Drift

by William Mayne

No food, all lost,' said the girl. 'We die ever so soon.' She sat on the trunk of a fallen tree. 'No mans here,' she said. 'Land of bears, all ever bears.'

Rafe the white boy had been forbidden to play with the 'heathen' Indian girl Tawena. But when the two are swept on an ice floe into the heart of the North American wilderness, far from the settlers' village, only the girl's Indian skills can preserve them from the awesome danger they face. Can Rafe adopt the Indian expertise he needs to enable them to survive? And why does Tawena disappear when they meet two Indian women?

A compelling novel of survival and of the growing respect between cultures, told by a master storyteller.

Genres: Childrens, Historical Fiction

166 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 1985

About the author

William Mayne was a British writer of children's fiction. Born in Hull, he was educated at the choir school attached to Canterbury Cathedral and his memories of that time contributed to his early books. He lived most of his life in North Yorkshire.

He was described as one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th Century by the Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, and won the Carnegie Medal in 1957 for A Grass Rope and the Guardian Award in 1993 for Low Tide. He has written more than a hundred books, and is best known for his Choir School quartet comprising A Swarm in May, Choristers' Cake, Cathedral Wednesday and Words and Music, and his Earthfasts trilogy comprising Earthfasts, Cradlefasts and Candlefasts, an unusual evocation of the King Arthur legend.

A Swarm in May was filmed by the Children's Film Unit in 1983 and a five-part television series of Earthfasts was broadcast by the BBC in 1994.

William Mayne was imprisoned for two and a half years in 2004 after admitting to charges of child sexual abuse and was placed on the British sex offenders' register. His books were largely removed from shelves, and he died in disgrace in 2010.

Reviews

[Mathew]

Please consider reading about William Mayne before reading or recommending his books.

A survival novel set in a time when Native Americans and white men lived different lives in different ways and were still uncomfortable with reach other's customs and ways of life, Mayne's 'Drift' is a story told in an interesting way and with a narrative voice that respects its young reader. I've not read anyone that writes so effortlessly without straining to subject their language to change for their readership.

I found some of the story a little difficult to follow at times but I felt that this was respective of the struggle that Rafe had with understanding the Native Americans themselves as well as the wild world he inhabits.

I particularly liked the fact that the book is split into two stories: Rafe's and Tawena's. I also felt that Mayne enjoyed telling her story more than Rafe's. She is the ultimate outsider. Not wanted by her tribe living in a settlement with white people, she makes for a very interesting character.

This is a really accomplished story about losing touch with nature and finding who you are in the most extreme of circumstances.

[abbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟

i was actually completely enthralled. 80s/90s young adult paperbacks have me in a chokehold. there’s something about the classic simplicity of it that just makes life feel better.

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, there are two main characters in this book. Rafe and Tawena, but Rafe gets the most attention in the book. Rafe is a young white boy and Tawena is a brave Indian girl. They both live in the same village, but Tawena lives in the tents and cabins at the end of the village. Together they went on a little adventure to see if they could see a bear. The weather turned bad, but they were still able to see a bear. They started running back after they saw the bear, but ended up getting in big trouble because the bear was after them. There was a lake close by and they ended up going into a fisherman’s hut for safety, however the bear was still angry. Rafe and Tawena ended up surviving and staying in the hut, which was actually drifting on a chunk of ice. The two of them were in it for quite a while, eventually reaching land in a faraway place. They then settled down and made a small fire, but Tawena heard more danger. Voices of Indian women were near, so Tawena had to warn Rafe and hide herself. Two Indian women appeared and took Rafe away with them. He was afraid that they would kill him, but it ended up not being the case. After a while, Rafe got used to being with the two women and was able to help with some things. The three of them travel and survive together, as the Indians are gradually taking Rafe back home to his village. Now, the deal with Tawena is that she had been secretly following Rafe and the Indian women. She was actually the one who made a plan to save Rafe and make the Indian women take him back by acting like a bear. It all ended up being a big adventure to all of them.

I thought this book was pretty good because it made me want to read more. Also, it was interesting how Rafe survived with the Indians. I liked how Tawena secretly helped Rafe by tricking the Indian women and making them take Rafe back to the village. I also liked how Rafe was eventually able to learn to be like an Indian. The only thing that I didn’t really like was how Rafe was really afraid of the bear in the beginning and didn’t know what to do. Lastly, I would suggest this book to people who like to read action and adventure book, or survival type of books.

[Elizabeth Feeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this at a library book sale, knowing it was a Young Adult book but I'm drawn to any stories that take place in freezing cold weather, though I hate cold weather for myself!)
I don't see at all why it is classified Young Adult, the story was as mature as most any book I've read. The subject matter was grim, gritty and chilling. I was afraid it would become watered down to lessen negative realities but it wasn't at all. There was no happy fairy tale ending, and its not an easy read. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptive prose of the forrest beauty juxtaposed with the grim survival of biting hunger, exposure, bitter weather and animal dangers and vast cultural differences of the white community and the Indian community. The ending is somber but very realistic.

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I read this years ago and reviewed it, too, but can't find the review.

Anyhow, I loved it then and I love it now. Really splendid writing. Telling the story twice works very well to illuminate the extreme differences in background and world view between the two main characters; I felt a strong sense of the crisis adaptability of youth, the learning in free fall, grasping what one can and putting it together as best one can, adjusting on the fly. It was very relatable. I also appreciated the utter lack of soppy sentiment.

You can call it a kid's book, or "young adult" if you like, but I'm 75 and I was deeply engaged. Just sayin.

[Preston M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that the book was very interesting to me. The writing style was really interesting because you never really knew what was going to happen next. My favorite character in the book was definitely Rafe. I like Rafe because I feel like I am similar to him. He had to learn from someone else and survive on his own and be independent. My least favorite character was Tawena because she left Rafe. He had left him to survive on his own and she should have stayed with him. I would suggest if you like adventure books then you should read this book.

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story of working together, understanding, & survival.

[Austin Drumheller]

The book was okay it’s not really my type. In my opinion it needed more detail in the character's emotion. The author made it feel like I was there in the setting though that was a plus. The main setting was this little boy on a snowy, early spring morning. The main character is the little boy and his name is Rafe. The main conflicts of the story are Rafe and his friend v.s a Bear also Rafe is trying to get back to his village after he got dragged away. This novel connects to the unit theme because of the fear of being lost and trapped. I would recommend this book to others that like thrill of mystery around every corner.

[Seminole County Public Library]

(Runner up winning review of the Summer Reading Grand Prize Drawing at the Casselberry branch)

There are many books about Colonial children being kidnapped by or wondering off with Indians - This is a pretty good one. The story is told from both points of view - the white tee, who is mainly scared, and the Indians, who think he is noisy, stupid, and smells bad. In the end the white boy gains a clearer understanding of the Indian way of life, through he is still pretty clumsy and stupid from the Indian's point of view.

-submitted by Sue

[Omer Fellix]

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