Adaline Falling Star

by Mary Pope Osborne

Book Overview

Award-winning author Mary Pope Osborne's first middle-grade novel is a gripping girl survival story reminiscent of such classics as *Island of the Blue Dolphins* and *Julie of the Wolves*. LOVE AND... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439059488
• ISBN13: 9780439059480
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Scholastic Signature
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 9 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 9

Customer Reviews

Adaline Falling Star is a must read book

The book Adaline Falling Star by Marietta D. Moskin is a great book. This story is about a girl whose mother died and the only thing she has to remember her by is a doll. She is now living with her father who has to go away on business, so Adaline is left with her father's awful cousin Silus and his family. They won't let her play games and they make her do work all day. They think she is really weird because she barely ever talks and she always seems to be busy with something in her bag. Adaline calls this bag, "Her bag of possibles." So one day they take her bag of possibles (which had the doll her mom made for her) and burn it. She became so upset she cut herself with a knife and ran away looking for her father. You should read this enjoyable book and find out what happens to Adaline on her journey.

adaline

This book was great!! I read it last year and loved it. After her mother dies Adaline falling star must go live with her horrible relitives. They treat her like a servant and act like she is a indean because her mother was one. It's a great book!!

I LOVED IT!!!

Um...Like I said, I really loved this book. This is the first time I've read a book on the journey of a young Arapaho girl and a dog she met on the way. I believe Falling Star is a hero. This book is meant to be about the real life and views of the real Adaline/Falling Star. She is the daughter of an Arapaho mother and a White Man called Kit Carson. Since her mother died, Falling Star is forced to live with her cruel ignorant cousin while her father goes on an expedition. Before Falling Star's father leaves, they exchange promises that he'll come back and that Falling Star will stay and wait for him. As soon as he leaves, Falling Star is treated badly by her cousin's family, forcing Falling Star to act mute so that she will not speak to them. She is treated as a slave and not a student, like her father wished. Falling Star obediently waits for her father to come back, and then one day, she is told that he is in New Mexico and mentioned nothing of his daughter to anyone during his expedition. Falling Star feels betrayed. Was her father ashamed of his half red daughter? This news causes Falling Star to run away from her cousins and down the Mississipi River to find her Arapaho people. Just when she was just about to give up, Falling Star is saved by an ugly mongrel. At first, she tries to leave the dog, but finds already that the mongrel has already slipped into her heart. Together, Falling Star and her dog start their journey to find her people and her father who left her. The theme of this story is about promises, wether they are said or not. The promise in this story is to never leave your loved one, whatever the consequences. I really enjoyed this book and the journey that Falling Star and her dog go through together flying through tough times with the spirit of the Holy Spirit and the Great Spirit of the Arapaho and the Catholic Religion. I loved this book and I admire the heroic spirit of Adaline Falling Star.

Well-researched historical fiction

Eleven-year-old Adaline is considered a savage by her white relatives with whom she has been left by her father, Kit Carson, while he is on an expedition with John C. Fremont. Though she is intelligent and has received some education, she dares not allow these people to know that she is able to speak. Still grieving over the loss of her Arapaho mother, she is left alone in this hostile and unfamiliar environment in Saint Louis, taking comfort only in her "Ma doll," who seems to communicate with her in her silent world, a few other remnants of her former life, and a mutually-understanding relationship which she develops with the family's slave, Caddie. When Adaline finally breaks away from this unbearable life, her courage and strength are tested even further. The author's careful research has provided an accurate historical backdrop for this fictionalized account. Told from Adaline's point of view, the author skillfully creates a voice for this character with whom the reader can both sympathize and admire. The ending comes together perhaps a little bit too neatly to be believable, but it does not detract from the overall appeal of the book.

Finally, a little reality . . .

I am glad Ms. Osborne has not spared the terrible truth in how Native Americans were viewed. Her writing is poetic, fast-paced, very touching, and provides a heck of a history lesson. I have always enjoyed stories of people finding courage and clarity in themselves. This will be one of my very favorites!