Morning Girl

Mar 22, 2011 Amani Nijem rated it 3 of 5 stars

"In the book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, one of the main characters, Morning Girl talks about her relationship with her younger brother Star Boy. The novella contains the five literary elements, characters, diction, setting, conflict, and moral. The book overall is well written and is a satisfactory book.

The characters of the novella are very detailed and are easy to visualize. Throughout the book the main characters, Star Boy and Morning Girl, alternate in writing the chapters of the book....more "In the book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, one of the main characters, Morning Girl talks about her relationship with her younger brother Star Boy. The novella contains the five literary elements, characters, diction, setting, conflict, and moral. The book overall is well written and is a satisfactory book.

The characters of the novella are very detailed and are easy to visualize. Throughout the book the main characters, Star Boy and Morning Girl, alternate in writing the chapters of the book. The author’s development of characters is strong because he is very descriptive and detailed. In chapters in one and two the author talks about how the characters got their names and why they got them. “The name my family calls me is Morning Girl because I wake up early, I always with something on my mind.”(pg1). The setting of the book is really vague and unclear at times. Most of the time, the author will fully describe the surroundings of the characters and where they are at that moment of the book. “There are things I noticed as a rock that I never realized as a boy. I could feel the movement of a shadow on my body as the sun slid across the sky…” (pg27)The setting, at most is well developed and the characters are overall well detailed and descriptive.

The diction of the book is appropriate. “‘She is…’ Father sighed, and squeezed my shoulder. ‘She is disappointed’ “(pg 21). The diction is appropriate because instead of saying that Morning Girl’s mother had a miscarriage they described how she felt when she lost the baby. Another thing about the diction is that you can tell when Morning Girl is writing a chapter and when Star Boy is writing a chapter. They both have their different ways of writing and their vocabulary differs.

The conflict of the whole novella is unclear. There isn’t a big conflict of the book but small conflicts throughout the book. Throughout the chapters Morning Girl and Star Boy have a troubled relationship. Even thought they are brother and sister, they fight a lot in most of the chapters. “’How do you know is it’s a sister?’ He asked. ‘Why not a brother?’ …” (pg 17) on this page Star Boy, his mother, and Morning Girl are fight on whether or not the baby will be a sister or brother to them. Overall the conflict is very vague and unclear. Unlike the morals, they are more valuable and can be used in everyday life. “He glanced at me, and it was so strange because I thing that was the first time we ever actually saw each other. Of course, I knew what he looked like. Sometimes I could tell when he was behind me, without turning around. But I never let myself wonder much about him. He was just…I don’t know… always there, the opposite of me, and now, suddenly, I realized that in some ways we were the same” (pg20). This part of chapter three is saying that they are family and are not very much different then each other. They are family and are connected in a way.
In conclusion, in my opinion the book overall was satisfactory. I would recommend this book to any of my teachers and my siblings.

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Mar 22, 2011 Amanda Zheng rated it 3 of 5 stars

In a novel, Morning Girl by Michael Dorris is about these two siblings, Starboy and Morning Girl. This book is for ages 9 and up.At first, Morning Girl and Starboy's relationships were bad. As the story continues on, their relationship begins to grow. Every chapter has its' own problems and solutions. The story takes place in Bahamian Island.
Michael describes the characters very specific. Every little things, Michael can describe it in a paragraph explaining what he is trying to tell the readers...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Grace Gao rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris was about an older sister named Morning Girl and her younger brother named Star Boy. They experience many things and are always learning something new. They live in an island called Bahamian in 1492. This book contains all five literary elements. Morning Girl was a very unique book because its format was different from other books.

The character, diction, and conflict were very powerful. The author’s development of diction is very powerful because she doe...more The book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris was about an older sister named Morning Girl and her younger brother named Star Boy. They experience many things and are always learning something new. They live in an island called Bahamian in 1492. This book contains all five literary elements. Morning Girl was a very unique book because its format was different from other books.

The character, diction, and conflict were very powerful. The author’s development of diction is very powerful because she doesn’t state everything that’s going on all the time. When Morning Girls mom came home without a baby Dorris didn’t need to say she had a miscarriage it was in the text. " Because the new sister didn’t come,I whispered"(21). By the text you can tell that the baby sister had died. Also her development in character was very strong. Morning Girl said " I was shy at first because of seeing so many people at once."(48). Dorris makes it so a lot of kids her age can relate to. Almost everyone's biggest fear was talking in front of people which means they are shy. Her development in conflict is also very relatable. One of the conflicts was when Star Boy did something wrong and thought he would get in big trouble so he went to hide. Even though his family knew where he was they didn’t go up to him. Star Boy father pretended he didn’t knew Star Boy was there and talked to him self. He said “ But even if the canoe had floated away even if it had vanished beneath the waves, is only a canoe” (28). Dorris writes about conflicts most kids have. When we are younger we don’t know whats going to happen if we do something wrong all we knew is we are going to get in trouble so we try to run away and hide.
The setting of the story was very unclear. While reading this book the setting was more like a made up world. Dorris uses some text to describe the setting but didn’t use enough. The description for the setting was only like a sentence or two. The best description from the book was “ dragging himself forward by reaching for a stump then a rock”(39). Most of the time while reading the book the setting was like an imaginary island. Also the morals were valuable but also confusing at the same time. Almost every chapter had a lesson to learn but some of the chapters were very confusing to get the message.
Overall, the novel is unique because it doesn’t have the same plot line as others. This book seems just right for the kids ages 10-14.(less)

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Mar 22, 2011 Diana K rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book MORNING GIRL is written by Michael Dorris. It was the winner of the Scott O’Dell award for historical fiction. MORNING GIRL takes place on an island, where the book revolves around two very different siblings. Those two siblings are called Morning Girl and Star Boy. The book progresses on about how the two siblings see the world. The book is recommended for young adults, preferably for ages twelve and up.

The author’s development of the characters is thorough. Throughout the novel both...more The book MORNING GIRL is written by Michael Dorris. It was the winner of the Scott O’Dell award for historical fiction. MORNING GIRL takes place on an island, where the book revolves around two very different siblings. Those two siblings are called Morning Girl and Star Boy. The book progresses on about how the two siblings see the world. The book is recommended for young adults, preferably for ages twelve and up.

The author’s development of the characters is thorough. Throughout the novel both characters, Star Boy and Morning Girl,change. They transform and both characters seem relatable. "I imagined what it would be like if he weren't around."(page 15)This quote is said by Morning Girl, and how she expressed her feelings of hate towards her brother. This shows that Morning Girl, just like any other sibling also says rude things when they are angry.

The author’s development of the setting is effective. " The palms were already spread on the ground, perfect for thatch. Coconuts lay where they had fallen, and even, in some unexpected places-large puddles or places where the ponds had spilled over their banks-silver fish carried from the sea could amazingly be found."(page 46) Based on this quote, the author is being very descriptive about the things the character, Star Boy, is around.

The author’s use of diction is confusing. "In the house, my brother was the footprints. He messed up the niceness for me." (page14).The word choice is not appropriate, meaning that is it something the reader won’t relate to. The author makes irrelevant metaphors that the reader will find difficult to understand.

The conflict (plot) the author, Michael Dorris, creates is relatable." 'But it wasn't her' I shouted"(page 28) Although there is not a major conflict that takes place throughout the book, there is a small conflict in each chapter that is existant.

The morals/themes Dorris communicates are valuable. "When things around me are right I forget to notice." (page 13) This quote teaches that based on how the characters respond, the reader could learn from what they are doing/saying. This quote teaches to enjoy the little things.

MORNING GIRL is a book I would recommend to teenagers. In all, this novella is something that holds deep feelings and is relatable to almost anyone.(less)

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Mar 21, 2011 Michelle Veliz rated it 2 of 5 stars

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris is about a tribal girl named Morning girl and her brother Star boy living on an island. Morning Girl and Star boy alternate point of views throughout the chapters in the book. Morning Girl and Star boy are very different from each other. For example, Morning Girl likes going to sleep early and waking up early in the morning. On the other hand, Star Boy likes the night because he stares at the stars. The book should read by ages nine and up. This book may of won the...more Morning Girl by Michael Dorris is about a tribal girl named Morning girl and her brother Star boy living on an island. Morning Girl and Star boy alternate point of views throughout the chapters in the book. Morning Girl and Star boy are very different from each other. For example, Morning Girl likes going to sleep early and waking up early in the morning. On the other hand, Star Boy likes the night because he stares at the stars. The book should read by ages nine and up. This book may of won the Scott O Dell award for Historical Fiction, but the book is somewhat dull and uninspiring. At the beginning the book shows a lack of action and interest. Towards the middle of the book the author makes the book more engaging and more action occurs.
The development of character in Morning Girl is very strong and relatable. Dorris writes in a way that you can see how the characters feel about themselves. “ No one would ever forget my mistake or think of me as a little child, even if I became an old man” (58). According to this quote you can see that Star boy was feeling upset that people won’t let go the person he used to be. He thinks that his past will come back to haunt him much like teenagers do. In the real world, after most teenagers realize that they must grow up, they fear that they will go back to the person they used to be. They fear that they will be the little kid again and not the grown up version of themselves.
The conflict that Michael Dorris creates is engaging because you can see how the characters feel when they are in difficult situation and visualize the conflict. One of the conflicts that occurred during the middle book was that Star Boy was outside when a powerful storm was occurring meanwhile his family was looking for him. “ I saw my wet arms, my twisting legs. I saw the roof of our house, the yellow fronds soaked a dark tan, became a winged turtle and swim away from the poles. I saw trees, big and small crash into each other. Yet I wasn’t afraid”(40). The author writes a lot details that you can visualize how much damage the storm has caused. Even if the storm has caused a lot of damage Star Boy wasn’t afraid. He was brave enough to witness how powerful the storm was.
The diction in Morning Girl may appear to be unclear at first because you may not know what the author is trying to say at first but if you re-read you will realize what the author is to say. “ Far away from where I loved the storm, I realize that it could hurt me”(40) When you real this quote you may have no clue what the author is trying to say. You may think that Star Boy loved the storm but he realized it could hurt him or you might be have no clue what the author is trying to say. Another thing that appears to be unclear at first is the setting. The only thing you know about the setting is that the characters live a Bahamian island but you wouldn’t really understand what time the book is taking place. The only time you would know when the story took place is when Morning Girl sees special visitors arrive at the island.
The moral/ themes in Moring Girl are appropriate for the readers because the lessons taught are easy to understand and be learned. “And he finally did, finally but not before he had spoke so that only I could hear, not before he had called me the name he would always afterward use when we were alone together, not before he had said, so softly “ The One Who Stands Beside”(53). This moral is that you should stick up for the people you love. Just like Morning Girl Stuck up for her brother Star Boy when he was picked on. If Morning Girl never stuck up for her brother than he would of still been fun of.
Overall the book is dull, unaspiring and shows a lack of action. The development of character may be strong, but the diction and setting is what made this book confusing. If the diction and the setting were more clear than the book wouldn’t be so dull. I recommend this book to people who love history because they could see how the people in the past might of have lived.

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Mar 22, 2011 Erica Lei rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book Morning Girl, written by Dorris, is an uninteresting but life lessoned story. This book is unclear and difficult to understand so the ratings shouldn’t be 9 and up. Even though this book is dull there are some positive and negative things about it.

This book is somewhat positive because of the literary elements, characters and morals/themes. The characters are relatable and they teach us life lessons. Based on the quote, “If something isn’t too much or too little, I don’t pay attention…...more The book Morning Girl, written by Dorris, is an uninteresting but life lessoned story. This book is unclear and difficult to understand so the ratings shouldn’t be 9 and up. Even though this book is dull there are some positive and negative things about it.

This book is somewhat positive because of the literary elements, characters and morals/themes. The characters are relatable and they teach us life lessons. Based on the quote, “If something isn’t too much or too little, I don’t pay attention…” (14), shows that the characters are like real humans because we don’t pay attention to most of the things in life. The morals/themes Dorris says in the story relates to our everyday life. The quote, “There are things I noticed as a rock that I never realized as a boy…I got to know myself as a rock even better than I had known myself as a person…” (27), proves that the morals are relatable to our life because we should think in other people’s point of view. Dorris made the characters fun and the morals/themes realistic so that readers any age can enjoy reading it but there are negative things about this book too.

Some negative things in Morning Girl are the literary elements; conflict, diction and setting. The conflicts in this book are dull and simple because it doesn’t reach to the climax and it gets solved. The quote, “I didn’t know how long mother would be away... day passed slowly without her” (19), it was talking about a small simple conflict and it gets solved in one day. The settings were unclear even though it was very descriptive; it’s hard to figure out where the characters were. The author’s use of diction is very detailed but it was also unclear. The reasons that made this book dull were the conflict, diction and setting.

Overall, the novel was confusing and uninteresting because of the conflict, diction and setting. I do not recommend this book because it was unclear. Even though the characters and moral/theme were realistic and important it took time to comprehend it. Most young readers who get confused won’t reread parts of the book to understand it but will continue reading in confusion. The book Morning Girl was dull and I don’t recommend it even though it teaches readers life lessons.
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Mar 22, 2011 Louis Cai rated it 5 of 5 stars

In the historical fiction book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, Morning Girl and her brother Star Boy had problems together. As things start to happen, they start to get along. The author presents us with 5 elements of a story to present us the book. Morning Girl was a mediocre book.

The author's development of character and setting was thorough. He uses "He messed up the niceness of me, just being himself, he was too loud;making jokes when he should be serious, talking when he should listen, ru...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Natalieee :D rated it 3 of 5 stars

Reading the book Morning Girl is really touching in different ways. It’s a historical fiction story taken place during the 1400s. The protagonist Morning Girl and her younger brother Starboy are complete opposites. They always disagree, they think and live differently and they don't get along easily. They talk about their life they are living with the family with problems and situations. Throughout the book, Starboy grows as a character. He and his sister, start to understand more about themsel...more Reading the book Morning Girl is really touching in different ways. It’s a historical fiction story taken place during the 1400s. The protagonist Morning Girl and her younger brother Starboy are complete opposites. They always disagree, they think and live differently and they don't get along easily. They talk about their life they are living with the family with problems and situations. Throughout the book, Starboy grows as a character. He and his sister, start to understand more about themselves and especially about life. This book is trying to give the reader a view of coming of age by learning and becoming someone differently as you get older. This book will give you a never ending experience and lead you to thinking beyond of what the book is trying to say to the readers.

The Diction in the book Morning Girl is really descriptive and creative. It will enlighten readers up while they are reading. The diction and the words will be painting inside your head while you are reading. It strongly gives a nice view of how the setting looks like. The setting is really resplendent that it will make any reader feel as if they are in there hiding near the bushes somewhere in an island and the wind of the ocean and light of the sun blow across their face. "I don’t remember days that aren’t too hot or too wet or nights when the breeze blows hard enough to move the bugs away, but not hard enough to beat the palm leaves against the trunks of the trees." (pg 13)
The Diction made the setting alive and true. That’s the best thing that is so breath taking in the novel.

The characters such as Morning girl and Star boy were really thorough. Throughout the book you will get to understand them and identify their personality. They were really effective during the conflicts in the story. There are many weak conflicts in the story that will confuse the reader by keeping on track of what’s going on and what’s being resolved. It will definitely grab your interest at some point but then will lead you distracted by another part of the story. For example in the story, the mother of Star boy and Morning Girl was pregnant and had a miscarriage. That effected the whole family. That was one of the big conflicts in the story. And as you are reading, another problem occures while you are thinking about the last conflict is being resolved. Overall, Michal Dorris, the author of Morning Girl did a good job on pointing out the message to his readers throughout the novel.

This stories purpose was to entertain and as well to teach a lesson to the reader. The moral of the book is appropriate and will lead you to experience coming of age. This book is strongly recommended to people who would like to sit back and put their mind in a different world and children ages 9 and up. It has a sense of style that would lead readers to have beautiful setting and picture on their head. Morning Girl will lead you to shut your mind off from reality and power on your imagination.
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Mar 22, 2011 Yuris Ng rated it 2 of 5 stars

MORNING GIRL is a relatable but uninspiring historical fiction book, where Morning Girl, a twelve years old Taino and her younger brother, Star Boy, recreates a vivid life on the Bahamian Island in 1492. They recreated a life full of conflicts about family and life. MORNING GIRL is a book for young audiences who are nine years old or older. This book is meant to teach children and teenagers about the conflict of life and siblings rivals. The author, Michael Dorris used the five literary elements...more MORNING GIRL is a relatable but uninspiring historical fiction book, where Morning Girl, a twelve years old Taino and her younger brother, Star Boy, recreates a vivid life on the Bahamian Island in 1492. They recreated a life full of conflicts about family and life. MORNING GIRL is a book for young audiences who are nine years old or older. This book is meant to teach children and teenagers about the conflict of life and siblings rivals. The author, Michael Dorris used the five literary elements to write this story, and made the characters and conflict relatable and appropriate. Also, he made the diction descriptive and creative. However, he made the setting and the moral unclear and confusing.

The development of the characters and the conflicts are relatable and appropriate for young audiences because the characters and the conflicts of the book can relate to many teenagers and their lives. Morning Girl and Star Boy are siblings but they are the usual siblings who always have sibling conflicts. “But whenever I pointed out how he acted – and, the truth is, I did it only so that he would learn and not make the same mistakes a second time, only so that he would understand how good it could be if he didn’t ruin everything.” (15) This conflict can relate to many young audiences’ life because when usual brothers and sisters fight, the older sibling always points out the younger’s mistakes and hoping them to learn and stop committing the same mistakes again. Dorris did an outstanding job on the literary element of characters and conflicts. He made Morning Girl and Star Boy sounded like real people and made the conflicts relatable to real life.

Dorris also did an outstanding job on the diction. He made the diction descriptive and creative, which made his story more understandable for young audiences. Dorris used a special technique to describe different situations and made it sound less straight forward. Instead of saying things straight forwardly, he describes the situation precisely or describing it in other ways, for example, ““Because the new sister didn’t come,” I whispered” (21). This sentence suppose to tell that the mother had a miscarriage, however, Dorris made it sound like the sister did not exist or the mother did not get pregnant, and made like it was an imagination. His technique was unique because he knows that the book is meant for young audiences and knows that if he writes the word “miscarriage”, many of the young readers might not understand or lose interest of the book due to “sophisticated” words. Another thing that Dorris did well on the diction was the names of the characters. The names of the characters were really unique and creative because he did not use normal people’s name like Maria or Michael, instead he used nature or objects to name the character. The names Morning Girl, Star Boy, Swam too far and etc are funny and it grabs the readers’ attentions easily.

Although Dorris did a good job on character, conflict and diction, he did not really do a good job on the literary element of setting and moral. The setting and the moral was unclear and confusing in the story, because Dorris had never mentions the actual place of the story and show the lessons in a visible way. Instead of saying that the characters are in XXXX Island or XXXX place, Dorris just write things that relates to an island or to the place but he never made it clear that the story takes place in Bahamian Island. “Just before dawn today I woke and found him sitting on the edge of the mat,” (4). When the author mentions the mat, the first expectation was that Morning Girl and Star Boy were in some Indian island or Africa but they actually were not and this is what makes it unclear because we do not know the true place. The same thing happens with the moral, instead of making it visible, the author just used Morning Girl daily life job to show it. “Now he’ll learn, I thought, with more rightness than kindness.” (49) From this quote, the first expectation was to learn a lesson that tells, “If you do not learn in the way you suppose to learn, you will eventually learn in the hard way.” However, the quote did not mean any of it, instead “Be kind”. This was kind of frustrated because you can interpret different things or lesson in one quote and cannot inference only one answer.

Overall, the book MORNING GIRL was a relatable, but uninspiring historical fiction book. Although it was uninspiring, the book was kind of great because the characters, the conflicts and the diction are retable, appropriate and clear. This book can be recommended to readers who want to learn about family or life conflicts or to readers who like to read books with less sophisticated words. However, this cannot be recommended to readers who always read complex stories or book because they might get confused due to the unclearness of the setting and moral.
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Mar 21, 2011 Evonne Z rated it 1 of 5 stars

The novel, Morning Girl is rather uninteresting. It’s not very clear and has a bunch of things that are a bit too difficult to comprehend, especially for the fact that this book is for ages 9 and up. Even so, it is welcomed for people of all ages to read this.
A positive literary element this novel shows is of the characters. According to the novel, ‘What I don’t like is nothing. I don’t mean I like everything because I don’t.’ (Page 8) This quote explains that Star Boy is very picky, but he is...more

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Mar 08, 2009 Evangeline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Summary: Morning Girl and her brother, Star Boy, are as different as night and day. The book alternates between Morning Girl’s accounts of the mornings with Star Boy’s accounts of his night adventures and their journey to appreciate one another. Their life on an American island in the late 1400’s is peaceful and content. Morning Girl’s final narrative introduces Columbus’ people rowing ashore to their island.
Critique: While this book is set in pre-Columbus Native America, the reader can get so w...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Alicia Feller rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: rdg-4050

Title: Morning Girl
Author: Michael Dorris
Illustrator: N/A
Genre: Historical Fiction
Subgenre: N/A
Date of publication: 1992
Publishing company: Hyperion
ISBN Number: 9780786813582
Award(s): Scott O'Dell Award (1993), Booklist Editors' Choice, Horn Book Fanfare, New York Times Book Review Notable Book of (1992)
Themes: Community; Exploration and Discovery; Native Americans; Change
Primary characters:
Morning Girl
Star Boy
Secondary characters:
Mother
Father
Summary:
Morning Girl is so named because she loves...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Lara Ivey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, scott-o-dell-award-historical-ficti

This is the story of Morning Girl, Star Boy, her brother, their parents and village on a Caribbean island in 1492. It is also the story of history as seen through the eyes of everyday people whose lives and way of life would be changed forever.
Using everyday events, plain language and simple observations, the reader becomes friends with the characters. You learn some of the beliefs and customs of the Taino people and are given insight into their relationships with each other and the natural wo...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Kaz rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: us-history-reading-challenge

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In my opinion this wasn't a very good book. It had several problems with the layout of the story's plot itself (not to mention making how the story flows utterly confusing). First of all the book starts with one person and doesn’t name her until almost half way through the chapter. Another factor is that the story jumps to another person in the second chapter and doesn't name him until I almost gave up on the book. If this were a book I wrote I definitely wouldn't have each chapter having the re...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Anjelique added it

In the story Morning Girl talks about a guirl and a boy that has different personatities. but as the novel goes on they found out that they have something in commen. they were givin names to fit how they act the girl's names was Morning Girl and her brothers name is Star Boy.

In the novel the author Micheal develop a setting that is effective, because in the story Morning Gril explain where she goes out in the morning and descirbes how much she likes goin out and swims in the ocean. the author wa...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Sam Zhang rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book “Morning Girl” by Michael Dorris is a great chapter book. This book had lots of conflicts. It talks about two different points of view from the two main characters, Morning Girl and Star Boy. They are brother and sister and they always have arguments. He always wake her up on the middle of the night and not letting her go back to sleep. But one problem that bring the family back together.

The characters in this book are very relatable. These characters bring people back to their childho...more The book “Morning Girl” by Michael Dorris is a great chapter book. This book had lots of conflicts. It talks about two different points of view from the two main characters, Morning Girl and Star Boy. They are brother and sister and they always have arguments. He always wake her up on the middle of the night and not letting her go back to sleep. But one problem that bring the family back together.

The characters in this book are very relatable. These characters bring people back to their childhood, when people were young; they might always curious and ask parents questions just like Morning Girl. Also whenever parents care more about other child, they try to get them in trouble. This book takes place in Bahamian Island, where there’s lots of beach. So Star Boy dig inside the sand with mug and went back home to make the floor dirty. Then Morning Girl have to clean the floor.

The main conflict of this book is the tornado that hit the Bahamian and this book has a good dictions. “Sand stung my face, but by squinting I could see Morning Girl pointing in my direction.”(pg39) The problems show that Morning Girl is very caring about her own brother. The family is trying hard to save Star Boy. This quote also proves the dictions of the book. The author is describing how the tornado looks like. I could get the image by reading it

In this book, the message the author want to give
the reader is nothing is more important than a family.”But nothing could replace my son.”(pg28) Star Boy was hiding because he lost the canoe. But his father didn’t mad at him; instead he looked for him because he knows his son is worth more than just a canoe. This story is mainly talk about family problem and how the family changed at the end. So the moral is to teach us family always give you support.

This book will be interesting for elementary school students. This chapter book with some new vocabulary and it’s not a lot to read. Also this book is from two different points of view and it will be a great book for teaching student about points of view.
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Mar 21, 2011 Oscar GetsItIn rated it 5 of 5 stars

After reading the book Morning girl. I thought that the book was very intresting, at first I thought that it would be a boring book. Although eventually I got into it by the second chapter. It was a book that hooked me all the way from beginging to end. All the way to the last page, it was a captivating book to read.

During the book , there were many things that stood out but I thought the characters were the most important. Without Morning girl and Star boy. The book wouldnt be as good as it...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Sydney R. rated it 1 of 5 stars

in the book morning girl, morning girl and star boy are brothers and sisters. They are like any other family but instead of names they use tag names. They all go through a lot they went from a miscarriage to a really big storm. Star boy and morning girl have a relationship like any other siblings they fight, they are always in competition, and disagree a lot but they still love each other. The book was uninteresting because it lacked setting, conflict, and moral but had a good amount of charact...more in the book morning girl, morning girl and star boy are brothers and sisters. They are like any other family but instead of names they use tag names. They all go through a lot they went from a miscarriage to a really big storm. Star boy and morning girl have a relationship like any other siblings they fight, they are always in competition, and disagree a lot but they still love each other. The book was uninteresting because it lacked setting, conflict, and moral but had a good amount of character and diction.

The authors development of character is strong because readers could really relate and see how each characters personality is. For example “when I was angry I imagined what life would be like if he weren’t around, how each minute could be” (pg15). I could relate to this cause I did that before, other older or younger siblings do the same. This shows that the characters are relatable. Another literary element that was well developed was diction. The authors use of diction was very powerful because the author used a lot of metaphors to describe something in details. For example “but morning girls word were a splashing stream that found its way between my fingers, no matter how tightly I pressed them together” (pg58). This is a really good comparison just to prove her words are very strong and how they had a big effect. Character and diction is the best developed literary element in the book.

The morals Doris communicates are very uninspiring because the audience wouldn’t be able to pull out the moral. For example “then still later beneath a blank sky were clouds had washed a way my familiar stars, I got the maddest of all” (pg57). The moral was very hard to pull out from this quote for me, so imagine how the audience (that is nine years old) would feel on reading this quote. The authors development of setting is vague because it doesn’t give a clear visual of the setting. It doesn’t show a clear idea, for example “who needed a roof when the sun shone so friendly or when the stars glowed over head, watching our sleep”(pg45). This quote doesn’t show how the whole setting looks, it just tells me about the settings sky. The conflict Doris creates is dull because its not so exciting. For example “sure as I know that morning girl would want to hear all that happened to me in that storm, and be jealous that, that happened to me and not her”(pg41). This quote shows that the conflict is dull because its not even a big problem. Moral, setting, and conflict lacks a lot in this story.

Morning girl was the worst book I read and it lacks three of the five literary elements. This book is very boring and confusing. Honestly the audience, which is supposable only nine years old, wouldn’t like this book at all. I don’t recommend this book to anyone. The book had good character and diction writing buy wasn’t a fun or cool book to read. (less)

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Mar 22, 2011 Mohamed rated it 2 of 5 stars

In the novel Morning girl by Micheal Dorris is about a family of four.In the novel it dates back in the year 1492 in the bahamian islands.Morning girl a twelve year old and her younger brother star boy share their feelings and expierances within their own emotional journey.Both face obstacles that challenge them.This novel is based on two point of views that are somewhat similar.

In the novel Morning girl the setting is very displayed.You can tell whats happening based on the details the author...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Morning Girl is a novel written by Michael Dorris. It is a short novel so it is reccommended for younger readers. Morning Girl is written in two different points of views; Morning Girl and Star Boy which are siblings and the main characters. Morining Girl is not a novel I did not enjoyed too much.

In Morning Girl, I found that the characters and diction were appropriate. Although there were very few characters, the characters were very realistic. You could actually visualize them in your head. T...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Adam K. rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris was not intresting. This book is suggested for children ages nine and up. Morning Girl is about two characters that are siblings (Morning Girl and Star Boy) living in the time of Colombus discovering America.

Morning Girl and Star Boy are very relatable characters. In the beginning of the story, these characters do not get along. "I don't like being anything lke my sister..." (Star Boy Page 9). In their abstract ways, the characters describe the setting as...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Lok Ting rated it 3 of 5 stars

A historical fiction novel, "Morning Girl" by Michael Dorris is a very character based book. The morals are encouraging and for young readers. The chapters are alternating perspectives between the main character Morning Girl and her younger brother, Star Boy. This book has many simple wording, but has a complex plot.

In every book there are both good and bad points. This book doesn't get a five star rating because there are morals for each chapter, which makes the book more complexed. The diction...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Alex Estrella rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the novel Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, there are two young characters named Star Boy and Morning Girl, they are brother and sister who don't get along so well. They grow in character throughout the novel and learn many things about themselves and each other. Overall, this novel was decent.

The character and setting were the most effective literary elements in the novel. The characters star Boy and Morning Girl are very different and practically the opposites of each other. They have a kind...more In the novel Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, there are two young characters named Star Boy and Morning Girl, they are brother and sister who don't get along so well. They grow in character throughout the novel and learn many things about themselves and each other. Overall, this novel was decent.

The character and setting were the most effective literary elements in the novel. The characters star Boy and Morning Girl are very different and practically the opposites of each other. They have a kind of sibling rivalry where they want to be better than each other and receive more attention from their parents, but in a way they are still emotionally attached to each other as any brother and sister would be. Morning Girl knows how immature and childish Star Boy is, which is a big reason why she doesn't like him. Due to those feelings she feels as if she has to help him grow up. Star Boy is tired of his sister trying to be so perfect and feels neglected in the family, but knows his behavior is wrong. The two begin to help each other grow and learn things about life through out the novel. The setting was well described indirectly throughout the novel through scenes and sound as if they are in the Bahama Islands near an ocean or beach, along the water where many trees grow.

The most ineffective literary elements in this novel were the conflict, diction and moral. The conflict was unclear due to the alternating sides of the stories from Morning Girl, to Star Boy. Due to the unclear conflicts of the book, the moral(s) of the novel were also unclear. The diction was also a weak characteristic for the novel, because of the poor use of words. Although the novel was meant for a young audience the diction was very simple.

The novel's goods outweigh it's bads, making this novel almost interesting and well worth reading. This book should be recommended to small children from about 8-11 years of age. I don't think it should be given to read by anyone that is older than 13. This was an interesting, but confusing novel, that would make you want to keep on reading to find out what happens next in each chapter.

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Mar 21, 2011 William Uhm rated it 1 of 5 stars

This novel "Morning Girl" is by Michael Dorris. This novel is about a girl named Morning Girl and boy named Star Boy having some dramatic situations in their lives. They seem that they're not getting along together as well in the story. Overall, this novel was boring and repetitive.
The author's development of character was kind of vague because the character in the story was unspecific about themselves and their situations. Also, the development of setting was pretty strong because at the midd...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Mingming Mai rated it 1 of 5 stars

In the novel Morning girl writtin by Michael Dorris is for young childern at the age nine and up. Morning Girl and Star boy are alternating chapters in the book. Morning Girl is the older sister and Star Boy is the younger brother.This book is very unintriguing because there isnt much action. The author makes it so there is two sides of the story. With every chapter changing points of views the book isnt competely terrible because it has some unusual writing techniques.

Michael Dorris uses some l...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Amarelis R. rated it 3 of 5 stars

The novel Morning Girl by Michael Dorris is directed to young adults and adults. The novel mainly circles around two characters, Morning girl and her brother Star boy who live in a Bahamian island along with their parents. These two characters struggle with finding who they are and the realization of growing up. They also learn more about themselves and notice the ending of their childhood. This novel tells a story about two different people who both face the same problem about coming of age.

T...more The novel Morning Girl by Michael Dorris is directed to young adults and adults. The novel mainly circles around two characters, Morning girl and her brother Star boy who live in a Bahamian island along with their parents. These two characters struggle with finding who they are and the realization of growing up. They also learn more about themselves and notice the ending of their childhood. This novel tells a story about two different people who both face the same problem about coming of age.

The author's development of character is strong because it clearly shows how the characters change through their interactions and actions. "When she used my new name I knew it was mine for good, and at that moment I decided that I would become an expert, a person who would be asked questions about the night and would know the answers"(14). It also allows the reader to see that their name is also a part of them and develops along with them. The authors development of setting is thorough because it is descriptive and helps the reader visualize the setting. "He worked in the house all day, putting the big mats outdoors to air in the sun and retying the palm fronds on the roof so that the rain would not drip through during the next storm" (18). The setting also demonstrates that it is incorporated in the character's daily life.

The author's use of diction is appropriate because it explains well what the characters think about." In our house, though my brother was the footprints. He messed up the niceness for me"(14). It gives the sense that the character's young minds are present through their thoughts. The morals and themes Dorris communicates are valuable because it suits the characters and can be applicable to the reader. "And Star boy , too would remember that he was now older, that he could no longer behave as a child. If your name is true,it is who you are" (52). The moral portrayed is that you should always live up to your expectations no matter the rest. The conflict Dorris creates is relatable because it is a situation that can occur to someone. "No one would ever forget my mistake or think of me except as little child, even if I became an old man" (58). The conflict throughout the novel was facing what others think about you.

Overall the novel is compelling and everlasting because of the messages the author wants the reader to receive. It also brings up morals that we are aware of in our lives. I would recommend this novel to any audience because it does not drag on and on. Young adults would be able to interpret it. While adults can also keep this novel as a quick read.(less)

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Mar 21, 2011 Stanley Wen rated it 2 of 5 stars

The novella Morning Girl by Michael Dorris. The book talks about a girl name a brother name Star Boy having problems with their lives. The book is a pretty good book top read.

The characters in the book is very relateable.Morning Girl and Star Boy are both slibings. Like most slibings they both hate each other and they are diffrent in many ways. Morning Girl wakes up in the dawn and Star Boy wakes up at night. Even if they both hate each other, they would still protect each other. The setting is...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris was an enjoyable story that had many conflicts, and morals. He introduces all of the literary elements well and creates well examples to show each one of them. The book also uses descriptive vocabulary, and puts pictures inside of the reader’s mind.

Michael Dorris shows the use of the literary elements of characters, setting, and diction many times throughout the story. In the very beginning of the story, we are introduced to the main character, Morning Girl who...more
Morning Girl by Michael Dorris was an enjoyable story that had many conflicts, and morals. He introduces all of the literary elements well and creates well examples to show each one of them. The book also uses descriptive vocabulary, and puts pictures inside of the reader’s mind.

Michael Dorris shows the use of the literary elements of characters, setting, and diction many times throughout the story. In the very beginning of the story, we are introduced to the main character, Morning Girl who got her name from always having something on her mind when she awoken in the morning. He uses diction well here because of how he explained how Morning Girl was explaining what she thought by saing, “I try to step gently on the path so that the sounds I make will blend into the rustle of the world.”(pg. 2) Dorris shows us the setting of where Morning Girl and her family live, which is on an island, with beaches, and not that many people live there. The next main character he introduces to us is Star Boy, who is Morning Girl’s little brother that is a complete opposite of her. He enjoys the darkness, and seeing the patterns in the clear night sky. (pg. 2)

Dorris also uses conflict and moral many times during the story to engage the reader to keep reading on and on. He shows a conflict of how their mother was going to conceive a new child, but instead has miscarriage.(pg. 21) Dorris doesn’t exactly come out and tell us straight forward that she had a miscarriage, he lets us infer about through the fathers words. This shows a moral of how sometimes everything that is good might just become a sudden spot of bad. Many times during the story, there are a lot of conflicts, and lessons to be learned. Children may be able to learn a few life lessons just by reading certain parts of this book.

Reading this story will be a great decision to people, and will create a vivid memory of events that occurred in the book. Overall, the story included and used all of the literary elements very well.
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Mar 21, 2011 Bogdan G. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Morning Girl is about a young girl named Morning Girl and her younger brother Star Boy narrating about different things that occur thought their days. Now this book is not bad, but it was not good. The reader may mixed emotions about this book.

The author develops his characters nicely. He introduces them in a nice way and explains to the reader about them. “The name my family calls me is Morning Girl because I wake up so early, always with something on my mind.” Here the author introduces the fi...more Morning Girl is about a young girl named Morning Girl and her younger brother Star Boy narrating about different things that occur thought their days. Now this book is not bad, but it was not good. The reader may mixed emotions about this book.

The author develops his characters nicely. He introduces them in a nice way and explains to the reader about them. “The name my family calls me is Morning Girl because I wake up so early, always with something on my mind.” Here the author introduces the first character with her name and he even tells us why they call her by that name and he tells us about her more. Same thing with her brother, “I don’t need sleep anymore”. He shows us that Star Boy is more of a night person and that he likes to be up in the night.

Now the way that the author introduced the setting is not really good. He does not give a clear understanding of what their surroundings look like. The most he gave us was, “You know how it is when you’re on the beach on a white sunny morning.” You cannot really get a clear image in my head of what the setting is. All you are able to imagine is a nice sunny beach on the morning. This cannot be enough to get a clear image.

The diction in this book was well thought out and said. The author really thought about who the audience might be and used the proper words to say what he wanted to say. For example, “She is disappointed. Because the new sister didn’t come.” So basically the mother was pregnant and she had a miscarriage but the author did not use those words exactly he said it in a more appropriate way that dos not effect the way a person might think of the situation.

Now the conflict is also not too good. The conflict was probably the most confusing part of the book. It was like it was hidden within the text. It was mostly confusing because there were so many things happening. The reader always has to stop and think about what is happening. So basically the author messed up one of the most important things of a book.

Last, the morals in the book were pretty good. The author put many different morals into this book and he also describes them nicely. “There are things I noticed as a rock that I never realized as a boy. I could feel the movement of a shadow on my body as the sun slid across the sky…I got to know myself as a rock even better than I had known myself as a person, one part at a time. By the hour that the sky turned red, I had learned a great deal that I would not forget.” So this is one of the many morals on this book and you can see that the moral can be is know who you are and how you feel.

This book is recommended this book to many younger kids. Even though the author did make a couple of mistakes in the book, young children would most likely not notice them. If however an older child was reading it, then they may notice the mistakes and that may ruin the whole book for them.
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Mar 22, 2011 Sami C rated it 2 of 5 stars

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, the book recommended to 9 and up according to the back cover. The problems between Morning girl and her younger brother, Star Boy experience things that not many children notice or realize today. They have problems very similar to those children who have a sibling of another age. This novella however is not suitable for children 9 and up; the character, setting, conflict and moral/ theme is very difficult to those of 9- 12 year, especially the diction.

The charac...more Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, the book recommended to 9 and up according to the back cover. The problems between Morning girl and her younger brother, Star Boy experience things that not many children notice or realize today. They have problems very similar to those children who have a sibling of another age. This novella however is not suitable for children 9 and up; the character, setting, conflict and moral/ theme is very difficult to those of 9- 12 year, especially the diction.

The characters are well developed. Morning girl and Star Boy are two characters presented differently than each other. Having different personalities shows the many traits expressed of their own individual self.

Bahamian island is the home of Morning Girl and her village. However, the readers would have never known that unless they have read the blurb. Dorris doesn’t specifically explain the setting of the story. Explaining so little and understanding the scene of the story is a very hard thing to do if the audience cannot easily picture it in their mind.

Every chapter has its own narration, either Morning Girl or Star Boy. These two characters are learning from their past experience and slowly begin to understand what they must and must not do. The conflict: “[A] life that is rich, complex, and soon to be threatened’’ is mentioned in the blurb, but the true meaning of it begins in the last chapter, and the epilogue. Slowly the world of these children is coming to an end, as in the destruction a certain person brings to Bahamian island, unknowing what he had caused.

Moral/ Theme are shown in all the chapters. Though it may or may not be easy to find, it’s only up to the readers whether they want to find it not. Having to search for oneself is hard and complex, realizing what you have done wrong is the same. Morning Girl has her own problems and Star Boy has his own problems, they begin to head towards their own answers that seem to be so hard to look for.

Reading ‘between the lines’ are a must for this novella, if the readers don’t, then they won’t be able to find out the true meaning. Stretching one single word into multiple sentences and not being able to find the truth will cause the readers to not understand the situation.

Overall, Morning Girl is a very complicated book to audience whom don’t have a very imaginative mind and strong vocabulary. The story of this book explains so little yet so much. Instead of ages 9 and up, it should be 13 and up. Easy to read yet more than enough to drive a being mad because of how complex the book is. How it truly gives you the information without the slightest hints can make someone appreciate life a bit more than before.
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