Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris

THIS WAS BOUGHT AS A PRESENT. I HAVE READ IS AS IT IS ABOUT MY MOTHER. EVERYONE WHO READ IT HAS THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT. JEAN A MOORE. MAINE

This is a beautifully-written biography of a young Penobscot woman from Indian Island, Maine. She danced in vaudeville, Wild West shows, and even went topless in New York before dancing before royalty in Europe. She had a passionate but tragic love affair with a French journalist, and fled with her daughter from the Nazis. Molly suffered greatly in her lifetime but shone among her people as a strong matriarch with dazzling basketweaving skills and musical talents. She deserves to have her story told at last.

This is a wonderfully lyrical account of the life of a Penobscot woman who against great odds overcomes poverty and illness through her intelligence, love of beauty and dance and her connection to her Native American heritage. Her romance with a French Resistance-member journalist and her escape over the Alps with her infant daughter during World War II is spell-binding. I loved this book!

As a middle school librarian in a county with two tribes, I am always looking for books that will model exellence for our young men and women. This is a fascinating read about a native American young woman in the early days of Hollywood. We can't afford this book yet, but it is one of three that top my list for next year's order. We have 180 feet of empty shelves.