A BOY OF TACHE

by Ann Blades ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 1977

A view of life in British Columbia different from last year's Mila of Mile 18, this one reads more naturally as there is no conventional story imposed on the material. Here the scene is Tache, a Carrier Indian reservation where Charlie lives with his grandparents Za and Virginia. Like other Indians on the reserve, the three of them travel up-river and across lakes for beaver trapping in early spring. They stay in one of a cluster of cabins, set their traps, shoot and eat a grouse, camp out one night on a bed of cedar boughs--but then Za catches ""a cold sick,"" Virginia fears it's pneumonia, and Charlie has to go phone for an ambulance plane from a distant camp. None of this is dramatized and, like her narrative, Blades' naive watercolors avoid closeups of Charlie. If neither is involving--or as sharp as the details of harsh living in Mila-both text and pictures have the certain authenticity that makes the visit worthwhile.

Pub Date: Feb. 7, 1977

ISBN: 0887763502

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tundra Books--dist. by Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1977

Categories: CHILDREN'S