Middle School (9 - 14) Books

THE NIGHT THE WHITE DEER DIED, Gary Paulsen. New York :Delacorte Press, 1990. (Grades 6-10)

A rather murky, New Age type of story about Janet, a loner who dreams of a highly romanticized encounter with a handsome young Indian hunter (the "Noble Savage" stereotype) shooting a white deer. She comes to realize that the old drunken Indian she has seen in the marketplace is the man in the dream. Although beautifully written, especially the imagery and descriptions of the town and the surrounding geography, the Indian man and a Chicano schoolmate are very shallowly drawn. A book to avoid. Reviewed by Lisa Mitten and Naomi Caldwell-Wood