The Sign of the Beaver

. Young Matt is alone in the Maine wilderness awaiting his father's return to their cabin when he is attacked by a swarm of bees. To his surprise, he is saved by an Indian chief and his grandson, Attean. The boys come to know each other, many months pass without a sign of Matt's family. Then Attean asks Matt to join the Beaver tribe. Should Matt abandon his hopes for his father's return and join his new family up north Paperback.

When his father returns East to collect the rest of the family, 13-year-old Matt is left alone to guard his family's newly built homestead. One day, Matt is brutally stung when he robs a bee tree for honey. He returns to consciousness to discover that his many stings have been treated by an old Native American and his grandson. Matt offers his only book as thanks, but the old man instead asks Matt to teach his grandson Attean to read. Both boys are suspicious, but Attean comes each day for his lesson. In the mornings, Matt tries to entice Attean with tales from Robinson Crusoe, while in the afternoons, Attean teaches Matt about wilderness survival and Native American culture. The boys become friends in spite of themselves, and their inevitable parting is a moving tribute to the ability of shared experience to overcome prejudice. The Sign of the Beaver was a Newbery Honor Book; author Elizabeth Speare has also won the Newbery Medal twice, for The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Bronze Bow. (Ages 12 and older) --Richard Farr