Weasel [Hardcover]

Cynthia De felice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1990 | Age Level: 9 and up

Alone in the frontier wilderness in the winter of 1839 while his father is recovering from an injury, eleven-year-old Nathan runs afoul of the renegade killer known as Weasel and makes a surprising discovery about the concept of revenge.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers drawn to pioneer adventure will not be disappointed by this fast-paced novel set in Ohio during the 1800s. The action begins when Ezra, a mysterious stranger, leads 11-year-old Nathan Fowler and his younger sister Molly to a primitive shelter, where the children's father is recovering from an injury. Along the way, Ezra, Nathan and Molly catch a glimpse of the devilish man called Weasel, whose treacherous deeds have terrified the settlers. It soon becomes apparent that Weasel stole Mr. Fowler's gun, left him to die in an animal trap and later killed most of the Fowlers' livestock. When finally meeting Weasel face to face, Nathan has a chance to avenge these cruel acts, but cannot bring himself to murder Weasel. Although DeFelice's ( The Strange Night Writing of Jessamine Colter ) prose is at times moralistic, she effectively conveys the battle between good and evil. The novel's resolution is perhaps a bit too neat; nonetheless, the book succeeds in building tension and revealing thought-provoking ideas about human frailties and the struggle to accept unpleasant truths. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-- Nathan Fowler, 11, narrates a short, exciting story of his adventures in 1839 Ohio--a year in which he faces grave physical danger and arrives at mature moral decisions. Nathan and his younger sister, Molly, fear that misfortune has befallen their father, who has not returned from a hunting expedition. Ezra, a wild-looking, tongueless man, appears at the cabin and beckons them to follow him into the woods. He leads them to their father, who had been wounded in an animal trap and left for dead by a white Indian hunter called Weasel. Nathan is captured by the villainous Weasel, but escapes when the man is in a drunken stupor. Forever after, Nathan reproaches himself for not killing Weasel when he had the chance, but when he attempts to settle the score later on, he realizes that vengeance is not up to him, and that the manly deed sometimes involves patiently waiting for nature to take its course. Written in spare, vivid language, often poetic, the novel is plausible historic fiction that deals with the inhumane treatment of native Americans from a different angle--by turning the brutal results of hate back on the white race itself. The character of Nathan is unforgettable. --Yvonne Frey, Illinois Central College, East Peoria
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (April 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0027264572
• ISBN-13: 978-0027264579
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,036,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scary but good book about Native Americans, February 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Weasel (Paperback)

In this book, Nathan, an eleven-year-old boy, lived in Ohio in 1839. His mother had died, so it was just his father, his sister and himself. Their father usually went hunting during the night, but when they woke up one morning, their father was missing. After five days, Ezra, a pioneer who could not speak, came to take them to his we-gi-wa, where their father lay wounded. While Nathan's father was getting better, Nathan went back home to feed the animals. When he returned home, he discovered that all the animals had either been stolen or killed. Nathan suspected that Weasel has done this. Weasel was a man who was hired by the government to drive out the Shawnee Indians. Ezra was also hired but he changed and sided with the Shawnees. Bad rumors had started about Weasel. For example, he has the need to kill, and since all the Shawnees have been driven out, he has turned against the pioneers. On the way back to Ezra's we-gi-wa, Nathan saw Weasel and using a trick from Ezra, Nathan threw a stick at Weasel. Nathan was now awake in Weasel's cabin.

I think this was a good book because the author describes all the characters and settings very well. The story also has a good plot and is always grabbing your attention. This book is great for intermediate readers because it is exciting, adventurous, but not too long.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WEASEL, May 19, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Weasel (Paperback)

This was a vary good book. It is rather a short book but it is compact. It is an easy read and tells about how life was in the mid 1800s in the rural areas. It takes place in Ohio and is written from the point of view of an 11-year-old boy. Nathan and his sister Molly are home alone on the farm after their mother died, and there Pa had gown missing. They are visited by a strange looking man, Ezra, who leads them deep into the woods to find there Pa who has been badly hurt by weasel. Weasel is a man who went around killing and steeling whenever he could.
The kids and Pa stay with Ezra for a few days until Nathan goes back to the farm to feed the animals. He finds the farm trashed and most of the animals either dead or missing. Nathan knows this was done by weasel and when he is on his journey back to Ezra's he is captured by weasel. He manages to escape and weasel shoots himself in the foot. Pa gets better and they all leave Ezra and return home. Weasel had told Nathan horrible stories about cutting out Ezra's tongue and killing his wife. Now Nathan wants revenge.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Totally inappropriate for young kids!!, December 6, 2010

By 

StephaniefromOU - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weasel (Paperback)

My 10-year-old was assigned to read this book for school and was so disturbed by reading the back cover alone that she was scared to go to bed by herself. When I finally got her calm, I sat down and read it myself and I must say that I find the content TOTALLY inappropriate for a 5th grader. The villian, Weasel, is a government "injun hunter" gone rogue, who now kills whoever and whatever he comes into contact with. At one point, he cuts out a victim's tongue and forces him to watch as he murders the guy's wife and their unborn baby. My child WILL NOT be reading this book any time soon, and the school will be hearing from me in the morning.