Customer Reviews

Girl-On-Fire

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Set during the 19th century events that brought an end to the Commanche way of life, the story opens and concludes with Carrie's dream of a great black horse with eyes of fire. An appropriate devise, as "the Commanches put great store in their dreams and visions and the messages they get from their spirits." Deftly written detail makes Carrie's adventure spring cinematically to life. Especially vivid is her attempted escape on horseback. Carrie's interior conversations, as she listens to the different voices within her, add depth to the story. She gradually comes to recognize that the ways of the Commanche, at first so different from anything she has known, are intrinsically closer to her own than those of the culture in which she has been raised. Like Danny, Carrie eventually finds herself caught between two worlds--immeasurably enriched by the joys and sufferings of both.
The helpful pronunciation guide at the front enables the reader to "hear" the Commanche being spoken. Anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to live as a Native American in the old West will be enthralled by this book.

Girl-On-Fire is a quick-paced, exciting, well-researched book that'll make you stay inside reading on a beautiful Spring day! As personal (you feel you KNOW Carrie)and in-depth in the folkways of the pioneers as the "Little House on the Prairie" books, but with unexpected insights into Comanche lives and culture as well. A terrific story depicting the conflict of two cultures and the rare bridges that individuals can forge in spite of these differences. I found the end so wrenching, I couldn't imagine how Carrie could stand to make her decision!

As a Native American woman, I greatly appreciate this book for the way that it captures the flavor of Plains Indian women's lives in the pre-reservation days.

The story falls into two halves. The first half is about the capture by Comanche warriors of the main character, Carrie, from her homestead in Texas, and their journey over the Plains. That half of the book is a vividly and skillfully written adventure, but not outstandingly special as adventure stories go, other than having a brave female protagonist.

It is in the second half that the book shines. That is when Carrie is brought to the Comanche camp, an alien place to her at first, and chapter by chapter she starts to form relationships with the women of the camp and to become assimilated into the women's community.

Native American women's culture and women's community, of past or present, are given very little attention by novelists in general, and in this book in a few short chapters the life of Indian women of the Plains 150 years ago becomes vividly alive. This is a book I would highly recommend for Women's Studies classes and for anyone who is interested in experiencing the lives of women of another time and place. I would also not hesitate to recommend this book to other Indians, because even though the story happens through the point of view of an outsider observer, the Indian characters are flesh-and-blood human beings and it is obvious that the author actually talked to Indians to do her research, and didn't just read books.

I thought this was an excellent book. Well written and researched and thoughtfull. Men have the blood and glory in the west, but it was the women who kept the home hearths buring and gave the society the men lived in some meaning.

This was equally true for both indians and white man and this book beautiflly illustrates it - as well as teaching you much you probably never knew and probably never gave thought to before.

Very highly reccomended.

I know the phrase "I couldn't put it down" is overused, but this is one book where it's really true. It starts out deceptively like an ordinary kind of story about a spunky young homesteader but before you know it you're swept away - just like the heroine - and quickly the suspense builds - not just the story and what will happen next, but also on a psychological level as you see how this heroine manages to survive her captivity and even to grow from it. Meanwhile you're immersed in fascinating details about the Comanche life she's experiencing so that, by the end of the book, you really feel you've been there and known these people. As a woman reader, I loved the details of the women's lives but I think men would find this story of Comanches - a very fierce culture - equally fascinating. Teens should like this too. It is a fast read but an engrossing one - well written, wonderfully believable characters. And in the end, after racing through it, I really didn't want it to end. I guess this is a rave review. This is a totally original book. I only hope Werkley's next book comes out soon, because I can't wait to see what she produces next!

"Girl-On-Fire" immerses the reader in the Comanche and homesteader cultures of the late 19th century. Vicki Werkley wraps a suspenseful story around engaging characters and vivid imagery detailing the day-to-day activities of the Comanches. Recommended!

Girl-On-Fire is a tour-de-force of historical fiction that features tight plotting and many memorable characters. You'll enjoy this book even if this isn't your regular genre. Kudos to Vicki for writing a tale that will be remembered long after the last page!

In a display of pluck and determined resistance to her kidnappers, Carrie McEdan becomes Girl-on-Fire, the name her Comanche captor, Blackhorse, gives her in the summer of 1874. It is Carrie's luck to be the manifestation of a dream and that enables her to survive, as does her openness to learning the language and custom of a new people.

Marked for marriage to her captor, she escapes that fate in the immediate present when he and the other warriors answer yet another call from Quanah Parker and head into battle that takes them from the band for several weeks. Most Comanche have succumbed to the white man's destruction of their native way of life and have gone onto the reservations, except for Quanah's group and a few other bands. During Blackhorse's absence, Carrie/Girl-on-Fire learns the ways of the people and immerses herself in the culture. In her own dream/vision, clues about her fate come to her that she has trouble discerning.

Vicki Hessel Werkley tells her tale with passion, honor and great sensitivity. This is the story of a survivor, not of misfortune but of great good fortune, in her experience among the people. Carrie learns new skills, respect for the women's role in her new setting, and a system of values and traditions she comes to respect. The reader is caught up in the romance and visions, just as the writer intended.

Ms. Werkley's meticulous research into the culture of the Numunuu people shows in this well-constructed story of a young white girl captured by a raiding party of warriors. Carrie must survive the shock and fear of her kidnapping and await rescue while assimilating herself into Comanche life. She finds that she has more in common than not with captors who quickly become friends. The addition of Numunuu language and grammar adds to the reader's enjoyment as well as being educational. Apparently written for young adults, but anyone can enjoy - and will. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.