The Sign of the Beaver by Speare is a good quick well-researched bit of historical fiction. Matt is 12 years old in 1768 and lives in the wilderness of Maine. The book opens with his father leaving to fetch his mother, sister and new baby sibling. Father leaves him the good rifle and Matt is a very capable hunter. He’s also responsible for the corn and pumpkin growing behind the cabin the two had built on their own with each log cut carefully to fit together without using nails, which they don’t have. Matt feels like there’s a lot he doesn’t have. He remembers a beehive and climbs to retrieve the sweet honey but is attacked by the swarm. An Indian chief and his grandson help him but the chief wants something in return. He wants Matt to teach his grandson to read so that he’ll be able to understand the treaties put before them. But Attean doesn’t want anything to do with a white boy or reading. The details about life in the wilderness were excellent.

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