Friend or Foe

Helen Frost's  Salt truly is, "a story of friendship in a Time of War"  as the tagline suggests.  James is an American living just outside the fort while Anikwa likes in Kekionga and is part of the Miami nation.  Neither speaks the others language  but smiles and body language go a long way and over the years a friendship has developed.  This is especially remarkable because the year is 1812 and tensions between these two groups are running high.

The story is told from both Anikwa and James' perspective which is a feature I typically like; however, in this book you switched between characters so frequently the story felt choppy.  I never felt like I really connected with either character because I never had enough time with them.

Also, this book is written as a series of poems.  Longtime readers of this blog will remember that I am not a huge fan of poetry.  That being said, Salt is a remarkable story about a extraordinary friendship put to the ultimate test.  I think this book would be a wonderful supplement to any unit on the War of 1812.

Rising above prejudice...that's kids stuff.