Culture 4

Bibliography
Dorris, Michael. 1992. MORNING GIRL. New York, NY: Hyperion. ISBN 1562822845.

Plot Summary
This is the story of two children living with their family on an island. The two main characters are Morning Girl and Star Boy. The brother and sister tell their story in alternating chapters. We see life on the island as one of beauty and survival. The family endures the tragedy of losing a baby that does not make it to full term, and we see how each member of the family deals differently with the loss. There is a terrible storm that destroys most of the homes on the island, yet we see the resiliency of these people by seeing how easily they pick themselves up and are able to go on and rebuild their homes. This is all told through the eyes of two children. The end of the book, during the epilogue, hints that times will be changing for the worse for these people.

Critical Analysis
In this story the back cover is the only place that gives clues as to where and when the story takes place and the name of the people. The back cover tells us that this story of the Taino people living on a Bahamian island in 1492. The book starts right away with a young girl talking about her name. Naming a person is a very important cultural marker in this story and its theme is carried throughout the book. Morning girl was given her name because she always wakes up early and with something on her mind. We also find out that on this island a person’s name can change. Morning girl’s brother was originally named Hungry, because he was always hungry and loved food. His named changed as he got older and a more appropriate name was decided on by him and his parents. He becomes Star Boy in the second chapter because he likes the night, and sleeps late into the day. The plot revolves around the daily life of the family. The family faces many difficulties throughout the story, but the close knit family works through all these difficulties as a family. We also see Morning Girl and Star Boy as typical siblings. They annoy each other and often disagree and argue, and like most siblings they also care deeply about one another and are able to work out their differences. After one incident where Morning Girl helps Star Boy retain his pride, Star Boy calls his sister in private The One Who Stands Beside.

The text is well written and flows smoothly. The story does not have many culturally authentic words in it. The author gives good and vivid descriptions of his characters. At one point Morning Girl want to know who Morning Girl really is and her and her mother go over what her face looks like. Morning girl comes to this conclusion “She has a chin like a starfish, and brows like white clouds on the horizon. Her nose works. Her cheeks swell into mountains when she smiles. The only thing right about her is her ears.” There are these types of descriptions used throughout the book. Since it is written through children’s eyes they use what they know when they are describing things.

The abstract at the end of the story is from the diary of Christopher Columbus. In this letter we see that he feels that this group of people needs to be changed. They need Christianity and language. He feels that even though they are kind and welcoming to him that “they should be good and intelligent servants”. He could not just accept that they did not need to be changed. They were happy and self sufficient as they were. It was a sad ending.

Review Excerpts
From School Library JournalGrade 3-6. A story of a Taino girl and her brother, set in 1492 in the Bahamas. Sibling rivalry, jealously, and love?all are related with elegance and warmth, reflecting a simplicity of lifestyle and universality of experiences. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Kirkus Reviews( August 15, 1992 ; 1-56282-284-5 ) Like the quiet lap of waves on the sand, the alternating introspections of two Bahamian island children in 1492. Morning Girl and her brother Star Boy are very different: she loves the hush of pre-dawn while he revels in night skies, noise, wind. In many ways they are antagonists, each too young and subjective to understand the other's perspective--in contrast to their mother's appreciation for her brother. In the course of these taut chapters concerning such pivotal events as their mother's losing a child, the arrival of a hurricane, or Star Boy's earning the right to his adult name, they grow closer. In the last, Morning Girl greets-- with cordial innocence--a boat full of visitors, unaware that her beautifully balanced and textured life is about to be catalogued as ``very poor in everything,'' her island conquered by Europeans. This paradise is so intensely and believably imagined that the epilogue, quoted from Columbus's diary, sickens with its ominous significance. Subtly, Dorris draws parallels between the timeless chafings of sibs set on changing each other's temperaments and the intrusions of states questing new territory. Saddening, compelling--a novel to be cherished for its compassion and humanity. (Fiction. 8+)


Connections
Students can research the Taino people
Discuss the relationship between the Native Taino people and the Europeans
Discuss present day Taino people