Hatter Fox [Hardcover]

Marilyn Harris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 1973

This strange and beautiful novel is the story of Hatter Fox, a seventeen-year-old Navajo with a long criminal record, totally rejected by and isolated from white society. Inescapably drawn to her fate, Dr. Teague Summer succeeds over time in drawing out the gifted and spirited girl and rescuing her from a brutal and uncaring bureaucracy. Free Teachers guide available upon request.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This strange and beautiful novel is the story of Hatter Fox, a seventeen-year-old Navajo with a long criminal record, totally rejected by and isolated from white society. Inescapably drawn to her fate, Dr. Teague Summer succeeds over time in drawing out the gifted and spirited girl and rescuing her from a brutal and uncaring bureaucracy. Free Teachers guide available upon request. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 241 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (July 12, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394485149
• ISBN-13: 978-0394485140
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,743,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A love story?, May 4, 2000

By 

Jon M Altbergs (Epping, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hatter Fox (Mass Market Paperback)

I've taught this book to my high school senior English class for the past three years. They enjoy it quite a bit--much to their collective suprise.

I'm fascinated by the fact that other reviews have described this as a love story. One of the issues that always comes up in class is Summer's motivation for helping Hatter. Is he doing it for her or for himself? If he is doing it for himself, is he motivated by naiveté, altruism, or selfishness--does he want to "prove" how he alone can save Hatter and thereby confirm his prejudice that he is superior to Levering and Winton?

I would recommend this book not as a love story, but as one that causes us to question our own motives for helping, and perhaps for loving, other people.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A give and take relationship between 2 unlikely individuals, July 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hatter Fox (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is basically about a white Indian Bureau doctor trying to save a helpless Navajo girl from self-destruction. The author writes wonderfully as she describes the growing relationship between the two different people. It ends tragically, and this book should become a required reading book for all.

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and well-written story, November 20, 2005

By 

RedRyder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hatter Fox (Hardcover)

The story of the unwilling, gradual, and compulsive involvement of a young anglo doctor working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs with a younger, much-abandoned Navajo teen-ager kept drawing me back to finish the book in consecutive sittings. The author writes very well, and the book flows smoothly, never reading artificially or feeling contrived. The characters are both familiar (the oily, self-serving, bureaucratic, director Winton and the young, idealistic, somewhat directionless, and indecisive Dr. Teague)and compelling (the dedicated, capable, and dead-ended Nurse Rhinehart and the often-betrayed, many times-abandoned, innocent/worldly wise, woman-child Hatter Fox). There are larger themes and questions raised, and other reviewers have commented on them: non-absorption of visible minority persons into the homogeneous larger society; survival of conquered cultures; and an individual's personal responsibility for others. I loved the book; as I knew it would about thirty pages in, it made me sad. No new insights were gained, but the read was well worth it.