Through 12-year-old Okwaho, who loves to make songs, Bruchac (One Real American) brings a fresh point of view to this briskly told fictionalization of the Iroquois Confederacy's beginnings. Okwaho's family is one of 14 who leave the big village of Onontaka--and the protection of Atatarho, a powerful warrior chief--to avoid "the conflict that never ended": fighting among the five Iroquois Nations. But while trout fishing, Okwaho's best friend Tawis is kidnapped by members of the Oneida, putting the boys' small community at risk of reentering the cycle of violence. When Carries, of the Ganiekehgaono Nation, arrives, he brings with him a message of peace that he hopes to circulate among the nations--one that also helps Okwaho navigate his own conflicts. If the pace slows in the book's second half, as Bruchac interweaves Okwaho's narrative with Haudenosaunee stories of the Peace- maker--whom the Creator sent to end the warfare--the tales bring a depth and resonance to the life and history of the Iroquois Confederacy, as well as to Okwaho's understanding of the world. Ages 9--12. Agent: Barbara Kouts, Barbara Kouts Literary. (Jan.)

Frustrated with the constant warring initiated by their chief, Atatarho, Okwaho's family joins a group leaving their home in Onontaka to start a smaller, peaceful village. One day while fishing, Okwaho's best friend, Tawis, is kidnapped by Oneida warriors in retribution for an Onontakan raid. Okwaho is devastated, but as time passes without Tawis' return, he eases his guilt and anger by listening to stories, among them the legends of Skennerahowi, the Peacemaker. Eventually Okwaho meets the Peacemaker himself and composes a celebratory song for the occasion. While the story contains some fictionalized characters, the framework is based on oral histories recounting the founding of the League of the Iroquois sometime before European contact. The included stories allow Bruchac to share much about Iroquoian family life, culture, and worldviews, and should put to rest the numerous errors to be found in Longfellow's poem, "The Song of Hiawatha." Told with grace, this will be welcomed by history classes and those looking for successful examples of nonviolent, anti-bullying strategies.

"There's no story more important to the People of the Longhouse, the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Nations than that of the Peacemaker." The Peacemaker story has been told for centuries, and while major features remain the same, individual storytellers can add their own spins. Bruchac relates the tale through the eyes of twelve-year-old Okwaho, whose family broke off from the conflict-riddled "big village," Onondaga. Okwaho and his friend Tawis are out hunting when Tawis is kidnapped by men from a neighboring nation. Consumed with anger and guilt, Okwaho wishes to seek revenge, while the village adults contemplate rejoining Onondaga for safety. Chief Atatarho will allow them to return only if everyone in the village successfully runs the gauntlet -- a difficult task. Then a stranger appears with a message from the Peacemaker. Through the eyes of a preteen boy, readers come to understand the losses that resulted from the wars between Native nations. The Peacemaker story affected not only the Iroquois Nation but also the United States itself. In his appended note, Bruchac states that the tale was "admired by such Founding Fathers as Benjamin Franklin [and] held up as one of the models for the United States Constitution and American democracy in general." Nicholl Denice Montgomery July/August 2021 p.106(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Bruchac takes readers to the dawn of the Iroquois Confederacy. Weary of continued war under the warrior chief Atatarho, Okwaho's family and a few others have made the decision to leave the big village of the Onontaka. But despite their decision to live peacefully apart, they cannot seem to escape the continued warfare among the five nations in the region: Okwaho's best friend, Tawis, is kidnapped by the Standing Stone warriors of the Oneida while the pair is fishing for trout. Hoping to return to the protection of the big village, Okwaho's community sends a delegation to negotiate with Atatarho, Okwaho sneaking after to watch and witnessing the chief's promise of more fighting and death. Then a man called Carries, from the Ganiekehgaono Nation, arrives in Okwaho's tiny village to tell them stories of a Peacemaker who will come to confront Atatarho. Basing his tale on the real-life story of the forming of the Iroquois Confederacy, as told to him by Haudenosaunee elders, Bruchac relates it through the eyes of Okwaho. This is a vital story to tell, but by positioning Okwaho primarily as an observer, he hobbles the development of a dynamic protagonist. Still, readers who persist to hear the nested stories told by Carries and Okwaho's clan elders will come away with a new understanding of this moment in history. An important story told too remotely to connect. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 9-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.