The Sign of the Beaver

Matt is a little apprehensive when his father leaves him alone to guard their newly built cabin in the wilderness. But when he meets the proud, resourceful Indian boy Attean, Matt discovers new ways to survive in the forest. And in getting to know his friend, Matt also begins to understand the heritage and way of life of the Beaver clan. A 1984 Newbery Honor Book Although he faces responsibility bravely, thirteen-year-old Matt is more than a little apprehensive when his father leaves him alone to guard their new cabin in the wilderness. When a renegade white stranger steals his gun, Matt realizes he has no way to shoot game or to protect himself. When Matt meets Attean, a boy in the Beaver clan, he begins to better understand their way of life and their growing problem in adapting to the white man and the changing frontier. Elizabeth George Speares Newbery Honor-winning survival story is filled with wonderful detail about living in the wilderness and the relationships that formed between settlers and natives in the 1700s. Now with an introduction by Joseph Bruchac.