One of my top shelf favorite books of all time and a true story which takes place in Alaska in the late 1920's!

I re-read this book every few years and never grow tired of it. It has all the elements to keep the reader hooked: adventure, living with hardship through a frigid Alaska winter, dogsled races, a student who perseveres despite a reading handicap, the heroic teacher who loves her students and despite all, bravely stands up to a community with a rigid backwards way of thinking (racism.) More...

My all-time favorite book. The first time I read it, I turned around and read it again 3 days later I liked it so much. Wonderful wonderful book. I love how racism is handled in this book. The people that are racists run the gamut as opposed to how Hollywood portrays them as completely bad. Some don't have issues with the Indians as long as they keep to themselves, others like them as long as they don't marry whites and others don't like them at all. On the Indian side there are some characters More...

I read this while on vacation and was having a hard time putting it down, when I was supposed to be going to Disney World! There is so much adventure and bravery and it's a TRUE story! The woman is so brave and wonderful in the way she treats the Native American children! I'm 1/2 Eskimo and live in Alaska and though I've mostly been treated well all of my life, I can only imagine what these Indian children were going through and what an angel Tisha must have been to them.
I met one of the childre More...

This story is the account of a nineteen year old girl in 1927 who accepts a teaching position in Chicken, Alaska. She must grapple with both the rigorous wilderness life and the deeply entrenched prejudices of the community. Those who teeter on the brink of survival hold tenaciously to the structures that have held them together, making them both very neighborly and very solitary at once-- at least as observed by this optimistic, creative, and stubborn young lady. Told with humor, candor, and gr More...

If this had been a novel, I would have thought the author was going overboard with the drama. But this was a true story, so I was amazed at what life was like in Alaska in the 1920's.

Tisha was a 19 year old teacher. She was looking for adventure and found more than she bargained for in Chicken,Alaska. First she had to turn a run-down shack into her living quarters and a school room. Then she not only had to teach a wide age range of children, she had to keep everyone warm temperatures way bel More...

themes: race, discrimination, love, education, survival, courage
setting: Alaska 1920s

Anne Hobbs grew up in mining towns, but she decided she wanted some adventure, to do something different with her life. So she set off for Alaska to be a schoolteacher. She faces some harsh conditions there, but the hardest thing to deal with is the persistent racism against the Indians. Anne's own grandma was an Indian, and she was the only person who ever showed her unconditional love. Anne is the last person More...

So I chose this book for the final in my English concurrent class, if only because my teacher sold it so well. Not only that, but the other book I wanted to read had been stolen by the first class. *grumbles* But anyway.

This book was worth it. I had to fight in order to get it, as it was between this book an "Touching the Void" by Joe Simpson - it REFUSE to read mountain climbing books. >_>

So this book deals with love and segregation - those are books I always feel a tug to, though I have More...

This is my mom's book. She let me borrow it about 20 years ago - around the same time we moved out of Alaska. For about the past 10 years or so, she has been asking for it back, so it was time to read it.

I loved this book. I grew up in Alaska, so I was not blown away by the descriptions of the cold weather, deep snow, or dark winter. Those were facts of life. I've even ridden in dogsleds before. So instead I read those passages with a bit of nostalgia. Of course, I lived there in the 70s and 80s More...

Not a book I would probably have picked out myself. We're reading it for a book club, and I have to say I rather enjoyed it. It's a bit slow-moving and sentimental for my taste, but it was interesting. There's one bit about one of the old prospectors telling how he didn't even have a thermometer for the first 10 years, he just had a jar of mercury on the windowsil and if it froze, it was too cold to go out. I looked it up, and that comes out to be something like 70 degrees below zero, Ferenheit. More...

It is 1927, and Anne Hobbs is a twenty year old teacher who decides to leave her job in Oregon to teach in Chicken, Alaska. She is unprepared for the rugged life but meets the challenges with spirit and strength. A novice horseback rider, she soon has to adapt as the only way into to Chicken is with a horsepack and mule train which delivers the mail as well as supplies. The life depicted in the local Indian village is heart rendering. In Chicken, she is able to adapt to her students’ needs and c More...

Tisha was a Goodreads recommendation based on my adoration of the book, Mrs. Mike. I've stated it before and I'll say it again, I love Mrs. Mike. Of course, I was interested in reading a book that might be similar to it in both style and message. After reading it I can only say, "Well....kind of."


Their mass-market cover art is similar. There are dogs that pull sleds. There is reference to "Indians" doing things deemed foolish or wrong by white person standards. But, that's about it.

Really, Tish More...

I wrote a book-report about "Tisha" in seventh grade for Mr. Myette's Language Arts class. It was a glowing review of book about a teacher who overcame obstacles to make a home for herself in Alaska. Pity I didn't really read the book. I remember sitting down to write the report, fuzzy on a few of the details such as the plot, main characters, and setting. I do remember drawing a great picture of Anne Hobbs for the cover. One of the best profiles views of my young artistic career.
After actually More...

Tisha is one of my all-time favorite books. My mother used to read this to me as a kid, and I found it hauntingly beautiful. I was too young to catch the nuances of racism and desperation that were woven throughout, but that made it all the more special when I read it myself as a teenager.

Anne's spunk, resilience, and bravery have stuck with me through many reads. In my mind, she is the epitome of what little girls should have as a role model - ready to roll with the punches, ready to stand up f More...

This book was not at all what I expected it would be. I knew it was an Alaskan adventure of a 20YO girl who didn't quite know what she was getting into, and I knew there'd be some romance mixed in. I guess I thought sweet and gentle, like the Green Gables books.

Nope. This is the Alaskan version of To Kill A Mockingbird, with so much prejudice it was sometimes hard to read. And not gentle at all, it was in places a brutal tale of survival like Mrs. Mike. I feel kind of spent, and I know I don't h More...

It is 1927. Influenced by her grandmother's stories of striking out to the wilderness as a young pioneer, nineteen year old Anne Hobbs takes a teaching job in Chicken, Alaska territory. In this one year chronicle of her life, Anne who is called "Tisha" by her Indian students tells of adjusting to life in a cold, sometimes threatening, sometimes unfriendly Chicken. Although there are few residents in the mining village, many make life very difficult for Tisha especially over her desire to includ More...

Set in the frigid Forty Mile country of Alaska, Tisha, the true story of Anne Hobbs, absolutely warms the heart. The characters are wonderful: heroes that make you cheer and villains that make you want to punch them in the face. The plot rolls forward easily with exciting highs of romance and adventure. The writing is descriptive, and, though a bit immature at times, it is immature in a way that is perfectly suited to the novel. Indeed, all the makings of a good read are present - but there is m More...

I read this book years ago and it is still one of the first books that I recommend when someone says, "what is a good book that I could read". It is a true story and a fun read that describes the world of Alaska and inspires you with its good example of being true to yourself.

A friend of my mother's gave this book to me years ago.........like 7 years ago. She knew I was struggling living in Star Valley because of the long winters. This year, I decided I didn't want a book on my bookshelf I haven't read so I decided to read it. I loved it. Other then her descriptions of -50 below zero weather. I loved the story told but still wonder why you crazy ass people still insist on living in this freaking cold weather. As you can tell I hate cold weather and still continue to More...

When I originally read this book while in Junior High, I had no understanding of race relations between Native Americans and the rest of the population. My view was if you're in love, that shouldn't stop you from getting married. Actually, that's still my view, but as I got older, I realized it can be more complicated than that.

Thankfully, race relations and views of interacial marriage have improved a lot, but there's still room for improvement.

This is a ground breaking story about a woman's n More...

Tisha is a Very nice read,I also recommend Tisha"s House and the FortyMile Country by lisa Johnson.
I am Anne Purdy"s grandson and have spent many summers up in chicken with my granmother,before her passing,in the late 80's. Tisha's House and the Fortymile country,which was written by my wife lisa,
Takes you on a photographic tour of the fortymile region and the house my granmother and granfather raised all those adopted kids in,I highly recommend you get it.
questions or info just send me an e m More...

I picked this book up at a library used book sale. Filling a grocery bag for $5 seemed like a good deal, and this got thrown in with a bunch of other stuff. I wasn't really excited to read it, truth be told, and figured that if I didn't like it, at least I hadn't spent any significant money on it.
I did like it, more than I expected. It reminded me a bit of the "Little House" books, with the independent teacher being the main character. Some of it does seem overly sentimental, but it was still an More...

Tisha is one of my all-time favorites (and one of the few that I've read multiple times). A true story, it contains all of the key elements of a great story.

THIS IS AN INSANELY AWESOME BOOK!!!! its KINDA slow @ the beginning but once u get past a coupla chapters you will be ADDICTED! I ALMOST GARUNTEE IT!!!!

This narrative is the story of a young teacher in the late 1920's that volunteered to teach school in a very small Alaska community--and ran into the blatant and unfair prejudice against the Athabascan natives who lived in and near that community. She is targeted when she accepts them (since she herself is 1/8 Native American through her beloved grandmother, the only adult who really cared for her as a child). Her struggles to teach ALL of the children and to gain respect in the community despit More...

Published in 1976 a first person account of events in Alaska in 1927. A young woman decides to go to Alaska to teach school. She finds a welcome by the citizens of Chicken Alaska but soon discovers that prejudice and bigotry exists against the Native Americans in the area. Her determination to teach all who want to learn is often rejected by the local authorities. This is a delightful account of this young woman Anne Hobbs and her stuggles with the bigotry, the weather, the inadequate supplies, More...

Anne Hobb's braves Alaska to become Chicken's new teacher. There her life's adventure begins-an adventure that pits her against the relentless Alaskan winter and Chickenites. A revolutionary minded Anne is constantly stepping on the town's people's toes through her close relations with the Indians and even closer relations with half-breeds. Alon the way three men court Anne's favor: Joe Temple, Cabaret Temple and Fred Purdy. Through all of the turmoil of teaching, winters and men Anne finds hers More...

I must be into strong women books during the depression, because this is my third. It was the hardest to get into, but what a ride after you immerse yourself. I loved the heroine Anne Hobbs and the determination of her. At 18 she sets of for Alaska to be a teacher which they pronounce "Tisha". She is in this small 6 cabin settlement of Chicken and has to deal with the elements, prejudice and lack of education, this all being in the 20s. This is a true story and the best part is her relationship More...

Language Warning

This is an amazing true story of adventure, love, and life. Tisha is an adventurous, resilient, and big-hearted young woman assigned a teaching job on the Alaskan Frontier in the 1920's. She faces the challenges of her job in a matter of fact and mature way. Very inciteful look at attitudes toward learning disabilities, race relations, and women's roles. The book is realistic to the setting and times, so the language is very rough and there are racial slurs. In spite of this, the More...

My mother often recommended to me books she had read and liked when I was growing up. We both enjoyed stories like this that are based on actual events and take place in pioneer days. This is another one I read over several times because it was so engrossing. Based on a woman who went to teach in a small Alaskan village in the 1920's. A lot of insight is given into the lack of understanding of native culture and the resentment the natives often felt at what was inadvertently a lack of respect fo More...