Thursday, July 7, 2016

Review: Star Boy by Paul Goble #NativeAmerican #DiverseBooks



Summary:
Star Boy was the son of Morning Star and an earthly bride. He was banished from the Sky World for this mother's disobedience and bore a mysterious scar on his face, the symbol of the Sun's disapproval. 
As Star Boy grew, he came to love the chief's daughter, and it was she who helped him find the courage to journey to the Sky World and make peace with the Sun. The Sun not only lifted the scar but sent Star Boy back to the world with the sacred knowledge of the Sun Dance, a ceremony of thanks for the Creator's blessing.


My review:
This is an excellent telling of an Native American legend. Here we have the morning star who marries a girl from the Earth. He takes her back to the sky to meet his parents who are the Sun and the moon.

A child is born from the two but  is cursed with an ugly scar because his mother disobey a warning. He grows up on Earth for a long time but wants to marry the chief's daughter. He must make the journey back to Grandfather Sun to remove his ugliness.  He manages to do so and promises to worship and honor him every year for health.

In real life, this honoring of the sun and remembering of ancestors is called the Sun Dance. It is still held today in secret and is sacred to Native American nations.

I loved this re-telling and made me understand a little bit more about the Sun Dance and its origins. I am honored to know such a thing.

Disclosure: I obtained a copy of this book at our local library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. 

Where to find the author:

Amazon
Goodreads

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