed edition (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556618182
• ISBN-13: 978-1556618185
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,094,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Oke's best, April 11, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Drums of Change (Paperback)

(...)

This book was a HUGE disappointment. The beginning was GREAT. It was very descriptive and enjoyable. But, as the book neared the end, I was hugely disappointed. Mrs. Oke skipped some major parts toward the end. The ending was not at all satisfying and it didn't even fit the story. It was unexpected and not good, to my better judgment. I was VERY disappointed and strongly feel that this is DEFINITELY not Oke's best. The plot did not lead up to the ending...although I enjoy a bit of romance (that occurred in the ending), in this book, it did not seem to fit WHATSOEVER!! In conclusion, I feel this book deserves three stars, because, I didn't care for the ending and I didn't like the last 2 or 3 chapters of the book...it seemed as though Oke got tired of writing it, therefore, it seemed as though she hurried to finished it, depriving us of details on key information.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow to start, but a strong finish., April 10, 2000

By 

A. Grace (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Drums of Change (Women of the West #12) (Paperback)

Definitely a slow starter, this one didn't grab me right from the beginning the way most Oke books do, but I was glad I stayed with Running Fawn until the story picked up. While far from the best in the series, _Drums of Change_ shows the huge gap between two cultures very well, as well as the confusion of a girl who is taken from one world and placed into the other. Without a doubt, there are some shining moments, but if you found it a little dragging, try another book from this series before you give up on Janette Oke.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars COOL HISTORICAL BOOK!, November 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Drums of Change (Women of the West #12) (Paperback)

Well, we were supposed to chose a book from all the books in the library for a book record. I have chosen this book from all others and it appeals to me that it's a wonderful book, a book worth reading. Vivid descriptions that makes me feel as though i was in the surrounding too, experiencing the events.