Encounter by Jane Yolen, David Shannon

(Courtesy of amazon.com) Title: Encounter Authors: Jane Yolen, David Shannon Lexile: 620L Summary: I found this story to be unique in the Christopher Columbus lore, it is from the perspective of one of the natives that first encountered Columbus. The story’s protagonist is first plagued by a vision of dread of a great bird swallowing his tribe. As the story unfolds and Columbus comes into contact with the protagonist tribe, the young boy realizes that Columbus and his ship are the gigantic bird that will eat his tribe. The mystical men from the sky, as the tribe believes their origin, gives trinkets of little worth to the tribe and only hungers for the gold displayed on the tribesmen. As the story concludes we see the protagonist being stolen away on Columbus’s ship and find that he is now an old man reflecting on his lost tribe. Selling Tool: Commentary, I enjoyed the darker take on the story and it’s accompanied brooding imagery, but it is a biased view, or perhaps better stated as a selective view of the events of Columbus’s life. It is absolutely a negative portrayal of how Columbus treated the tribesmen on his landing, and for all the evidence quite accurate, but it does diminish his contribution to history. I think in dealing with biographies it’s important to take in the whole account of the person before condemning them, as this story has. I don’t know enough about Columbus to accurately make an assumption on his character, nor do I know enough of the political and socio economic events of the 1400’s, but I do think that this story is worth being on the library shelves, simply as an alternative to the nobel literature about him. As is often the case, a person's history cannot be revealed from a single source but often will take multiple investigations to really understand the full context of person. Activity: The unique treatment of this book comes from the alternative perspective of the narrator in reflection of Christopher Columbus. Students will create a research presentation that evaluates two perspectives of a historical event. Learning Standard: CC.4.R.I.1 Key Ideas and Details: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Learning Goal: Students will understand the difference in perspectives of historical events through research. Learning Objective: Students will develop and present research that analyzes two opposing sources of a historical event. Learning Outcome: Students will present a completed research presentation that considers two perspectives on a historical event.