Web Book Report

Sing Down the Moon

Scott O’Dell

Introduction	Summary	Book Review
Characters and Setting	Claire –12 November 12^th, 2004 Language Arts	Author Info

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Introduction

Welcome to my Sing Down the Moon website. This website includes a summary, a description of the characters, a paragraph telling about the setting, facts about the author, and a book review telling about the book.

Summary

This story is about a girl who lives with her tribe in the Canyon De Chelly. The Navahos love their land, and use it to it’s fullest. Her mother owns an abundance of sheep, which she will inherit some day. She loved to herd her mother’s sheep, which she tended to daily.

When she led the sheep up to a small grove up in the canyon one day, her and her friend that accompanied her ran into trouble. Two Spaniards approached them, and bounded and tied them to their horses, taking them into enslavement. They get separated, and sold off to work in white people’s houses. Later on, in their fight to be4 free, they reunite, and escape together. Just as they arrived back into their canyon de Chelly, their tribe had to flee from their sacred canyon, and was to never to return again. A group of white soldiers had taken into slavery the whole Navaho tribe, along with all the other Native American tribes. They were led to an enslavement camp where they were forced to live in tightly packed conditions, with little food and dirty water.

Many of the Navaho tribe died off, leaving only the strong and the young. Bright Morning, who was pregnant with a son, was driven to go back to her sheep in canyon de Chelly. The conditions were so bad, that her husband agreed to make the long, hard journey back to their canyon. They found their home in a hidden cave, high up in the cliffs safe from the harsh weather, where Bright Morning could keep an eye on her sheep and raise her new son.

Characters

The Characters in this story are Bright Morning, Running Bird, and Tall Boy.

Bright Morning is a tall, beautiful Yong girl of fourteen. She and her family live in the Canyon De Chelly with their Navaho tribe. Throughout this story, Bright Morning Struggles to be free, and does not give up until she gets her freedom. She gets wed to Tall Boy, and she gives birth to their son.

Running Bird is Bright Morning’s tall, Beautiful, tall friend who gets taken along with her to the white’s village to work as a servant. Through out this whole story, she stays by her friend’s side, and is a true and loyal friend.

Tall Boy is a tall, strong, arrogant man who has killed many bears and wild animals, hence the name Tall Boy. He is very handsome, and has dark brown eyes, dark hair, and is very tall and strong. Recently he asked Bright Morning’s hand in marriage. She accepts, and they have a son together.

Setting

This story takes place high up in the Canyon De Chelly in a small Navaho village. It has a river running through it, and many groves and pastures for the sheep to graze in. It has fertile soil, which is good for the many different crops grown there. The tiny village makes up the home of one of the greatest Navaho tribes.

About the Author

Scott O’Dell was born on May 23^rd, 1898 in Los Angeles California. As a child his family moved a lot for his father’s job.

Scott O’Dell went to four different collages, where he only took courses that helped his writing career and interested him. Before Scott became a writer, he had several different occupations; one as a cameraman in Hollywood, one serving as a pilot in WW1, and at one time, even a rancher!

In 1934, he began writing stories and articles for adults and in the late 1950’s, he started to write children’s books. He had great success writing books for children, and received many awards for his works.

Scott O’Dell died on October 15^th, 1989.

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Book Review

I would defiantly encourage another seventh grader to read this book because it was suspenseful, interesting and also very educational. It was suspenseful because throughout the whole story Bright Morning and her tribe are fleeing from their capturers, and must seek a safe place to hide from their enemy. This story was interesting because of the very different culture of the Navahos. They do not go to school, but instead learned from the nature around them. This story was also very educational because it showed us how the Native Americans had to fight for their freedom. It also shows all the hard ships they went through to stay together as a people. It told the story through the Native Americans’ eyes, and helped us to see how badly we treated them.