The Second Bend in the River

I love all her books, but the two I loved the most throughout all my reading were 'Time Enough for Drums', and this one, 'The Second Bend in the River'. I'm not really an historical romance buff, unless the romance is only part of a large web of historical detail and intriguing plot. These two stories, however, are almost all about the romance, and how the characters are affected by their love and the exciting times. In this novel, a young girl Rebecca Galloway is growing up on the frontier. Relationships with the neighboring natives are tense: sometimes good, sometimes bad. She grows up in a household of brothers, learning to be self-sufficient and intelligent as well as attractive and feminine. It is this combination of qualities that draws Tecumseh, the legendary cheif who plans to unite the tribes to fight off the lying, cheating white government. Although he was there throughout her childhood, the age difference seems to be simply material and not worth thinking about.. in short, against all odds, they fall in love. When Rebecca is forced to make a choice between the dangerous and foreign life of Tecemseh's and her own "white" ways, things really start to get good. However, at the end, I couldn't help but want to scream "You made the wrong decision!! Go back!!", even though the story works out so well as to completely make me love Rebecca's character, despite what I think was a poor choice on her part. Oh well, after reading the story, I couldn't help but understand, commiserate, and support Rebecca. I even thought she made the right choice after all.I know I did, picking up this book!

I only looked at the book, THE SECOND BEND IN THE RIVER, because it had an interesting title. When I read the summary on the back cover, and I saw the name Rebbeca Galloway. Rebbeca Galloway is my Sixth Great Aunt, and Andrew Galloway is my Sixth Great Grandfather. After reading this book I learned more about the times she lived in and some of the hardships she may have faced. The fact that she was in love with Tecumpseh has always been a family legend. But in the legend, Rebbeca proposed to Tecumpseh. I thought this book was very beautifully written and I enjoyed it very much.

This is a beautifully written book about Tecumseh's love for Rebecca Galloway. As a middle school teacher, this is a book I will recommend to students who are interested in American history, Native Americans, Pioneers/Frontier life etc. I believe it portrays an accurate picture of life in the 19th century. Ann Rinaldi did a super job filling in unknown information and keeping it historically accurate while blending it so well with the facts. She brought the Galloway family, their struggles, and Rebecca's feelings for Tecumseh alive. Kudos.

This book was mainly about a character named Rebecca falling in love with an Indian cheif, Tucemseh, or Tucemtha. I agree with the others that it bothered them with the age difference. But I think it was just that because Tucumseh has been in other books in different times.

The Second Bend in the River is a moving peice of Rinaldi's that demonstates a historical setting with characters that have personalities very similar to those of people around today, who would probably react in the same way to problems. The surpreme amount of facts supported by creative genius provides a realistic historical novel that you can never lose intrest in. It gives insight to problems, such as should Rebecca marry Tecumseh. It keeps your intrest to the end. An unquestionable masterpeice for young adults.