To Walk the Sky Path

By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Book Overview

Billie Tommie, a ten-year-old Seminole Indian, lives with his family in a chickee on a mangrove island in the Florida Everglades. Billie is the first in his family to attend school. Now he walks in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440406366
• ISBN13: 9780440406365
• Release Date: May 1992
• Publisher: Yearling
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.5" x 5.3"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

A book about the Seminole culture

Ten year-old Billie is a Seminole native american. He lives in the Florida Everglades with his grandpa, grandma, brother, sister, mom, dad, and uncle.Billie is the first one in his family to go to school. When he sleeps over at his friend Jeff's house, he cannot understand how they can eat food that was in a box or a can.Seminole native american or All-American person, Billie wonders which he would like to be more.I recommend tihs book to people who like books about other cultures.

A funny book about the Indian sky path

Billie Tommie, a ten year-old boy, lives in the Indian ways but now he is going to school with the white boys. Billie's grandfather, Abraham, tells Billie legends and stories of the Indian ways. Grandfather says if Billie leads a good life, he will walk the sky path, the city in the sky, when he dies. Billie wants to walk the sky path but he wants to learn about the white man's ways too!Which path will Billie take?I think this book did not have a lot of action. But in some parts it was funny!I would recommend this book to people who don't like excitement.

CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO CULTURES

Ten-year-old Billie Tommy is a Seminole Indian who lives with his family in a chickee in the Florida Everglades. He struggles to find a path through life which is both true to his heritage yet helpful to modern society. But it is very difficult even for adutls to straddle two worlds with opposing social values. We learn about Seminole history, customs, religion, and injustice from white men. We experience terrible hurricanes plus American crudeness and prejudice. Will Billie choose to become a New Indian or walk the path to being a True Indian, as taught by his grandfather?. Throughout the entire story there lurks the spectre of The Big One--a 15-foot alligator which terrorizes the locals. When the boys are out frogging, will the Big One get them at last? Billie's grandparents are set in the old ways and refuse to accept life in a new camp. And why won't his uncle teach him to wrestle an alligator, which earns good pay? This is a very thoughtful book with both physical and mental action. Reminds us how hard it must be to walk the social tightrope beween two worlds in modern society, and how shamefully many whites treat native Americans. There are men of honor and wisdom among all native populations, with words of dignity which all races should value. (A book with a similar locale but set 80 years ago is Lostman's River, by Cynthia De Felice.)