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Eagle Song
A contemporary middle grade story about confronting bullying and prejudice
Danny Bigtree's family has moved to Brooklyn, New York, and he just can't seem to fit in at school. He's homesick for the Mohawk reservation, and the kids in his class tease him about being an Indian—the thing that makes Danny most proud. Can he find the courage to stand up for himself?
“A worthy, well-written novella.” — Kirkus Reviews
“This appealing portrayal of a strong family offers an unromanticized view of Native American culture, and a history lesson about the Iroquois Confederacy; it also gives a subtle lesson in the meaning of daily courage.” — Publishers Weekly
"With so many Native American stories set in the misty past, it's great to read a children's book about an Iroquois boy who lives in the city now. Bruchac weaves together the traditional and the realistic as Danny's ironworker father tells stories of his people's history and heroes, stories that give Danny courage to confront his schoolyard enemies and make friends with them.” — Booklist
Danny Bigtree's family has moved to Brooklyn, New York, and he just can't seem to fit in at school. He's homesick for the Mohawk reservation, and the kids in his class tease him about being an Indian—the thing that makes Danny most proud. Can he find the courage to stand up for himself?
“A worthy, well-written novella.” — Kirkus Reviews
“This appealing portrayal of a strong family offers an unromanticized view of Native American culture, and a history lesson about the Iroquois Confederacy; it also gives a subtle lesson in the meaning of daily courage.” — Publishers Weekly
"With so many Native American stories set in the misty past, it's great to read a children's book about an Iroquois boy who lives in the city now. Bruchac weaves together the traditional and the realistic as Danny's ironworker father tells stories of his people's history and heroes, stories that give Danny courage to confront his schoolyard enemies and make friends with them.” — Booklist
96 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1997
23 people are currently reading
462 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Bruchac
279 books597 followersJoseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished. He, his younger sister Margaret, and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work extensively in projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language and traditional Native skills, including performing traditional and contemporary Abenaki music with the Dawnland Singers.
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
September 10, 2024
Just to say that I generally tend to both like and appreciate Joseph Bruchac's Native American themed picture books, even though there has recently been a bit of controversy surrounding whether Bruchac is truly Abenaki. But indeed, from what I have read online, it does appear as though Joseph Bruchac has always readily admitted that his background is Abenaki, English and Slovakian, and thus I personally do not really understand why quite a number of Native American activists and scholars are suddenly so totally and categorically against Bruchac and are even accusing him of being a so-called Pretendindian appropriating Abenaki stories and culture, when in my opinion it sure looks like Joseph Bruchac has never claimed to be only, to be solely Abenaki but only ever partially so.
However, although I personally thus still consider Bruchac to be (at least partially) an OwnVoices author, I also do very readily and with considerable frustration admit (and in particular for my inner child) that Eagle Feather, that Joseph Bruchac's 1997 middle grade chapter book of a young Mohawk boy transplanted to Brooklyn from his Vermont reserve bordering the St. Lawrence Seaway and leaving young Danny Bigtree feeling homesick, culture shock as well as experiencing ethnic based bullying (and which really should be speaking to me emotionally since Danny's experiences at school with that relentless bullying kind of mirror my own encounters with nasty classmates in grade four as an immigrant from Germany to Canada, except that while Danny Bigtree is being called Indian Chief etc. I was being called a Nazi and Adolf Hitler's daughter) has been pretty much a total and utter reading disappointment.
For yes indeed (and both my inner child and my older adult reading self jointly very much agree here), albeit Eagle Feather thematically comes from a solid and important thematic narrational premise and place, the presented text, the featured story is unfortunately simply and sadly hugely and annoyingly textually overstuffed by Bruchac with far too many plot-lines, with overtly didactic lectures against violence/bullying as well as with textbook-like (read tediously preachy and didactic) Native American cultural information (and that Eagle Feather has even with its short length of less than one hundred pages been a dragging and horribly uninteresting, snail-paced reading experience for me, and also one with aggravating distractions since Joseph Bruchac has so many often not at all smoothly shown and connected textual bits and pieces incorporated into Eagle Feather so that Danny Bigtree's story actually often kind of gets lost a bit and that readers cannot really be moved by a tale that pulls them in so many different directions and often kind of at once, at the same time.
And combined with the fact that NONE of Joseph Bruchac's characters for Eagle Feather show (at least to and for me) ANY textual depth, ANY development whatsoever, that everyone is one-dimensional, on the surface, woefully stereotypical (and objects of and imbued with hugely heavy-handed didacticism), not to mention that chief bully Tyrone's transformation from Danny Bigtree's main nemesis to Danny's potential friend happens too much out of the proverbial blue and so quickly so as to be pretty ridiculously unbelievable and fairy-tale like, sorry, but my rating for Eagle Feather can and will only be two stars (and while what Joseph Bruchac has penned in Eagle Feather is of course not anything horrible and problematic in and of itself, and also comes from very decent and even to be lauded and celebrated author intentions, well and sadly most definitely, Bruchac's text for Eagle Feather is simply, is totally too too on the surface and hugely lacking any type of nuance for me to even remotely want to consider a higher star rating).
However, although I personally thus still consider Bruchac to be (at least partially) an OwnVoices author, I also do very readily and with considerable frustration admit (and in particular for my inner child) that Eagle Feather, that Joseph Bruchac's 1997 middle grade chapter book of a young Mohawk boy transplanted to Brooklyn from his Vermont reserve bordering the St. Lawrence Seaway and leaving young Danny Bigtree feeling homesick, culture shock as well as experiencing ethnic based bullying (and which really should be speaking to me emotionally since Danny's experiences at school with that relentless bullying kind of mirror my own encounters with nasty classmates in grade four as an immigrant from Germany to Canada, except that while Danny Bigtree is being called Indian Chief etc. I was being called a Nazi and Adolf Hitler's daughter) has been pretty much a total and utter reading disappointment.
For yes indeed (and both my inner child and my older adult reading self jointly very much agree here), albeit Eagle Feather thematically comes from a solid and important thematic narrational premise and place, the presented text, the featured story is unfortunately simply and sadly hugely and annoyingly textually overstuffed by Bruchac with far too many plot-lines, with overtly didactic lectures against violence/bullying as well as with textbook-like (read tediously preachy and didactic) Native American cultural information (and that Eagle Feather has even with its short length of less than one hundred pages been a dragging and horribly uninteresting, snail-paced reading experience for me, and also one with aggravating distractions since Joseph Bruchac has so many often not at all smoothly shown and connected textual bits and pieces incorporated into Eagle Feather so that Danny Bigtree's story actually often kind of gets lost a bit and that readers cannot really be moved by a tale that pulls them in so many different directions and often kind of at once, at the same time.
And combined with the fact that NONE of Joseph Bruchac's characters for Eagle Feather show (at least to and for me) ANY textual depth, ANY development whatsoever, that everyone is one-dimensional, on the surface, woefully stereotypical (and objects of and imbued with hugely heavy-handed didacticism), not to mention that chief bully Tyrone's transformation from Danny Bigtree's main nemesis to Danny's potential friend happens too much out of the proverbial blue and so quickly so as to be pretty ridiculously unbelievable and fairy-tale like, sorry, but my rating for Eagle Feather can and will only be two stars (and while what Joseph Bruchac has penned in Eagle Feather is of course not anything horrible and problematic in and of itself, and also comes from very decent and even to be lauded and celebrated author intentions, well and sadly most definitely, Bruchac's text for Eagle Feather is simply, is totally too too on the surface and hugely lacking any type of nuance for me to even remotely want to consider a higher star rating).
May 16, 2019
When fourth-grader Danny Bigtree and his family move to the city from their Mohawk reservation in upstate New York, he quickly finds that he is the odd-man-out at his Brooklyn school. Not sure how to make friends, or how to deal with the ridicule of his peers, Danny turns to his father's stories of the Iroquois peacemaker, Aionwahta, for inspiration.
An engaging story of a young boy struggling to find his way in a strange new environment, Eagle Song is a brief chapter-book that should appeal both to newly urbanized American Indians, and to any young reader who has experienced the trauma of a move. As always, Joseph Bruchac delivers an authentic story that stays true to its specific cultural roots, while offering a message that will resonate with a broader readership.
An engaging story of a young boy struggling to find his way in a strange new environment, Eagle Song is a brief chapter-book that should appeal both to newly urbanized American Indians, and to any young reader who has experienced the trauma of a move. As always, Joseph Bruchac delivers an authentic story that stays true to its specific cultural roots, while offering a message that will resonate with a broader readership.
July 9, 2014
Danny is in the city after moving away from the reservation for a better job for his mother while his father works jobs away from home in construction. What his father continues to instill in Danny is the Iroquois/Mohawk traditions that his father was raised with and that Danny should hold close in order to pull him through episodes of bullying at school (being picked on for being a redskin) as well as sadness that his family isn't always together.
When Danny's father is injured, he decides it's best to find a quasi-desk job so that they can return to some normalcy, while things improve for Danny when he tries 'peace' with his classmates and finds that you get more with honey than vinegar. A very nice message with a few pencil-drawn pictures, that aren't necessary, and a solid, upbeat ending.
When Danny's father is injured, he decides it's best to find a quasi-desk job so that they can return to some normalcy, while things improve for Danny when he tries 'peace' with his classmates and finds that you get more with honey than vinegar. A very nice message with a few pencil-drawn pictures, that aren't necessary, and a solid, upbeat ending.
November 20, 2018
Felt short...I'd have liked to have had more.
April 9, 2018
Puffin Books, 1999, 96 pgs., Genre: Fiction, Grade level: 3-5, GR level: S, Lexile level: 680L
Eagle Song is an inspiring novel due to its positive perspective and outlook on tradition mixed with modern day life. This book reveals how an individual named Danny Bigtree can learn to live with the struggles of moving to a new school through learning about the past with his culture and its tradition. In addition, it helps the reader become aware of how Native American culture has been created and altered throughout time. With this, the book holds a glossary and pronunciation guide to help the reader understand Mohawk language used in the story that the reader encounters. The author demonstrates a difficult conversation and topic through a child that treasures his culture, but encounters a classroom full of students that are making fun of him as well as his traditions.
Teaching ideas:
This is a chapter book that should be taught and talked about. It would work well for a group read aloud for a whole class in the upper elementary age group setting. For this book, it would be a wonderful book to go along with teaching a Native American unit. The third chapter is especially useful for teaching the five nations. At the end of the book, I would have the students summarize what they have learned about Native American tradition by creating a storyboard. For the storyboard, I would have them divide it into ten sections which will all need to have one illustration and at least three to four sentences except for the title cover in the first section.
(RL.4.11, W.4.9)
Eagle Song is an inspiring novel due to its positive perspective and outlook on tradition mixed with modern day life. This book reveals how an individual named Danny Bigtree can learn to live with the struggles of moving to a new school through learning about the past with his culture and its tradition. In addition, it helps the reader become aware of how Native American culture has been created and altered throughout time. With this, the book holds a glossary and pronunciation guide to help the reader understand Mohawk language used in the story that the reader encounters. The author demonstrates a difficult conversation and topic through a child that treasures his culture, but encounters a classroom full of students that are making fun of him as well as his traditions.
Teaching ideas:
This is a chapter book that should be taught and talked about. It would work well for a group read aloud for a whole class in the upper elementary age group setting. For this book, it would be a wonderful book to go along with teaching a Native American unit. The third chapter is especially useful for teaching the five nations. At the end of the book, I would have the students summarize what they have learned about Native American tradition by creating a storyboard. For the storyboard, I would have them divide it into ten sections which will all need to have one illustration and at least three to four sentences except for the title cover in the first section.
(RL.4.11, W.4.9)
January 23, 2023
Found at the used bookstore where I volunteer, a book by Joseph Bruchac from years ago that feels like a great fit for reading to a middle-grade or upper-elementary class. It brings in a contemporary story of a young Native American boy whose family has moved to Brooklyn for his mother's work. He is the only one like him and is teased with native stereotypes constantly. Weaving in the truth about his heritage with help from his father, readers are led to wonder if he can find the courage to find peace with his classmates instead of fighting them. Danny's ironworker father visits Danny's class to tell stories of his people's history and heroes which help a lot. It's a short novella that I'm happy to have found.
December 24, 2023
I read Eagle Song because I was teaching this book to a group of students and needed to preview the novel on my own to create lesson plans. The only aspect I enjoyed was the information on Native American culture that I learned throughout Danny’s story.
If I fit the age bracket of the intended audience of Eagle Song, I probably would’ve liked this novel more. I feel like there are better books that have been published since Eagle Song though. This book was released in 1997. While reading it, it felt somewhat outdated to the point where I thought to myself kids in 2023 couldn’t understand or relate to what was going on?
I guess if you’re trying to find an appropriate book for students about an everyday Native American that navigates a new public school in NYC, this book is your go-to. I was not a fan though.
If I fit the age bracket of the intended audience of Eagle Song, I probably would’ve liked this novel more. I feel like there are better books that have been published since Eagle Song though. This book was released in 1997. While reading it, it felt somewhat outdated to the point where I thought to myself kids in 2023 couldn’t understand or relate to what was going on?
I guess if you’re trying to find an appropriate book for students about an everyday Native American that navigates a new public school in NYC, this book is your go-to. I was not a fan though.
December 1, 2015
Quality short chapter book about the difficulties of leaving the Rez and moving to the big city for a young Mohawk Boy. Also discusses the Mohawk iron workers who built NYC. Plenty to discuss in a classroom setting in this book; bullying, anger and stereotyping are a few main topics. Complete review on my blog!
Eagle Song | Read It Real Good
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Eagle Song | Read It Real Good
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July 20, 2016
Danny and is having trouble with the kids at his school. They relentlessly tease him because he is an American Indian. He seeks out the help of his parents and learns to have pride in his identity.
Readers advisory: Racism, bullying
Source: American Indians in Children's Literature
Readers advisory: Racism, bullying
Source: American Indians in Children's Literature
January 19, 2021
#OwnVoices. Highlights modern urban Indians, which is a situation that is hard to find. Earnest, with a message, but also concise and engaging, good for reluctant readers or to read aloud to your class or family. Moving illustrations. I admire it, and also enjoyed reading it.
November 25, 2018
Book Title: Eagle Song
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Illustrator: Dan Andreasen
Reading Level: 4.3
Lextile: 680L
Fontas & Pinnell: S
Book Summary: This book follows Danny Bigtree and his move to the big city from the Mohawk reservation. He struggles to fit in and adjust to his new life.
Ideas: The big idea from this book is the daily courage that is needed and shown by Danny Bigtree. He encounters many rough moments in his move, but his daily courage also shows through.
Voice: The writing does a good job at creating a sense of struggle and loneliness for Danny Bigtree. This character may resonate with students who have experienced a big move or other big changes in life.
Classroom Integration/Mini-Lessons/Content Connections: This book would be a good transitional book to introduce some lessons on Native American culture. The book allows students to grasp Native American Culture and the struggles that have come with daily living in today's society.
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Illustrator: Dan Andreasen
Reading Level: 4.3
Lextile: 680L
Fontas & Pinnell: S
Book Summary: This book follows Danny Bigtree and his move to the big city from the Mohawk reservation. He struggles to fit in and adjust to his new life.
Ideas: The big idea from this book is the daily courage that is needed and shown by Danny Bigtree. He encounters many rough moments in his move, but his daily courage also shows through.
Voice: The writing does a good job at creating a sense of struggle and loneliness for Danny Bigtree. This character may resonate with students who have experienced a big move or other big changes in life.
Classroom Integration/Mini-Lessons/Content Connections: This book would be a good transitional book to introduce some lessons on Native American culture. The book allows students to grasp Native American Culture and the struggles that have come with daily living in today's society.
November 13, 2019
Danny Bigtree’s father is an ironworker, whose job keeps him on the road and away from his family for long stretches. Meanwhile, Danny is trying to adjust to a new school and a new city, where he is often bullied due to his Native American heritage. Missing his father and his former home, he struggles to find acceptance, both from his classmates and from within himself. Eagle Song’s depiction of a contemporary, urban Mohawk family would contribute another perspective to a social studies unit about Native American culture, and/or SEL discussions about bullying and cultural differences (fiction, gr 2-4).
July 13, 2020
This is a very sweet and short middle grade novel about growing up indigenous in the US today. The protagonist recently moved from his reservation school where he was surrounded by other indigenous peers, to a school in Brooklyn where no one seems to understand him. He deals with microaggressions and misunderstandings about his cultural upbringing. When his father comes to talk to his class about his tribal history, things change at school for him.
April 10, 2021
Timely message of peace and acceptance. Danny’s family moves to Brooklyn from the Mohawk reservation in upstate New York in order for his dad to work on steel construction and his mom to work at the Indian Heritage Center. The Iroquois and Mohawk stories of peaceful coexistence and working together are more important than ever. I did not know the history of NYC’s Mohawk Steelworkers. Written in the 1990s - holds up well.
April 23, 2018
Eagle Song is told from the perspective of a boy moving to a new city and missing his Mohawk identity. The character struggles with assimilating into a "white" culture while trying to learn more about his Native American heritage. Strong emotions develop as the main characters learns how to be himself.
September 2, 2020
I prefer Bruchac's supernatural stuff, but this is a solid coming-of-age story (or to be more specific, Indian-Boy-Moves-to-Brooklyn-and-Comes-Into-His-Own story). He calls out modern American culture just harshly enough.
September 8, 2021
How do you manage to live as a child who is totally different from others going to school. Daniel Bigtree has to find a way to do this and he does through the Eagle. This is a really great book that I am giving my grandson for his birthday.
December 7, 2025
A great children’s chapter book that talks about Native American cultures and how difficult it is being the new kid at school, especially when you’re different. The storyline focuses on finding peace amongst different groups of people and the courage it takes to make friends.
June 28, 2017
This is a great read for any kids in middle school. It touches on bullying and being made fun of for who you are, it's something all kids should read and be made aware of.
December 14, 2017
2.5 stars
April 24, 2018
I find this book very relevant for students who have a hard time fitting in-particularly to new environments such as in Danny's case.
October 12, 2020
4.3 grade level. Native American (Mohawk) protagonist. Themes of Racism, feeling different, bullying, dad works away from home, gangs,. Would be good for a read aloud book in 3rd or 4th grade.
January 4, 2021
Lovely story, wish it were longer!
February 28, 2021
It's a lovely story, but I personally would have liked to see this fleshed out as a full middle-grade novel.
March 12, 2022
Es muy breve pero me costó mucho leerlo.
June 2, 2022
Good story but leaves you wanting more.
October 20, 2023
I read this book on the recommendation of our high school Life Skills teacher. I’m excited about the opportunity to discuss it with her class.
February 9, 2024
A must read for all adolescents, especially for those who live near or on Mohawk/Kanien’kéhaka territory.
August 17, 2024
Talks about peace.
September 24, 2024
Read this for my daughter’s class. It was a great book for younger kids.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews