Panther Glade [Library Binding]

Helen Cavanagh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993 | Age Level: 9 and up

While spending the summer with his great-aunt Cait, Bill participates in his aunt's archaeological dig and must face the wilderness alone when a storm strands him on a small island.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-- Bill's parents are off traveling for the summer and they've abandoned him to the custody of an eccentric aunt he barely knows. She's an archaeologist studying an ancient Indian tribe on a tropical island in the Gulf of Mexico right near the Everglades. Bill is an insecure wimp of a kid who's afraid of insects, spiders, snakes, alligators, panthers, smart girls; in fact, he's afraid of just about anything that moves, even the trees. But the boy is willing to make the best of things, and his Aunt Cait's spirit and intelligence begin to rub off on him as he absorbs information about the Calusa Indians and the Florida wilderness. Bill's growth, encouraged all the way by his precocious new friend Annie, is slow and steady, until he has a brief, climactic, and mystical survival adventure. Characters tend to be caricatures, and the story lacks both the emotional depth of Helen Griffith's Foxy (Greenwillow, 1984) and the absolute immersion into the Florida wilderness that Jean Craighead George achieves in The Cry of the Crow (1980) and The Talking Earth (1983, both HarperCollins). Still, there are solid and fascinating Indian facts here, and an exciting conclusion. --Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding: 147 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Juv) (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671756176
• ISBN-13: 978-0671756178
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,486,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Helen Cavanagh, the author of PANTHER GLADE., January 30, 2002

By 

Helen Cavanagh (Marco Island, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panther Glade (Library Binding)

Dear Readers/Buyers,
It breaks my heart that PANTHER GLADE has not yet
found a paperback publisher. Schools in Southwest Florida (where the book is set, and where I live now, have used this book for studies about the still mysterious Calusa Indians, and
to explain and celebrate the beautiful Everglades and the Ten Thousand Islands,thousands of years ago, and now.
PANTHER GLADE is set in the present day, features ongoing archaeology, Native American culture, and the fate of the Florida Panther. Just as important, today, after 9/11, PANTHER GLADE is a story about a boy's desperate but ultimately successful quest for personal courage. A coming-of-age tale,
it has more than a hint of the mystical and spirituality.
Is there a publisher out there who might want to reprint this 1993 hardcover (Simon & Schuster)still relevant novel? Get in touch. It was nominated for the ALA "Best Book for Reluctant Readers", and the "F.A.M.E. Sunshine Award" and received many good reviews.
I've recently secured all rights to PANTHER GLADE. (P.S. Why did I give it 5 stars? Probably because I loved writing it, because it brought me to Marco Island, Florida, a little piece of paradise, for sure.
Thanks for "listening". Helen Cavanagh

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction!, July 16, 2003

By 

Jane Majewski (Fort Myers, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panther Glade (Library Binding)

I am an English teacher here in Southwest Florida. This summer I have been working with a colleague to design an interdisciplinary curriculum on Florida history for our 7th graders. We want to begin the year with the Calusa Indians, and as the English teacher it is my job to find fitting literary selections -- not always an easy sell to the 11-13 year old crowd. Was I excited then to find Panther Glade! The historical content is great: from Billy's experiences with his aunt and at a dig site, the reader learns about the Key-Cat of Marco Island, how the Calusas lived, how they disappeared -- yet all in a very palatable story vs. a dry history text. Even with this historical content, however (a teacher's dream), the novel has some modern themes my students can buy into as well: the protagonist is "dumped" on an aunt he barely knows so his parents can travel for a summer without him; he is excited to learn about the Calusas, but reluctant to show it for fear of looking "nerdy"; and he is a tad scared by being in a strange environment such as the Everglades, but unwilling to let that show, either. I want this for all 50 of my seventh graders, but have not been able to find 50 copies! I am contacting the publisher, Simon & Schuster, and trying to find copyright information in order to gain permission to copy my own volumes if needed -- I want the kids to read this! The reading level is easy and the story "flows" nicely. I will keep this site posted about any publshing developments!

5.0 out of 5 stars A Teacher's Dream Come True, July 10, 2002

By 

Nancy Russell (Winter Springs, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panther Glade (Library Binding)

As a Florida teacher (home school and classroom), I found Panther Glade was a wonderful lead-in to the study of Native Floridians, ancient Florida, and the Everglades and its inhabitants. As a reader, I found the story both informative and compelling. In Panther Glade, young Bill Carven spends the summer in Florida with his Great-aunt, an archaeologist investigating a Calusa burial mound. He quickly gains interest in the Calusa Indians, especially in the legend of Manther, the Cat-god of the Calusa. Bill learns how Calusa boys went alone into the Everglades to search for a vision and find their own spirit guides and protectors. The thought of being alone in the Everglades terrifies Bill, but he confronts his fears and finds the courage to survive when a sudden storm leaves him stranded in the Everglades. This coming-of-age book successfully connects present day readers/students with the past - a teacher's dream come true.