Overview

Laughing Rain and Awakens Corn are twin girls, members of an Iroquois tribe at the very beginning of the Contact Period in America. In their adolescent years, the twins are alike in every way except for one: a slight difference in their aspirations for life. One dutifully accepts the clan's expectations while her sister craves more adventure. Will the smoldering tension between them destroy their close relationship? Is it better to stay by the cookfire at home or risk death in solitary wandering in the forest? Daily life in a Mohawk-Iroquois village high in the Adirondack Mountains in the year 1616 is vividly portrayed in this book, and with it, the strict separation of gender roles. The girls begin to experience the impact of colonialism with the visit of a missionary to their village. Find out about the rules and traditions that define this society and think about what you have in common with Laughing Rain and Awakens Corn. It seems that teenagers more than 400 years ago were not much different from young people today. See if you agree! And while you are doing that, ask yourself whether you, alone, would be able to survive for several days in the mountains. Would you know how to make a clay pot, identify a poisonous mushroom, or even confront a bear? Their story references 70 mini-essays in Part II: NOTES ABOUT THE STORY that provide fascinating details of history and natural history to deepen our understanding of their lives and find connections with our own.

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9798989906222

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Reviews

This beautiful story should engage the interest of the middle school student and as well as any reader attracted to Native American history. The author artfully brings Iroquois lore, family and village activities to life through the eyes of twin girls coming of age. The reader can feel the Creation Myth as it was supposed to be felt, understand its importance, and almost experience the planting of the Three Sisters. The reader quickly becomes involved in the build-up to the establishment of the Iroquois Confederacy, the first representative government in North America. History tells us what happened, but it is literature that tells us how it felt. The book is a work of art! Kathy Flaherty, (ret.) teacher of Social Studies, Lansingburgh Central School District, Troy, NY

Author Information

Author Bio: Ray E. Phillips enjoyed a long career in which he combined both writing and medicine. As a physician he specialized in cardiovascular disease, family medicine, and community health care. He founded a small foundation that enabled him to travel overseas to undertake medical projects, including in Bangladesh and Nepal. Born and raised in Massachusetts, he spent his adult life close to the Hudson River with whose history and natural beauty he fell in love. He explored it extensively as a hiker, paddler, sailor, and reader. In his own writings he was determined to evoke and pay tribute to the unending dramas played out in the lives of its human and natural denizens across the centuries.

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