A review by panda_incognito
Kaya's Escape!, by Janet Beeler Shaw
4.0
This was my favorite Kaya book when I was a child. I still find the premise frustrating, since Kaya so foolishly endangered herself and her blind sister's life by running towards the horses instead of hiding when an enemy tribe attacked, but the story is engaging, with lots of interesting messages and historical details.
I always liked escape stories, and this one appealed because of its realism. However, I totally forgot about the boy that Kaya escaped with. It was interesting to see how the author drew in different elements related to gender roles and expectations in Native American tribes, and the historical note addresses this topic in more detail. Also, even though this was the first American Girl series to break the traditional mold for titles and topics, the "peek into the past" is still school-oriented, focusing on the natural education of historic youth and describing what Nez Perce schools are like today.
I always liked escape stories, and this one appealed because of its realism. However, I totally forgot about the boy that Kaya escaped with. It was interesting to see how the author drew in different elements related to gender roles and expectations in Native American tribes, and the historical note addresses this topic in more detail. Also, even though this was the first American Girl series to break the traditional mold for titles and topics, the "peek into the past" is still school-oriented, focusing on the natural education of historic youth and describing what Nez Perce schools are like today.