Moon of Two Dark Horses

by Sally M. Keehn

Book Overview

Coshmoo and Daniel have been best friends as long as the Delaware Indians and white settlers have lived peacefully along the Susquehanna River. But now the river is red with blood as people from both sides are killed in the Revolutionary War. The British king wants Coshmoo's people to fight on his side, and holds out the promise that their land, which has been taken by the settlers, will be returned to them. As the tension grows, Coshmoo and Daniel...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0698119495
• ISBN13: 9780698119499
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Moon of Two Dark Horses

An Indian named Coshmoo lives in small village on Tioga Point. His white friend Daniel once talked to a trader named Big Nose who sided with General Washington in the Revolutionary War. Big Nose told Daniel a story of a great water creature and gave him a tooth from it so when Daniel finds it, it will show him the way to stop the Revolutionary Way. When Coshmoo is told this from Daniel they go out in search of it on sacred land. The two boys get caught and aren't supposed to speak with each other ever again. Coshmoo learns that his older cousin Flying Wolf might attach Daniel's village. Flying Wolf sides with the Brittish when they come to Tioga Point. Can Daniel and Coshmoo stop their two societies from killing each other? I think the message of the story was to never give up on your friends. When you think about it, if everybody was there for their friends then no one would ever be left alone. Friends are one of the biggest needs people have. So this is a very good message to spread to young people. The author made a good point on how the family was really important to Indians. Coshmoo always dreamed to be like his father, hunt with a gun like his father and to free the fighting warriors. It was a great idea to have an Indian and a white settler work together to stop their societies from killing one another. In conclusion, I really think this book gets two thumbs up because of the link between the Indian and the white settler. Even when they were told to not see each other both did not give up on their friend. Again, Moon of Two Dark Horses is a fabulous book and I strongly recommend it. Jonathan Geneste

Moon of Two Dark Horses

As a college student, I found the book to be very well written and quite entertaining. The book was able to convey the message of strong friendship-through thick and thin. Although they had grown apart, Coshmoo and Daniel were able to remain friends until the end. The book was also able to inform the reader on a important time in the nation's history, the American Revolution. The book gave the reader two different perspectives on the Revolutionary War and supported each side with facts and opinions. This book would be a great tool to use when explaining or discussing the American Revolution to a classroom. It gives the students a creative view on historical information, and may also help the student to better understand concepts related to the Revolutionary War.

Crossing Boundaries

Crossing Boundaries The book Moon of Two Dark Horses is about a Delaware Indian boy named Coshmoo, who is living during the Revolutionary war. He is a friend to a white boy named Daniel. His tribe is being torn between the two sides of the war. They do not know whose side to join. While the British have more supplies and can provide Coshmoo with ammunition for his beloved gun, he does not want to go to war. This war also has an affect on his personal life. He has been friends with Daniel and does not want to loose his friendship with him. In my opinion, this was a good book and I would probably rate it four stars. Personally, I like to read historical books so I liked this book. I also like to read books about Indians. In conclusion, I enjoyed reading this book.

A very good book depicting a village of Delawares

A great book about the Delawares during colonial times. A story about a boy who yourns for a musket and when he gets it goes to drastic measures to get ammunition, while having a friend who's uncle hates him. When winter comes so do hard times when the British King pressures them to join the Britians in the Revolution.

A classic transcending age, time, or place

There are books one can read as a child and return to at different ages and stages, each time finding more. "Moon of Two Dark Horses" is such a book. It's timeless, it's all but ageless (the age range assigned by the publisher seems a bit on the young side). Keehn's lyricism,her seamless weaving of local history and legend, Delaware Indian myth, and human fallibility into an all-too-universal tapestry, can best be appreciated by older, even--perhaps especially--adult readers. Friendship, love, courage, conflicting loyalties, and mistaken perceptions combine with Keehn's overarching sensitivity to nature to create a gripping narrative that impels the reader toward a masterfully foreshadowed tragedy as old as its Pennsylvania hills and as current as the headlines from Afghanistan. More than a book--an experience worth revisiting.