Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Quiet Until the Thaw
Alexandra Fuller
Review by Priscilla Comen
Quiet Until the Thaw
Alexandra Fuller
Review by Priscilla Comen
Quiet Until the Thaw by Alexandra Fuller is an interesting exposure of Indian life and personalities. Author Fuller helps us to know them, each one on their Pine Ridge reservation. Two cousins, Rick Overlooking Horse and You Choose Watson are profiled. You Choose came to us from birth when his father, asked to name his son, said, “You choose”. And that was it!
Rick’s uncle is a great rodeo rider, staying on broncs for more than eight minutes, and riding off into the sunset. Rick buys the latest bronc for what he has in his pockets, and breeds the stud. He has many fine ponies in his corral. He becomes a wealthy man, and eventually a leader in his tribe. You Choose ends up in prison. Author Fuller compares the astronauts on the moon who express hopes for peace with the violence that erupts all over the Lakota nation. The siege at Wounded Knee went on and on. The Indians made three demands. After sixty -nine days, a truce was called by the elders of the tribe and US marshals arrested the leader of the siege. But a month later, a Minnesota judge dismissed the case. You Choose went to jail for shooting off his guns, burning down the tribal council house, and robbing a liquor store.
There is always trouble on the reservations. Fuller describes it poetically. Part Two deals with Thunder Hawk’s visit to Palestine. She is the mother of Le-a Brings Plenty, who doesn’t know who her father is. Thunder Hawk has a photo of herself with Arafat in Palestine. Because of multiple DUIs, Le-a goes to prison. She has herself prison-tattooed on both arms. She scrawls slogans on the walls of her cell block, shower block and rec room. In solitary, she plans her future. But fate intervenes when a dying woman delivers twin boys and gives them to Le-a. She cares for them as if they were her own. Everyone on the rez loves them. Author Fuller peppers fantastic Indian stories throughout this book. Le-a and Squanto (her mate) raise the twins and Rick Overlooking Horse tells them Indian tales. You Choose has costly legal bills and the twins, now fifteen years old, decide to ride in a rodeo contest to win the money. Riding bareback and stopping to rest, they still win the race. Will the twins go on to a good future or end up in jail like their ancestors? Author Fuller gives a real picture of life on the reservation and the problems there. Find this interesting book on the new fiction shelf of your community library.
Rick’s uncle is a great rodeo rider, staying on broncs for more than eight minutes, and riding off into the sunset. Rick buys the latest bronc for what he has in his pockets, and breeds the stud. He has many fine ponies in his corral. He becomes a wealthy man, and eventually a leader in his tribe. You Choose ends up in prison. Author Fuller compares the astronauts on the moon who express hopes for peace with the violence that erupts all over the Lakota nation. The siege at Wounded Knee went on and on. The Indians made three demands. After sixty -nine days, a truce was called by the elders of the tribe and US marshals arrested the leader of the siege. But a month later, a Minnesota judge dismissed the case. You Choose went to jail for shooting off his guns, burning down the tribal council house, and robbing a liquor store.
There is always trouble on the reservations. Fuller describes it poetically. Part Two deals with Thunder Hawk’s visit to Palestine. She is the mother of Le-a Brings Plenty, who doesn’t know who her father is. Thunder Hawk has a photo of herself with Arafat in Palestine. Because of multiple DUIs, Le-a goes to prison. She has herself prison-tattooed on both arms. She scrawls slogans on the walls of her cell block, shower block and rec room. In solitary, she plans her future. But fate intervenes when a dying woman delivers twin boys and gives them to Le-a. She cares for them as if they were her own. Everyone on the rez loves them. Author Fuller peppers fantastic Indian stories throughout this book. Le-a and Squanto (her mate) raise the twins and Rick Overlooking Horse tells them Indian tales. You Choose has costly legal bills and the twins, now fifteen years old, decide to ride in a rodeo contest to win the money. Riding bareback and stopping to rest, they still win the race. Will the twins go on to a good future or end up in jail like their ancestors? Author Fuller gives a real picture of life on the reservation and the problems there. Find this interesting book on the new fiction shelf of your community library.