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Home to Medicine Mountain

by Chiori Santiago (Author) Judith Lowry (Illustrator)

Home to Medicine Mountain
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Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
cms Common Sense Media Review

Two young brothers are separated from their family and sent to live in a government-run Indian residential school in the 1930s--an experience shared by generations of Native American children throughout North America. At these schools, children were forbidden to speak their Indian languages and made to unlearn their Indian ways. Sadly, they were often not able to go home to their families for summer vacation.

Native American artist Judith Lowry based this story on the experiences of her father and her Uncle Stanley. Judith and author Chiori Santiago tenderly relate how Stanley and Benny Len found their way home by train one summer. Inspired by their dreams of home and the memories of their grandmother's stories, the boys embark on an adventurous journey from the harsh residential school to their triumphant welcome home at Susanville, California, in the shadow of Yo-Tim Yamne (Medicine Mountain).

cms Common Sense Media Review
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Publisher's Weekly

The real-life experiences of Lowry's father and uncle fuel this account of two Native American brothers in California, sent to a government-run boarding school in the 1930s to unlearn their traditional ways. While the book discloses a sad chapter in the long history of the disenfranchisement of Native Americans, it will also resonate with any kid who has been homesick. But the storytelling wobbles. There is little buildup to the main event--occurring when the boys, still children, ride the rails home for summer break--and the contrast between the regimented life at school and life at home does not create narrative momentum. Lowry's stylized artwork works well both for the prison-like school and the happier scenes at Medicine Mountain: the sharp edges of her compositions lend themselves to a cold, hard look and to a more innocent, naive style. Kids will also be interested to see Native Americans at home in jeans and dresses. This book goes a long way toward replacing romanticized stereotypes with something closer to history, but remains less than satisfying as a story. Ages 6-up. (Aug.)
Chiori Santiago

Chiori Santiago was an accomplished journalist who wrote for national magazines about the art, music and family life of people from many parts of the world. Always active in community affairs, she was also an arts and music commentator for public television and radio. Chiori died in 2007.

Judith Lowry is a nationally exhibited painter of Mountain Maidu, Hamawi Pit-River, and Australian descent. Considered one of California's premiere contemporary Native American artists, she is inspired by the stories passed down in her family. Judith lives in Nevada City, California.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780892391769
Lexile Measure
620
Guided Reading Level
N
Publisher
Children's Book Press (CA)
Publication date
April 20, 2013
Series
-
BISAC categories
FIC000000 - Fiction | General
Library of Congress categories
California
Indians of North America
Boarding schools
Maidu Indians
American Book Award
1999

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