Customer Reviews

The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party

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4 star:		(4)
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I'm not much of a history buff, but I have to teach my kids CA history this year. Once I started reading this book it was hard to put down. The thing that surprised me the most was how thoroughly readable it is. I didn't feel like I was reading a history textbook. The prose is well done, there are ample photos of the people involved and artifacts etc.,.. The only thing I would improve would be to include maybe one more map. But that isn't even worth complaining about. This book covers a gruesome and sad event in American history without being overly maudlin, grotesque or judgemental. Despite the elementary looking artwork on the front, it's not a book for children.

You think you've had "trubels"? Wait until you read this book. This story details the journey of several families, known as the Donner Party, as they travel from Springfield, Illinois to Sutter's Fort, California in the Spring of 1846. The author tells the story through the eyes of the children, detailing Virginia Reed's recording of the journey. This is a gripping story of the unbelievable determination of survival. The book is loaded with authentic pictures and diary entries. You won't believe the sacrifices these people made to settle unknown land in America. A great piece of historical work!

The Donner Party is a story about a group heading to California in April, 1846. However, bad decisions and trickery lead them to the point of starvation. To survive, they must eat those that have died along the way.

The Donner Party is the most exciting nonfiction book I've rea, written not as a documentary or research thing, but as an adventure story. It is, however, hard to imagine this actually happening because it seams so much like fiction. It is also written in a way that all the families, excluding the main family, the Reeds, are shoved way into the backround and seem to barely exist.

I recommend this book to those that don't mind lengthy stories and the overall concept of the book. It may also work well as something to help a report or something, having all the information right there in an easier-to-read way than most forms of research. I'd recommend this book for ages 12 and higher, because of the way it is written and it's length.

I thought that the Donner Party was a very interesting book. It's one of those books that you can't put down because you keep wanting to see what is going to happen next. The author, Marian Calabro, was very descriptive and made the book which could have been very boring, was actually very interesting and exciting to read. I know that when I read it I felt like I was there with Virgina Reed and the rest of the Donner Party. I believe that even if you aren't that interested in pioneers and such you will enjoy this book. However I will have to admit it was depressing in parts and it is definetly not an uplifting book. How ever it also will make you admire the strenght the Donner Party had to get throught there hardships and struggles they had to endure. The book also has lots of extra information in the back and it has special features like Virgina Reed's diary and The chronilogical order of how the events took place.
Rebecca P.

I found this book in the childrens section of the Library. I've read a few Donner books and this one by far is my favorite. The photos were great and it was hard to put down.

This book is a brief account of the families who moved west to claim land in California, only to be rebuffed at the last few hundred miles by topography, thirty (plus) feet of snow, and careless timing. The book reads very easily, and is amply speckled with colloquial diologue of the day, as copied from letters and notes written by those of the Reed/Donner Party who were stranded in the Sierra Nevada snows that winter. That original dialogue is compelling, and evokes a feeling of despair for what those writers must have been witnessing. The account could have included a bit more of the beginning miles of the venture, which may have been better background for the story. Missing particularly was background depth of those who joined the convoy of wagons, livestock and people on foot. Those add-on people became very important players in the final tragedy at Donner Lake, and I was left wondering about them, and why they were taken in by the Reed and Donner travelers. This book is not gruesome, nor as horrifying as some published accounts I have heard about. It is straight forward, and does not over-do nor sensationalize the terrible acts of survival that became the only choice for these pioneers.

Having lived near the Donner area and driven over Donner pass countless times this book was very interesting and enjoyable to read to find out about the lives of the people who risked it all to move west. I highly recomend this book!

I think this book is very good. I only knew that The Donner Party could not get to California. I learned soooooo much from reading this book. Now I want to find out more about the Donner Party.I would Highly recomend This book. It was very interesting,and I really enjoyed it.

This book is incredibly well researched and attention paid to historic detail. At the same time, it is a good story.

What a great read! What a horrifying subject -- cannibalism! I found it difficult to believe that this book was shelved in the "children's section" of my local library, especially when I was reading how the survivors had to resort to eating the flesh of their dead fellow travelers or die of starvation.

After reading the whole book, I found the subject of cannibalism less horrifying than at first. This is not to say that I was brought around to accepting the practice of eating human flesh! It is more a tribute to the author for her very deft handling of her subject -- the Donner Party and their struggle for survival; their courage in their fight against Mother Nature. Last, but not least, my compliments to the author for her understanding that until we are in the "other person's shoes", we are not qualified to judge the actions of other people.

Definitely a book to be read by young people, but with adult guidance!