Russ Kendall

I liked Eskimo Boy. First, the story was extremely informative. The author stuck to the facts and described the life of a boy of Eskimo heritage living in Alaska. The biography was written in third person, but was from the young boy's point of view. I liked how informative this book was, because it gave me a lot of new information that I did not know. Some of the descriptions invoked a feeling of wonder. For example, the author writes, "When it really cold and dark, the northern lights come out. If you look up in the sky you can see them stretching far into the distance, like ribbons moving and flickering, glowing red and green." This quote really captures how a child would view the northern lights. My only criticism, is that the book seemed a bit disorganized. The author did not wrap up the story in a satisfying way. However, overall, I found the book to be enjoyable. The big picture message of this book is that all children, no matter what their culture, have similar feelings, and therefor can relate to one another.… (more)

Norman is a seven year old boy who lives in the Inupiaq Village in Alaska. The village has been there for over 4,000 years, the people hunt and live off of walrus, seals, moose, and salmon. There have only one hour of daylight and the northern lights are seen in the sky. Many families ride dogsleds for fun. There are no roads and they have to travel a long way to get anywhere. Norman's father hunts seals and wishes he can go hunt with him when he's older. This book really shows the differences between what we know here and what is the norm for Eskimo's in Alaska. I found this book very fascinating to read because I never really thought about the life of an Eskimo before.… (more)