The Last Rainmaker [Hardcover]

Sherry Garland (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Caroline Long discovers the family she never knew existed when she runs away and joins Shawnee Sam’s Wild West Extravaganza. “The Wild West show milieu and the effect it has on the Indians who work in it ring true, and readers will empathize with the eternal struggle of a teenager trying to find her place in the world.”--Booklist

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8. Life becomes intolerable for 13-year-old Caroline Long when her beloved grandmother dies, leaving the girl in the care of her cruel Aunt Oriona. When Caroline's long-absent father arrives and takes her away, she discovers that he plans to let Oriona adopt her for $10,000, and the girl runs away to become a performer in Shawnee Sam's Wild West Extravaganza. While learning to be a trick rider, she befriends Crooked Feather, a teenage Indian boy, and Old Billy Big Tree, reportedly the last Indian rainmaker; with their help Caroline searches for the truth about her mysterious mother. She learns that the woman was a performer in the show and that she is half Indian. The overall theme of discovering one's heritage is enough to garner interest in the story, but the characters are stereotypes, the plot is manipulative, and the dialogue is stilted. Caroline's betrayal by her father is so total as to be unbelievable, and it serves to alienate rather than to affect readers. The inclusion of several pedantic lectures by Crooked Feather on the fate of Indians in the late 19th century impedes the story even more. Katherine Paterson's Jip, His Story (Dutton, 1996) is a much better exploration of this theme.?Linda Bindner, Athens Clarke County Library, GA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6^-9. Caroline Long thinks her dark skin comes from her Italian mother who died in childbirth. After the death of her grandmother and abandonment by her ne'er-do-well father, 13-year-old Caroline decides to run away with a Wild West show, where her mother was once a performer, and there she learns what readers have probably suspected early on, that her mother was an Indian. Garland presents a cast of interesting characters. Caroline is a feisty heroine who must deal with her father's duplicity and an ambiguous relationship with Billy Big Tree, an elderly Indian rainmaker who, it turns out, is her grandfather. Through her friendship with an Indian boy, she learns what it means to be caught between two cultures and how to make her own decisions about her future. The story is set at the turn of the century, and some of Caroline's reactions to her situation seem to be those of a more modern character. However, the Wild West show milieu and the effect it has on the Indians who work in it ring true, and readers will empathize with the eternal struggle of a teenager trying to find her place in the world. Ilene Cooper

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (May 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152006494
• ISBN-13: 978-0152006495
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,246,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sherry Garland is the award-winning author of twenty-eight books for children, teenagers and adults. Several of her books focus on the Vietnamese culture due to her close friendships with Vietnamese families. As a fifth generation Texan, she also sets many of her books in the Lone Star State. She especially likes to write historical works. For more information, visit her website: www.sherrygarland.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Rainmaker, March 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Rainmaker (Hardcover)

The Last Rainmaker, by Sherry Garland, epitomizes the struggles of a girl to be recognized in both the American Indian world and the white. Sherry Garland, however, touches on something more wordly here as well: respect of other cultures comes not by ignorance, but by acceptance of their gifts to nature and civilization. Though Caroline Long, the protagonist, is urged to ignore her mother's background, she discovers that all cultures must and can live together if they gain a respect for each other. Using the innocence of a child, Garland embodies all aspecs of a struggle of a girl to "fit in" wherever she goes, a childish act completed by so many youths today, even if it means drugs or violence. A good accompanying book is A Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter, for the boy in that book must also, in the end, choose the path he wants to take, not having the option of the best of both worlds. Maybe these authors want to state that harmony comes with acceptance.