Language: PG-13 (30 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG (Drugs, ghosts) Violence: PG-13 (Assault, stalking, murder)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Hughie Wolfe can't wait for 11th grade to begin so he can jump back into theatre with his friends -- especially since he turned down a previous role last year due it its insensitivity towards his Indigenous roots. Unfortunately, the school has cut down on the theatre budget, and students are left to create plays or theatre activities on their own. Following the lead of his drama teacher, Hughie begins to help set up a Haunted House near the Crossroads at what they call "Harvest House." To his dismay, the students and his teacher want one of the main displays to be an "Indian Burial Ground" which features the tragic "Indian Maiden" who was rumored to have been killed there. Annoyed by the stereotype and misrepresentation of sacred parts of his culture, Hughie can't decide what to do. Then strange things begin happening, and Indigenous women and Latinas start claiming that maybe there is someone haunting that area. Soon, Hughie has to decide if protecting his Indigenous and Latina sisters by staying near Harvest House is worth putting up with the racism and stereotypes of the haunted house's main attractions.
I'm torn about how I feel about this novel. I absolutely love the representation of Indigenous cultures and the way it explored the pressure many minorities feel to always speak up for their cultures/beliefs - those elements were profound and important. At the same time, Hughie's entire moral conflict revolves around using the "Indian Maiden" as a way to create interest in the haunted house, and this feels exactly like what the book does: it takes a mysterious Indigenous ghost to help drive the mystery of the story. It felt like maybe the publishers wanted to do exactly what Hughie was fighting against in the book, so I'm uncomfortable with that. I also felt it didn't have much in terms of spooky or scary, and the ending was rather lackluster bordering on preachy. So I think it's valuable purely for its representation, but it's not a strong novel on its own. Hughie Wolfe is Indigenous with Latin-x and LGBTQ+ friends.
Lisa J HS ELA Teacher
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment