Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker [Paperback]

Carolyn Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Great Episodes | Publication Date: October 15, 1992

At the age of nine, Cynthia Ann Parker was captured in an Indian raid and taken to live as a slave with the Comanche. Twenty-four years later, she is the wife of a chief and the mother of a young warrior destined to become the great chief Quanah Parker. But in 1861 Cynthia Ann Parker and her infant daughter are recaptured, and returned against their will to a white settlement. “A skillful examination of how individual identity is determined by cultural and social structures, and of what happens when these are drastically altered.”--Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-- In December 1860, a 34-year-old woman, Naduah--kidnapped 25 years earlier by Comanche Indians--was ``rescued'' by sol diers and returned to the white family who recognized her as their niece/sister/cousin Cynthia Ann Parker. Where the Broken Heart Still Beats tells her story. Naduah-Cynthia Ann was a real person, and Meyer skillfully interweaves fact and fiction in her book, alter nating third-person reminiscences of Naduah's life among the Comanche with journal entries by her 12-year-old cousin, Lucy (the most sen sitive and understanding of the Parkers). The struggle between the two ways of life is long and, in the end, unsuccessful. Both points of view, the Parkers' frustration at Cynthia Ann's reluctance to be ``civilized'' and Naduah's long ing for her Indian family and customs, are pre sented believably and without editorializing. The setting, Texas at the beginning of the Civil War, is smoothly integrated into the story; the captivating characters are well drawn. Meyer includes a map, a bibliography, and an author's note in which she discusses her research and ties loose ends together. Unaccountably miss ing is the information that Naduah-Cynthia Ann's son, Chief Quanah Parker, later located his mother's brother Silas and lived with the family for a time. This omission aside, Where the Broken Heart Still Beats is a fascinating look at the Comanche and their captives and will be enjoyed by teens who like historical fic tion and/or are interested in Native Americans and the West. --Ann W. Moore, formerly at Lane Road Library, Columbus, OH
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

CAROLYN MEYER is the acclaimed author of more than fifty books for young people. Her many award-winning novels include Mary, Bloody Mary, an ABA Pick of the Lists, an NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, a New York Times bestseller; White Lilacs, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an NYPL Best Book for the Teen Age, and an IRA Young Adults' Choice; and Marie, Dancing, a BookSense Pick. Ms. Meyer lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
www.readcarolyn.com

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Graphia; 1 edition (October 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152956026
• ISBN-13: 978-0152956028
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > Native North & South Americans
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Biographies > United States

More About the Author

My first book, MISS PATCH'S LEARN-TO-SEW BOOK, published more than forty years ago, was intended to teach young girls how to knot thread, make a neat stitch, and sew simple items. The main character of my next book, CLEOPATRA CONFESSES, coming in June 2011, is a far cry from the roundish, gray-haired lady with a needle in her hand and spectacles on her nose. Since the thrill of seeing that first book in print, I've written over fifty more books, non-fiction and novels (most recently, historical fiction). In the process I've learned more about writing and a lot about history, a subject that was not my favorite when I was a young student but has become my passion--a passion I love to share with readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where the broken heart still beats: the strong, proud voice of the Comanche People and the harsh realities of frontier life., November 2, 2005

By 

Sarah - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker (Paperback)

A moving YA novel that tells the sad tale of Cynthia Ann Parker, a Texan who was abducted by the Comanche tribe as an nine-year-old in 1836. The Comanches killed her father, mother, uncle and younger siblings in a raid on Fort Parker, and abducted Cynthia and her little brother John as slaves. 25 years later, Cynthia, now Naduah, is happily married to a Comanche chief, Pete Nacoma, and is the mother of of a young daughter, Topsannah, and two fine braves, Quanah and Pecos, when she is recaptured by the Texas Rangers and sent to live with her surviving family.

Naduah's story is told from the dual viewpoints of her own narrative (written in third person), and her cousin Lucy's diary, told in first person. These two women, one a strong chief's wife, gifted in the ways of the Comanche, who seeks nothing more than to escape to rejoin her tribe and (Comanche) family, and the blossoming young cousin, twelve when Naduah first arrives, who is the only one in the family to make an effort to understand Cynthia Ann's experiences with the Comanche as positive. Naduah is constantly scrutinized by the women of the family, moved from household to household as her "heathen, savage" ways and escape attempts become too much to bear.

A touching, melancholy tale based on fact and full of Comanche life and language, Texan frontier culture in the 1800s, along with a commentary on the Civil War, this will appeal to young readers who enjoy historical frontier fiction such as "Little House on the Prairie" and Native American novels such as "Sweetgrass," "Sing Down The Moon," and "Primrose Way." The novel does contain several graphic, violent scenes, so I would not recommend this for younger readers.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Historical significance, September 19, 2007

By 

Jan R. Mccoy "Booker T Gremlin" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker (Paperback)

This is an interesting concept on the history of Cynthia Ann Parker, captured as a child and raised by Indians. This work is focused on the history of the episode and Parker's return and foreced residence among a family she barely remembered. Although Parker rarely communicated her history, the author postures the cruelty of her Indian Captors. One must compare how this story contradicts other works such as "Ride the Wind" by Lucia St. Clair Robson. Robson puts forth the opposite opinion and relates how good the Indians were to the children they took and raised.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Held captive-but by whom?, December 30, 2000

By 

John Baucum (Lubbock, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker (Paperback)

Cynthia Ann Parker was taken from fort parker by the Comanche indians. She became one of them, and eventually married the chief-Peta Nacona. This book details her white family's arduous search for her, and the heartbreak that awaits her when she arrives back in the white man's world. I reccommend this book to anyone who wants to know what true courage really is!