Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway (Girls of Many Lands)

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and educating
Review: As the wife of a Yup'ik Eskimo man and mom to two half-Yup'ik daughters, I seized this book the first time I saw it. I read it and enjoyed it, finding it interesting to read about customs and traditions I'd heard about for a long time put into the context of everyday life. It made some things much more real. I was also very interested to read about the changes missionaries brought.

After reading this book, I read it to my older daughter. At the age of 8, I wasn't sure she was ready to read it herself, particularly the end. As I read aloud, I experienced the book all over again. To read to my daughter, and to realize that as a young Yup'ik woman she would be nearing womanhood in her traditional culture was somewhat astounding. Some of the book went over her head, but by reading it together, I felt she and I both got a better picture of traditional Yup'ik culture, particularly its treatment of girls and women.

Minuk is not a highly developed character, but the culture is more the main focus of the book, and her character does a good job relaying that information.

The Yup'ik culture, while changed, is alive in Alaska today. Reading this book and thinking about differences between now and then will give a reader at least a basic idea of the internal conflict many Yup'ik people go through today, trying to reconcile the old ways with the new. And it might make you wonder just why Western ways are supposed to be "better."

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: I was excited to read this book about a Yup'ik Eskimo village in the 1890s. Minuk, the narrator, is 12 and tells the story. It seems interesting...a missionary family arrives to "civilize" her people. However, characters were introduced so fast and then pushed aside, that it left me wondering..."who was that?" I did like the little bit of historical information at the end, but that was probably the best part of the book. Otherwise it moved to fast and the leaves the reader feeling like we never really get to know Minuk.

Rating:
Summary: Mink: Ashes in the Pathway
Review: Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway has not only been an extremly good book to read, but it has also been a very helpful tool for me, both in school and in boredom.

First, I'll tell you how I came upon this book. While I was on summer vacation, I spent it at my mom's work place. After a week and a bit, I had already exhausted the supply of books which I had brung with me. After work the next day, my mom and I went out to the bookstore and bought this book. The next day I started it and, without stopping, finished it in no time flat. The book was amazing. It made me think of missionaries and Alaska in a different way, when before, I really hadn't though about them at all. The details are beautiful. You can almost believe that you're there in the village along with Minuk. Also, the fasination that Minuk experiances when she hears and sees all these new things is very believable, not fake like you read in other books. I liked how Minuk was so surprised at some of the things the Hoff's did, because it was understandable. She seemed so real to me as I read the book that I read it another time, and then skimmed it another time. Also, the book was correct gramatically and literrarly. It was easy to understand, but it might be better to get some background information first, because some cultural terms may be confusing. In the end, everything ties together neatly though, so even that you may not need to do.

This book has also been a helpful tool for me at school. We were studying Alaska first thing (which I didn't know at the time that we had bought the book). I found that I knew quite a few things about the Yup'ik culture. Then, in the middle of the quarter, we were asked to complete a project. This project consisted of us picking an Alaskan Native American culture. After we did that, we had to write a one page report on their lifestyle (food they ate, clothing they wore, houses, etc.). As soon as I heard of the project, I was determined to do the Yup'ik culture, because I knew that this book would help me. I finished the project in no time at all and got a perfect score on it with nothing but this book and one internet site for research.

All in all, I really love this book and reccomend it for all readers. It has entertained me and helped me and I believe it will do the same to you.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading for older children and adults
Review: Reading this book gave me a fascinating peek into Alaskan Indian and particularly Yu'pik culture through the eyes of an older girl who is on the cusp of womanhood (the Yu'pik womanhood ceremony is the source of the title's reference to "ashes in the pathway"). Although the book was obviously geared for a younger audience than me, I really enjoyed it. (Slight spoiler ahead) My sole criticism is that the book ended rather suddenly; I would have enjoyed a little more info about how Minuk's village kept going after the terrible tragedy that occurred.

I have read all of the books (and own all of the dolls!) in this series, and I highly recommend them for both older children and adults. I do think that girls and women will identify better with the first-person narrative than boys and men might.

Rating:
Summary: In-Depth Novel About the Ways of Early Eskimos
Review: The year is 1890, and twelve-year-old Minuk is an Eskimo girl living in a Yup'ik Eskimo Village. Everything is perfect where she lives, except for the occasional death of a well-loved family member, until a family of missionaries moves in. Soon the quaint little Yup'ik Village is turned upside down, as the Hoff family begins telling everyone in the village that the way they are living is wrong, and that by living in this way, they are sure to go to hell once they die. Minuk is very interested in the ways of the Hoffs, and asks many questions about heaven and hell, most of which go unanswered. However, it isn't until a kind, white nurse named Miss Danfort moves to the small Eskimo Village that Minuk begins to become interested in medicine, and speaking English. Then, just as she's beginning to enjoy herself and be happy in feeling needed, tragedy strikes the Yup'ik Village, and it's up to Minuk to try and help out in every way she can.

My Mom bought me every book in the GIRLS OF MANY LANDS series for Christmas, and I couldn't have been happier. I was most attracted to MINUK: ASHES IN THE PATHWAY due to the fact that I have always been interested in the ways of Eskimos, hence, I chose to read this book first. I was not disappointed. Minuk is a determined young girl, whose kind and inquisitive personality shines throughout the entire book as she begins her journey from childhood to adulthood. Filled with a full chapter of information about the Yup'ik Eskimos of yesterday and today at the end of the book, MINUK is a wonderful novel that should be owned by all fans of historical fiction or the ways of early Eskimos. Fantastic work Ms. Hill!

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper