The Sign of the Beaver

Written by Elizabeth George Speare

Grade:

2-4

ISBN-13:

978-0547577111

Publisher:

Clarion Books (2011)

The Sign of the Beaver is the poignant story of two boys coming of age in the Maine wilderness in pre-Revolutionary America. Speare depicts the slowly developing friendship between the son of a settler and a Native American youth. When thirteen-year-old Matt Hollowell’s father leaves to bring his mother and sister to their new home in Maine, young Matt is left to protect his family’s homestead. Matt has much to learn about the ways of the forest and is taught valuable lessons from the Indian boy, Attean. In the course of their adventures, Matt grows in respect for the wisdom and intelligence of Maine’s Indian people. All throughout, readers will find valuable lessons on courage, friendship, and the universality of the human experience.