Summary
In powerful, vivid verse, the master behind The Watch That Ends the Night recounts one of history's most harrowing--and chilling--tales of survival.
In 1846, a group of emigrants bound for California face a choice: continue on their planned route or take a shortcut into the wilderness. Eighty-nine of them opt for the untested trail, a decision that plunges them into danger and desperation and, finally, the unthinkable. From extraordinary poet and novelist Allan Wolf comes a riveting retelling of the ill-fated journey of the Donner party across the Sierra Nevadas during the winter of 1846-1847. Brilliantly narrated by multiple voices, including world-weary, taunting, and all-knowing Hunger itself, this novel-in-verse examines a notorious chapter in history from various perspectives, among them caravan leaders George Donner and James Reed, Donner's scholarly wife, two Miwok Indian guides, the Reed children, a sixteen-year-old orphan, and even a pair of oxen. Comprehensive back matter includes an author's note, select character biographies, statistics, a time line of events, and more. Unprecedented in its detail and sweep, this haunting epic raises stirring questions about moral ambiguity, hope and resilience, and hunger of all kinds.
Author Notes
Allan Wolf is an acclaimed poet and storyteller. Along with his two other historical verse novels, The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic and New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery , he is the author of The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts and the young adult novels Who Killed Christopher Goodman? and Zane's Trace . Allan Wolf lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--The plight of the infamous Donner Party is told in the form of short essays, prayers, and poems. "Hunger" is the omniscient narrator providing an overview of the activity, with members of the Reed family as the dominant narrators. The perspective of two Miwok guides leading one of the rescue parties shows the effect of Manifest Destiny on Indigenous populations. Divided into sections that follow the party from Illinois to California, the narrative chronicles the arrogance which led to the decision to use a "new" untested trail, and the severe consequences the families suffered as a result. Trapped by early, heavy snowfall, small groups left in search of supplies and assistance. Some made it through and found help. Rescue parties were formed with several attempts made to reach the families at their camps, but some of these rescue parties met the same fate as the families they set out to save. Eventually, the survivors were rescued and taken to Sutter's Fort. Wolf provides detailed notes and historical context. The names of local tribes and the Indigenous name for the lake the families sheltered at are provided. Brief biographies of the survivors round out the notes. VERDICT A detailed account of the Donner Party's travel and survival. A good companion title Skila Brown's To Stay Alive. For general purchase.--Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Lib., WA
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this ambitious novel in verse about the infamous 19th-century expedition, Wolf (The Day the Universe Exploded My Head) accomplishes the seemingly impossible: an evocative and sympathetic rendering of a horrific historical event. Told in eight distinctive voices--with Hunger in the role of omniscient narrator--among them several minor speakers, two children, and two Miwok vaqueros, the book builds in slow, harrowing suspense toward the moment when imminent starvation forces the characters to consider "a final contingency," that one of their bodies "might deliver the rest from death." As the original Donner and Reed family members travel west to California from Illinois, they join forces with others, eventually becoming a group of 87 that encounters increasingly difficult conditions and growing hunger, culminating in unexpected early blizzards ("Silent. And soft. And slow") that strand the party. The individual voices quickly become recognizable, a combined chorus that creates a multidimensional telling of this "catastrophic failure" that haunts the problematic story of western expansion. The rich extensive back matter (including "Native Americans and the Donner Party," "Reality Checks," and numerous statistics) adds historical context and factual clarity to this arresting saga. Ages 14--up. (Sept.)
Horn Book Review
As in his previous works of historical fiction, including The Watch That Ends the Night (rev. 9/11), Wolf here deploys a cast of characters (a few not human) to provide a fictionalized account of a major event from the past, grounded in thorough research. He describes his storytelling style as "narrative pointillism": "Each point has its own unique perspective. And only by stepping back to consider all the points together will the picture or story become complete." Six sections, each covering roughly a two-month span of time, faithfully track the ill-fated titular expedition from optimistic start to tragic end. Various participants relate events in (mostly) free verse; each bringing his or her (or its) own viewpoint to bear. These characters serve as guides, from eight-year-old Patty Breen with her child's-eye view, to George Donner's erudite and resourceful wife, to two converted Miwok vaqueros dispatched from Fort Sutter to assist the party -- only to end up being killed and eaten. Ever-present Hunger, "The Narrator," appears throughout in prose sections to clarify plot points, offer philosophical reflections, and reframe characters' motivations. Careful attention to detail, skillful character development, and expert pacing prevent this ambitious undertaking from buckling under its vast scope. The forty pages of back matter are essential reading as well. Wolf documents his extensive research; among the appended material are profiles of selected characters, a section on "Native Americans and the Donner Party," a timeline, insight into what's real and what's not, and a lengthy recommended reading list. Two maps not seen. Kitty Flynn November/December 2020 p.114(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In the spring of 1846, a large caravan set out from Springfield, Illinois, seeking land and fortune in California. Some of the families knew each other; most of them did not. They traveled together for safety and tolerated each other as individual personalities and ambitions become apparent on the trip. The narrators are so numerous that it is difficult to keep track of them all; among them are three members of the Reed family--teenage Virginia, dubbed "the Princess"; young Patty, "the Angel," whose sections are addressed to God; and their father, James, who set his sights on leadership and faster travel via a shortcut. Other characters include a woman dubbed "the Scholar," who is attached to her books; an orphan teen who joins the party along the way; and a German man who loses his faculties as one of the last survivors. Another narrator who outlasts the rest is the impersonal Hunger, whose familiarity with human longing explains the extreme behavior of the travelers. This historical narrative reads like a thriller, with nature, arrogance, ignorance, and greed as the villains, and it focuses on White settlers without glorifying them. The two Miwok vaqueros who serve as guides for a portion of the journey leave readers wanting more Indigenous voices; their presence, though, adds to the title's poignancy as an exploration of the inhumanity involved in Westward expansion. This mature corrective to cultural mythology horrifies and edifies. (maps, author's note, historical notes, glossaries, additional reading) (Verse historical fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Wolf applies the same narrative treatment he expertly deployed in The Watch That Ends the Night (2011) to another infamous tragedy, that of the Donner Party. With a mixture of poetry and prose, the American settlers' westward journey is narrated by various members of the caravan, including children of the Reed family, Tamzene Donner ("The Scholar"), and, most chillingly, Hunger. Wolf's meticulous research--detailed in a hefty afterword--leeches into every word of his spare, evocative writing, which charts the journey's deterioration from hopeful to harrowing. Also among the tale's voices are two Native guides, who ensure that the deplorable treatment of Native Americans is not erased from the broader story of westward expansion. Though historical fiction, this book is truly slow-burn horror that sees relationships strained, loyalties fractured, minds shattered, and a body count that piles up like the snow relentlessly falling on the trapped travelers. While famous for resorting to cannibalism, the group's decision to eat its dead is agonizingly made and relayed without judgement. Wolf stokes empathy in the reader for these most unfortunate travelers, and those whose fascination is also sparked will want to dig into the book's back matter, which is packed with historical notes, biographies, stats, a time line, and resources on the Donner Party. Another bone-chilling, unshakable success by Wolf.
