The Devil's Paintbox

McKernan, Victoria. The Devil’s Paint Box. Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. 359 pages, $16.99 ISBN: 9780375837500 (trade)

Plot Summary:

15 year old Aiden and his sister Maddy have spent the winter slowly starving to death when Jefferson J. Jackson stumbles upon the siblings out on the prairie.  After persistent begging Jackson finally agrees to take Aiden and Maddy along on the wagon train he is leading west to Seattle.  In Seattle Aiden can find work in the logging camps and pay off their passage in two years time.  Aiden works hard with the other bachelors helping Jackson set up and break camp each day.  Maddy spends her days keeping house for the Reverend and Mrs. True and learning about medicine from the handsome young Doc Carlos.  Aiden befriends the Indians, Tupic, his uncle Clever Crow, and his cousin Silent Wolf, during a dangerous river crossing.  The Indians saved Aiden when he got caught in underwater debris, as he bravely and foolishly volunteered to swim a rope across the river to start the process of floating the wagons across.  Aiden and Tupic remain friends and see each other from time to time even after the Native American part ways with the wagon train.  The dangers of the trail are very real for Aiden and Maddy and no one is guaranteed to make it all the way to Seattle

Critical Review:

McKernan’s The Devil’s Paintbox is more an just a historical novel about the dangers and adventures the befell those who braved travel on the Oregon Trail to start a new life in the West.  McKernan also tackles the issues of racism against the Native Americans, describing the length people went to exterminate the Indians.  McKernan describes the Sand Creek Massacre, where U.S. soldiers slaughters between 150 to 200 unarmed sleeping Cheyenne Indians.  Her focus is on lengths people would go to keep Native American from being vaccinated against small pox, knowing that Native Americans were more susceptible to European diseases.  Aiden will learn about the harsh realities of life at the hands of an unforgiving wilderness and the hatred people can hold in their hearts, in this heart stopping adventure.  

Genre:

Historical Fiction

Adventure

Multicultural

Interest Level:

Grades 8 and up

Similar Books:

Woods Runner Gary Paulsen

Subjects/Themes:

Pioneers

The Oregon Trail

Native Americans

Small Pox

Awards/Honors:

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults 2010

Annotation:

15 year old orphan Aiden embarks on the adventure of a lifetime on the Oregon Trail, when he decides to seek a new life for himself and his younger sister in Seattle in 1865.

Book Talking Ideas:

Do you remember playing the Oregon Trail video game; battling typhoid fever, fording dangerous rivers, and living off the land?  The Devil’s Paintbox is the story of 15 year old Aiden’s adventure on the Oregon Trail through the unforgiving and harsh wilderness of the American West.

Why I chose to include this book:

I chose to include this book because is discusses racism against the Native Americans in the late 1800’s, a topic that is not covered in depth in most U.S. history classes.  I also chose this book because it brought back memories of my childhood playing the Oregon Trail.