This story is about a Native American boy who has a sight impairment and it is harder for him to earn his adult name than other boys. He has to learn to rely on other senses since he can't see. Walnut goes on a dangerous journey which helps him earn his name. Walnut gradually learns confidence in himself through his journey in finding his name. He also learned the respect of his tribe by going on a dangerous adventure. This book is exciting and will keep you reading to the end!! ( )

fair - Katrina

I enjoyed this book a lot because it has a lot of meaning and it is very metaphorical. My favorite part was in the very beginning when the boy's mother found out that the boy can not hunt very good because he can not see. She then takes him and teaches him to see with his ears. She does this by blindfolding him in a different part of the forest than what he was used to seeing. I like this so very much because it shows that although he can not see with his eyes, there are other ways to see without your eyes. That particular part has a lot of meaning. Another thing is that he feels out of place because he is different and "not as good as the others" since he can not see but he ends up actually having an advantage because of his skill to be able to see behind trees. ( )

Wonderfully written, you can really understand what it is like to be severely nearsighted. Dorris writes sympathetically of a boy on the brink of becoming a man who is worried that he won't be good enough. As he fails again and again to shoot accurately, his mother realizes he can't see the target. We find there are many ways he has just figured out how to get along with poor sight, some of which help him pay attention to what most other people miss. He goes on a journey with an elder, and learns that being an adult often means keeping secrets.
The time and place are left vague, but we get the idea that this is a Native American (or Canadian) in pre-contact times. ( )

In turns lyrical, wise, and funny, this compelling novel, set in sixteenth-century America, tells the story of how one Native American boy learns to turn handicap into an advantage as he crossed the often blurred boundaries between being a child and becoming a man.