SONS OF THE PINES

by Marion & Walter Havighurst ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 1949

This Land of the Free series (edited by Erick Best) is presenting various national cultures as they are grafted on to American soil. The material is fresh- there's definite supplementary reading value for schools in an almost untouched field. And the line-up of author names is impressive. There is danger here, however- and this book illustrates it. Walter Havighurst knows the region of which he writes- the Wisconsin lumber tracts; doubtless he knows their history, their development, the people who settled them. But he hasn't the story-teller's gift; the story pattern is stereotyped, the characters two dimensional, lacking in warmth and human values. This is the story of a Norwegian boy, an orphan of fifteen, a blade sharpener by trade, who learns- when he comes to Wisconisn- to adapt his knowledge to the making of cant hooks, which prove a valuable innovation in American lumber camps. Pretty thin story, with rather contrived incidents, of value chiefly for its teaching of the contribution other nationalities have made to America's melting pot.

Pub Date: May 2, 1949

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1949

Categories: FICTION