Quanah Parker - Hardcover

Len Hilts is a contributor for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt titles including Quanah Parker.

Grade 5-8 Hilts' biography is a readable but problematic account of the life of Comanche chief Quanah Parker. Quanah was the last major hold-out in the long and bitter fight to prevent the Comanches from being placed on a reservation, but after his surrender in 1875, he lead his people in the assimilation of a new way of life. Fictionalizing is used extensively; this produces neither a good biography nor a good story. The requirements of the one genre (accuracy, careful distinction between speculation and fact) conflict with those of the other (creativity, imagination), resulting in an uneven and sometimes misleading story. Dialogue at the beginning of the book is obviously made up (``Hey, at least I'm joining the hunt''), while in the last few chapters, Hilts uses direct (but undocumented) quotes. Most of the book deals with Quanah's youth and fight against the government, while the last 35 years of his life, during which time he became a rancher, a judge, and a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, are too briefly summarized. The book contains an extensive bibliography of mostly adult titles, but includes Julian May's Quannah: Leader of the Comanches (Creative Educational Soc., 1973; o.p.). For good historical fiction based on the lives of real people, turn to Scott O'Dell. For information on Quanah suitable for a school report, use Russell Freedman's Indian Chiefs (Holiday, 1987). Allen Meyer, Vernon Area Public Library District, Prairie View, Ill.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.