Oak Hill Public Library

Danger Along the Ohio

by Patricia Willis

Horn Book Fiction: I Amos and his siblings are separated from their father during an Indian attack as they travel the Ohio River in 1793. The survival story moves quickly, but sentimental subplots mixed with romanticized views of Native people weaken the tale: Amos befriends a Shawnee boy after saving his life, thinks that if kidnapped and adopted by the Indians he'll be able to forget a tragedy he caused, and finally finds peace with the help of a sage old Indian. Horn Rating: Marginal, seriously flawed, but with some redeeming quality. Reviewed by: jmb (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus A bracing work of historical fiction makes an unfriendly place of the Ohio riverfront as three children fight for their lives. In May 1793 the motherless Dunn family--Papa, Amos, Clara, and Jonathan--have almost completed their long trek from eastern Pennsylvania to the place where they hope to make a new life, the Ohio frontier. Amos, 13, is particularly anxious to start over; his memory of a terrible event and his subsequent guilt can be assuaged only in a new place. When the riverboat that is to carry the family to Marietta is ambushed by Indians, a terrible battle ensues, and in the confusion, the boat goes adrift, carrying the Dunn children down river. A second Indian attack causes them to abandon the boat and they land on the north shore of the Ohio River. Their only course is to walk to Marietta, following the river. Along the way, Amos spots a boy clinging to a floating log, and rescues him. He is an Indian boy, barely alive from a gunshot wound, and the children start to nurse him back to health. Still ahead for them: They are taken prisoner by a band of Shawnee, and need to reach Marietta, hoping to see their father again. Willis (Out of the Storm, 1995, etc.) has created a rousing adventure; it will have readers turning the pages and rooting for the spunky Dunn kids all the way. (Fiction. 9-12)

School Library Journal Gr 4-7?Willis combines the suspense of a page-turner, the danger level of a thriller, the fascination of a survival story, and the ease of a hi/lo vocabulary. In 1793, three siblings (Amos, 13; Clara, 12; Jonathan, 7) are separated from their father during their immigration, via flatboat, down the Ohio River from their Pennsylvania home to a new beginning in the Ohio wilderness. After an Indian attack, the three are left with no adult support, scant supplies, no transportation, and a cow in tow to journey along the dangerous Shawnee side of the Ohio to the safety of the Marietta settlement. Readers will recognize the breathless pace they've loved in action movies, defined by the eruption of a new crisis on the heels of each crisis resolution, as the siblings struggle against the odds: scavenging food; stealing fire from the Indians; whittling tools for catching supper; rescuing a young Shawnee from drowning; and treating wounds with chickweed and birch leaves. The author's sturdy plot advances distinctly and chronologically, resulting in pure suspense. She keeps her vocabulary action-oriented and her dialogue straightforward. The young Shawnee's presence raises intriguing philosophical questions regarding the nature of communication and the components of true friendship. After all of this, who could complain about a contrived happy ending??Liza Bliss, Worcester Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list Gr. 4^-7. When Shawnee Indians raid the settlement where their flatboat is moored, 13-year-old Amos and his younger sister and brother free the craft and escape, not knowing whether their father has survived. Forced to land on the Shawnee side of the river after a flaming arrow sets the boat afire, they head for Marietta, Ohio, where they hope to meet their father. On the way, they save an injured Shawnee boy and are captured by warriors from his tribe. Eventually, they learn that they have less to fear from Red Moccasin and his kin than they believed, and Amos finds the courage to "plant a seed of friendship." In this fast-paced adventure, Willis successfully re-creates the anti-Indian prejudice of 1795 when white easterners fought to settle Ohio. --Chris Sherman

From Booklist, Copyright � American Library Association. Used with permission.

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