Although he faces responsibility bravely, 13-year-old Matt is more than a little sad when his father leaves him alone to guard their new cabin* in the wilderness. His father returns East to collect the rest of the family.

When a renegade* white stranger steals his gun, Matt realizes he has no way to shoot game or to protect himself.

One day, Matt is brutally stung when he robs a bee tree for honey. He returns to consciousness to discover that his many stings have been treated by an old Native American and his grandson Attean, a boy of the Beaver clan. Matt offers his only book as thanks, but the old man instead asks Matt to teach his grandson Attean to read.

Both boys are suspicious*, but Attean comes each day for his lesson. In the mornings, Matt tries to entice* Attean with tales from Robinson Crusoe, while in the afternoons, Attean teaches Matt about wilderness survival and Native American culture. The boys become friends in spite of themselves, and their inevitable parting is a moving tribute to the ability of shared experience to overcome prejudice*. Matt begins to better understand their way of life and their growing problem in adapting to the white man and the changing frontier.

“The Sign of the Beaver” was a Newbery Honor Book. Author Elizabeth Speare has also won the Newbery Medal twice, for “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” and “The Bronze Bow.”

The book is available at online bookstores like jd.com.

(SD-Agencies)