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Calico Captive
Calico Captive
Calico Captive
Audiobook6 hours

Calico Captive

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

One early morning in 1754 an Indian raid on a small New Hampshire settlement shatters all young Miriam Willard's hopes and dreams. Suddenly she and her family are victims of the French and Indian War. Forced to march north to Canada, they will either be held captive by the Indians or sold to the French as slaves. After the nerve-wracking experience of running an Indian gauntlet, Miriam is sold to a wealthy French family in Montreal. Held captive for a ransom that may never arrive, she longs for the handsome young soldier she left behind. When her boldness and independence get her thrown out on to the hostile streets, she must use her wits to survive until she can find a way home. This Newbery Award-winning author of The Bronze Bow used the lives of real people to inspire her vibrant re-creations of history. Narrator Barbara Caruso captures the novel's compelling characters and strong sense of place to present an informative and insightful history lesson.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 18, 2013
ISBN9781470357139
Author

Elizabeth George Speare

"I was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, on November 21, 1908. I have lived all my life in New England, and though I love to travel I can't imagine ever calling any other place on earth home. Since I can't remember a time when I didn't intend to write, it is hard to explain why I took so long getting around to it in earnest. But the years seemed to go by very quickly. In 1936 I married Alden Speare and came to Connecticut. Not till both children were in junior high did I find time at last to sit down quietly with a pencil and paper. I turned naturally to the things which had filled my days and thoughts and began to write magazine articles about family living. Then one day I stumbled on a true story from New England history with a character who seemed to me an ideal heroine. Though I had my first historical novel almost by accident it soon proved to be an absorbing hobby." Elizabeth George Speare (1908-1994) won the 1959 Newbery Medal for THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND, and the 1962 Newbery Medal for THE BRONZE BOW. She also received a Newbery Honor Award in 1983, and in 1989 she was presented with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her substantial and enduring contribution to children’s literature.

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Reviews for Calico Captive

Rating: 3.9826589797687864 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Elizabeth George spear is one of my favorite authors I've loved her previous books such as the witch of black bird pond and all the others all ages will enjoy this great book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent. Speare really knows how to write people of all sorts. The young Puritan(? Protestant, anyway) woman, the Indians who capture her (and make assumptions), her patient and stubborn sister (also captured), the noble and common folk of Montreal they end up with... There are fools, and cruel people, and decent people, and kind people in every group, and Speare manages to show all of them as...just people, doing what they think is right. The story is good, though I thought Marian was rather frivolous-minded every chance she got. Well, she's a teenager, she's more or less entitled to that particular form of idiocy - and she did manage a solution that kept them going as long as they needed to. Good story, worth reading, probably worth rereading.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's hard to describe what about this book so beautifully captures the feel of the places and interactions it describes. It took me back to my days of tramping through forests and gave me the opportunity to vicariously experience frontier life in such a memorable way.
    The main character starts out somewhat shallow and self-focused, but her character arc is what holds the story together and what kept me glued to the pages as I read the book cover to cover in a morning. It's that transformation, how the main character dealt with loss and loneliness, how her attitude toward people changed, how she put her skills to use for those she cared about that made the book what it is. She starts out drawn to shiny things, but the author makes sure the redeemable aspects of her character perk through the immaturity.
    As with nearly every book, however, there are things to sift through. I wouldn't give this to a younger reader unless they are old enough to discern what should not be emulated and if the content issues mentioned later aren't an issue.
    There's a shift away from materialism here, but to me it seems the mc goes from one extreme to another, from finding happiness in things to finding happiness in people. For one, it's a lot of pressure on the other person to be someone else's happiness, and it's just not lasting. Also, there were some things with relationships and religion that might not be suitable for younger readers as well. But since this book is geared towards younger readers, the author glossed over the scenes with childbirth, innuendo, and such. And the theme of valuing people above "shiny things" is laudable.
    I can't say, however, that this is an accurate representation of the people the author used for inspiration. It seemed she took parts and changed people to fit her story, so it should be read as fiction, not as the story of the people whose names she borrowed.

    And finally, here's a quote that portrays Miriam's character quite well:

    "There is something you can do," she said soberly. "If you really want to help me. No one will listen. Can you get me into the jail to visit my sister?"
    Pierre stared at her. Then suddenly he threw back his head and laughed so loudly that a passing Frenchman paused in the street and peered in through the doorway.
    "What a girl!" He exclaimed. "Offer her a dress, invite her to a party, and what does she want instead - to go to jail."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Like many other readers I had this book over and over from the library when I was growing up. Some 40 years later I got myself a copy (ex library to my delight) from abebooks and re-read it. Oddly my memories of the book have hardly been touched by the later reading - I can still remember how I felt about it 40 years ago (identifying deeply with quite a few of the characters, not just the main girl) but hardly remember how I felt a few months ago reading it again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of those books (like Johnny Tremain) that I read as a kid, and while I never did own a copy, I checked it out from the library so often it was at my house more often than at the library.

    It follows the story of Miriam, a young English colonial, who is captured by Indians during the French and Indian war. She's sold as a slave to some French Quebecoise, where she begins to make a name for herself as a seamstress.

    However, Miriam was not the only one captured -- her sister, nieces and nephew were also captured and enslaved. Miriam and her sister are faced with many hard choices as they try to pay their slave debts (if I recall, it's been a while since I read it) in Quebec, bring their family back together and eventually make their way home.

    As Miriam's seamstress business becomes more successful, she's courted by a handsome French soldier -- a moral dilemma, as he's allied with the same Indians who attacked her colony, and he fights and kills the British colonials she loves. At the same time, he helps her track down her scattered nieces and nephew, and assists Miriam in widening her clientele base.

    I've always loved this book, though I have to admit I rooted for the French solider. I always wanted Miriam to marry him and leave her stodgy English roots. Apparently the book is based on the diary of a real-life Miriam who actually experienced these events (I guess they left out all the rape-iness), so extra points for bringing history alive.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is not my usual fare, not by a long shot. It somehow ended up on my To-Be-Read shelves, probably a leftover from one of the book exchanges. I was pleasantly surprised to find it a well-written and deeply engaging story. The romance was... well, romancey enough, but easy to ignore. The portrayal of the Natives who captured the English family of the protagonist was fairly one-sided and prejudicial- but rang quite true from their point of view. I wish they'd been captured longer because that was the most interesting part of the story for me. On the other hand, the portrait of Montreal was also very interesting, if less fraught with peril. The quiet fortitude of the older sister was admirable, and the bootstrap-yanking younger sister struck me as having that quintessentially American 'pioneer spirit' we US citizens learn about in school.

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As I had just read another 'captive' book, I decided to try this one.As with "Indian Captive", this is based upon a true story as told by a woman who was taken prisoner by Indians in the early colonial days of the United States. However, this book is definitely geared more toward a youth audience, and not as interesting to me as other more 'adult' books of this genre.Still, it was entertaining, and worth at least one read, especially if the subject interests you.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare recounts the true story of the James Johnson family who, in August of 1754, were taken by Indians from their home in New Hampshire. Captain Johnson, along with his wife, Susanna, and their children were forced marched north to Montreal and held for ransom. Along with them was a younger sister of Susanna’s, Miriam Willard. When Susanna was seventy years old, she wrote an account of this event, and this account was used by the author to create this story of Miriam’s adventures.Although terrified by their ordeal, this family were lucky that they were kept alive. In later days of the French and Indian War, often prisoners were killed and scalped. These scalps were then purchased by the French. Before arriving at Montreal the family were separated, with Susanna, her new born baby and her young son being kept by the Indians. The father, Miriam and two younger girls went on to Montreal. The little girls were farmed out and taken into families, Miriam put to work as a maid for a wealthy family and Captain Johnson put in prison. How this family tried to reunite and return to America made for a very interesting story.As this book is meant for the younger YA audience, I found it a bit simplified, but nevertheless, it’s a vivid account of how this war affected one family. A convincing historical fiction story that kept the pages turning. Elizabeth George Speare, is best known as the author of Newberry Medal winners, The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Bronze Bow.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    You read through it really fast and mildly enjoy the ride, but when you close the book, you realize that absolutely nothing happened. At all.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Loved this book. Its written for the younger crowd and based on a true story of a family captured by Native Americans and sold into slavery to the British. Before I read this book, I didn't have a clue that this was apart of the history. It's incredible, the lack of my knowledge, I know. A family of white settlers survives the Indians capture, sold into British slavery, half are thrown in the stockades, and then their journey home. It held my attention several reads through, and its one I'll recommend to my own kids when they're older.