Morning Girl [Paperback]

Michael Dorris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1994 | Age Level: 8 and up

Morning Girl, a beautiful Bahamian girl, is unaware that the European boat that arrives in 1492 will shatter her idyllic life. Reprint. Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. H. SLJ. K. NYT. PW.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A peaceful, tropical world is the setting for Morning Girl, a simple yet rich glimpse into the lives of a young sister and brother. Morning Girl and Star Boy grapple with timeless, universal issues such as experiencing simultaneous anger and love toward family members and the quest to discover the true self. As all siblings do, these children respond to, play off of, and learn from each other. Precisely where Morning Girl and Star Boy are growing up is not revealed, but it's clearly a place where the residents have no modern amenities. Living in harmony with nature is a necessary priority here, and--given the descriptive names of the characters--a Native Indian culture seems likely. But not until the epilogue do readers discover that the story takes place in 1492. Suddenly we realize that the strange-looking visitors Morning Girl welcomes to shore are not as harmless as they may appear. The excerpt from Christopher Columbus's journal provides an ominous footnote: these gentle people, who seem so very much like us, will not be permitted their idyllic existence much longer.

From Publishers Weekly

In a starred, boxed review, PW praised this "soulful, affecting portrait" of a Bahamian family in 1492. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback
• Publisher: Hyperion (Juv) (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562826611
• ISBN-13: 978-1562826611
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,748,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A story of sibling rivalry and family ties, November 24, 2002

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Morning Girl (Paperback)

"Morning Girl," by Michael Dorris, is a short novel that is told in the first person by two of its characters, Morning Girl and her brother Star Boy. The chapters alternate between these characters' two voices. The children live with their parents in an island village; their community has a pre-industrial culture.

Morning Girl and her brother have the type of conflict you might expect between a sister and her sometimes annoying younger brother. This relationship is explored against the backdrop of the children's culture and the island setting. I particularly liked the character of Star Boy: he's experiencing some emotional growing pains as he yearns for respect while still engaging in some childish actions. An important theme in the book is the naming tradition of the children's culture.

Dorris writes in a clear, poetic prose style that is touched by a mystical element. And don't miss the startling epilogue which pulls the whole story into focus.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Poetry!, June 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Morning Girl (Hardcover)

Instead of reading this book for plot, try reading it as a poem, in book form. The book paints emotions and images and experiences that are wonderful to feel. These things are so much more important than the plot, in which the Spanish don't show up until the last five pages. This is a book about naming and being and growing up. It is excellent for adults (I agree that this is not exactly a children's book, although some children might understand it) who are dreamers, who dream of becoming a rock or a breath of wind.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not suitable for a read-aloud in class, November 9, 2007

By 

L. Johnson (SF Bay Area, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Morning Girl (Paperback)

I'm posting this review because there may be other teachers out there who think this might be a good book for them to read to their class. Don't make the mistake I made.

I am a fifth grade teacher. This book is recommended in some of our grade-level curriculum guides, so I decided to purchase it and read it in class thinking it would create a nice bridge between literature and social studies. (We study explorers and the discovery of the New World.) Unfortunately, the book offered very little plot, too much reflection from isolated points of view, and very awkward pacing to allow for a good read-aloud experience. My fifth-graders hung in there with me as I read the whole book over the course of a few weeks, but it was not a very satisfying experience. (It took us a few weeks because the book wasn't interesting enough to keep our attention - we would go days without reading it rather than give up more interesting activities we were doing.)

This book might provide a valuable reading experience to students who read it individually and then discuss it in a small group setting with an adult facilitator.

The book isn't bad - it's just not a good read-aloud book. The language is too ponderous. The plot is hard to decipher. There is no excitement or energy. It has a maturity that makes it feel like it is a book written to appeal to adult reviewers of children's books - not to appeal to real children. (Just the fact that the main characters are children doesn't mean children will relate!)