THE BLOOD OF THE BRAVE

by Betty Baker ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 27, 1966

Over the past few years Betty Baker's name on a book has come to mean a darned good Indian story coming up. She's never matched the humor of The Shaman's Last Raid and this new book hasn't the special trapped-in-time-and-circumstance qualities that invested Walk the World's Rim. It's closer to the general run of juvenile historical fiction, but it does come out ahead. Juan, the boy hero, has a dog. It's a greyhound and although these dogs are fast and slim, they do eat like starving dogs and have a tendency to become brainlessly involved. Thus, the book becomes a boy-hero/dog story. Juan's in Cuba, Cortez is about to invade Montezuma's Mexico, and Juan, his father and the dog join the the book has a boy, a dog, an army, blood in battles and blood in expedition. Thus, Aztec sacrifices. It's a combination as sure as the old Lincoln's Doctor's Dog formula in adult books, but additionally, the Aztecs get a fair shake here. As you would expect from an author who has done sensitive Indian stories, the primitive culture is revealed and with some amusingly believable details in its integrity without determined villains, of home life and army life at the time.

Pub Date: April 27, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1966

Categories: FICTION