Morning Girl

by Michael Dorris

In alternating chapters, Morning Girl, a twelve year old Taino, and her younger brother, Star Boy, vividly recreate life on a Bahamian island in 1492 --- a life that is rich, complex, and soon to be threatened.

The award-winning author of A Yellow Raft in Blue Water presents a tale based on an entry in the diary of Christopher Columbus that tells of a native family living in a vibrant community striving to coexist with the natural world.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Historical, Native American, Young Adult

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Michael Dorris was a novelist, short story writer, nonfiction writer, and author of books for children

The first member of his family to attend college, Dorris graduated from Georgetown with honors in English and received his graduate degree in anthropology from Yale. Dorris worked as a professor of English and anthropology at Dartmouth College.

Dorris was part-Native American through the lineage of his paternal. He founded the Native American Studies department at Dartmouth in 1972 and chaired it until 1985.

In 1971, Dorris became the first unmarried man in the United States to adopt a child. His adopted son, Reynold Abel, was diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome and his condition became the subject of Dorris' The Broken Cord,(the pseudonym "Adam" is used for his son in the book).

In 1981, Dorris married aspiring writer Louise Erdrich. Throughout their relationship, Erdrich and Dorris edited and contributed to each other's writing.

In 1991, Dorris' adopted son, Reynold Abel, died after being hit by a car. In 1996, Louise Erdrich separated from Dorris. On April 10, 1997, Dorris committed suicide in Concord, New Hampshire.

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in an island in the Bahamas on the eve of Christopher Columbus's fateful landing in 1492, this story following the daily lives of two siblings, Morning Girl and Star Boy, providing a window into Taino culture.

This story is very gentle, and the writing is simple yet powerful. Told in alternating chapters, it is a slice of life tale through which the reader glimpses the indigenous society in which the characters live. Morning Girl and Star Boy have typical sibling squabbles within a loving family. They form a kind of yin-yang with Morning Girl representing the day and Star Boy representing the night. Their tribe has a harmonious relationship with the natural world, living in relative comfort at the subsistence level.

There is a very bittersweet undertone to the story as the reader knows that the entire Taino tribe will be extinct only a few years after the events described take place. The world in which Morning Girl and her brother live is about to be destroyed. The knowledge that she, her entire family, and their tribe will all be soon dead -- wiped out by smallpox -- made me very sad. The novella ends with an epilogue from Christopher Columbus's log book documenting his first encounter with the native people of the Bahamas, which is a death knell for the Taino.

I've often wondered how things would have played out differently if there had been a mammal, comparable to the oxen of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean, native to North America that could have been domesticated to pull a plow, so that the Spaniards would have encountered a civilization, or pockets of civilization, as sophisticated and technologically advanced as their own when they landed in the New World.

[Ying Ying Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris was about a family that lived on a Bahamian island in 1492. The characters Star Boy and Morning Girl are siblings and they are the foils of each other. This book has all the five literary elements and many evidences to support each element. This book has many conflicts unlike other books that only have one main conflict and it didn‘t follow the format of a story plot. Overall, this book was a unique and descriptive book.

The author's development of character is strong because it gave thorough information about the character and clearly illustrates the view of the character. At the beginning of the book, Morning Girl said, "The name my family calls me is Morning Girl because I wake up early, always with something on my mind."(1) Morning Girl is the main character and the author Doris made her act like some normal teenage girl in real life always with something on her mind. This was something that could be related to real life because everyone has something to worry about even when they are sleeping.

The author's development of setting was descriptive because it actually included details of the place. The author uses, "My father got down on his hands and knees and crawled toward where I was headed, dragging himself forward by reaching first for a stump, then for a rock."(39) This is descriptive because you could actually have an image on your mind of where the setting was located while reading. It also gives people a better understanding of the book.

The morals/themes Doris communicates are powerful because it’s related to real life. When Morning Girl asks her father the question, “Why should my own face be a secret from me?” ‘There is a way,’ Father said kindly… ‘Look into my eyes,’ he told me… Suddenly I saw two tiny girls looking back. Their faces were clear, their brows straight as canoes, and their chins as narrow and clean as lemons...'who are they?' ...'They are the answer to your question,' Father said. 'And they are always here when you need to find them.' (35-36) No one has a definite look because everyone’s views and opinions are different. You might be beautiful in one’s eye, but not the others.

The author’s use of diction is confusing because the author doesn’t point out the events that happened; he made it into a complex way for the readers to understand. When Morning Girl’s mom came home without a baby, it didn’t mention miscarriage. Instead, it uses, “Because the new sister didn’t come,” I whispered.” (21) This made it confusing and complicated for the readers. Even though the wordings are simple but this was a complex book.

The conflict Dorris creates is uninteresting because there’s no big conflict and it’s always those little family problems. The character Star Boy is childish and always trying to hide from his mistakes. One of the conflicts is, “I won’t go home. I’ve been hiding in these rocks all day.”(23) Whenever he made mistakes, all he does is to hide from people and let his family find him even for the smallest thing. However, that’s what most people in real life will do because they feel ashamed for what they did to themselves and others.

This book was an average book after all, except for the dictions and the conflicts. This book would be so hard for some people to understand but it should be recommended because of the development of characters, settings and morals. This book would be recommend to children that’s age 9 and up as it said on the book because of its dictions. It also will be recommended for anyone that could be interest.

[Amani N · Rating 3 out of 5]

"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.

[Ch_jank-caporale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a beautifully imagined example of walking in someone else’s moccasins. Michael Dorris, a mixed blood Modoc and head of Dartmouth’s Native American Studies program (until his death in 1997), tells the story of the first encounter of the Tainos with the men from Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas. It is based on the journal entries of Columbus himself, but told through the alternating narratives of Morning Girl and her pesty brother, Star Boy. It is devastating to imagine what happens to the children, their family, and their community following the end of the book. Morning Girl could be memorably paired with Jacobs' nonfiction text “The Tainos: The People Who Welcomed Columbus” and used as an alternative perspective prior to Thanksgiving. It is a book that should be read by all Americans who celebrate Columbus Day.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short fiction packs a wallop. Morning Girl, who loves the day, and her younger brother Star Boy, who loves the night, take turns describing their life on an island in pre-Columbian America. Their world is so vivid and humane, that when in Morning Girl's last narrative, she witnesses the arrival of the first Europeans to her world, it is devastating for the reader who realizes that this event marks the light at the beginning of the tunnel. The excerpt from Columbus' journals at the very end compounds the horror of what these honest and brave people will lose: everything.

[Winnie Zeng · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, it shows how there are two sides of the book. It shows how siblings can have rivals but still get along. It has unique character traits and this book is meant for ages 9 and up. The diction of this book is poorly for young readers. Overall, the book can be recommend to older readers.

The author’s development of character and setting is strong. Michael Dorris writes in a way that Morning Girl and Star Boy can be realistic. They show character traits and emotions. Morning Girl; “I don’t tell this to anyone because they might misunderstand, but I like the aloneness of the early morning.” (2) Star Boy; “I had been outside studying the sky from our cassava patch…” (38) This kind of action shows how the character and setting can relate towards each other.

The author’s development of conflict and moral is valuable. Michael Dorris writes in a way that Morning Girl and Star Boy can be similar. They both show how they have similar feelings as siblings. Morning Girl, “I didn’t know how long Mother would be away… day passed slowly without her.” (19) “…. It was so strange because I think that was the first time we actually saw each other …. I realized that in some ways we were the same.” (20-21) This kind of action show how conflict and moral/theme can relate towards feelings.

The author’s development of diction is confusing. Michael Dorris writes in a way that death appears in the novel. This shows how it can confuse young readers and may not have an understanding of death.”No. Not a new brother either. Not this time.” (20) This kind of action show how diction can be complicated and not all births can be successful.

The book Morning Girl shows how this book is interesting. It explains how siblings in life can have different points of views. Even though the diction wasn’t great, this book can be considered for recommendation. The book can only be recommended to teens and adults only.

[Nativida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decided to read this to the boys after they watched and loved "Dances with Wolves". This is my favorite Michael Dorris book...and the boys enjoyed the story as well. We had some great discussions!

[Elizabeth Yong · Rating 1 out of 5]

Morning Girl is a novella by Michael Dorris. This book was meant for people ages nine and up, but it will be very confusing and vague for a young reader to understand. It’s about two siblings, Star Boy and Morning Girl, living in an island having family problems. Morning Girl doesn’t feel that her brother is part of the family since he’s so different and Star Boy doesn’t want to agree and be like his sister.

The development of Morning Girl is very relatable and the characters are actually real. The author writes his story in two separate narrative characters with real emotions and actions. Whenever Star boy was upset, he always takes shelter to a place where no one could find him. He doesn’t want his mistakes to be taken on others. “When Morning Girl told me she had been careless with my canoe,” my father said, “I was very annoyed.””But it wasn’t her!” I shouted.”(28) It makes us; readers have a feeling and sympathy for Star Boy.

The setting was really well done too, since Dorris wanted to make it as real as possible. When “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” (46). It was well detailed that the people are in a tropical island.

It’s hard to imagine a nine-year-old to understand the book. Since the way the author uses his words is that everybody could read at a third grade level, but not the context to the story. When the mother wasn’t at the house the father was trying to tell his kids that “She is disappointed” (21). This makes the reader confused and the author doesn’t want his readers to know what really happened.

The story itself is very trite. It goes back and forth with random events and days to what happens to the siblings. As the reader, reads the book, they will barley know what is going on till the end of the book. There are lots of mini conflicts in the book about sibling rivals, and other family problems but, they aren’t going to be notice. There are morals in the story but for a young reader that reads it might not understand it because it’s very vague and might not know which of the quotes or sentences are morals. For example, “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, with no rushing and nothing to make me hurry past something important. By the hour that the sky turned red, I had learned a great deal that I would not forget.” (27) Young readers might not pick up a moral that easily in the book and might be very confused to what it means.

In the end, the story is very confusing for any reader to understand. Plus, I don’t really recommend this book to a child under thirteen.

[Sydney R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Mingming Mai · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 literary techniques in a great way. The authors development of the characters are strong because the audience can relate to them. The way he alternated the chapters with the two characters was unique. There aren't many books that do that. The authors development of setting is thorough because it is clear and the reader can picture it in their heads. Its not great but its good enough for kids to understand what the setting looks like. The morals/themes are appropriate because people can learn from them. Little kids can learn these morals so when they get older they would make the right decisions.

Michael Dorris uses some literary techniques in a disappointing way. The authors use of diction is very uninspiring and weak because its boring and not at a high level. Higher level readers would not be inspired by this book. The conflict Michael Dorris creates are confusing because their constantly changing. The many conflicts made the book worse because the readers are going to wonder what the author wants us to learn from the book.

To conclude, I do not recommend this book for readers. Overall the novel is boring because there is no real action or any intriguing conflicts. This is a good book for little kids to read when their still young so they can learn the lessons. The novel would of been better is there was just one main conflict. Michael Dorris uses some of the writing techniques in a good and bad way.

[Lok Ting · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 of this story is very interesting because in the story, when they mentions the miscarriage of their new sister, instead of directly saying it was a miscarriage they just stated that the new baby didn't come.

Besides the bad points, this novel also has good points. The characters are somewhat described, but the the book's main character Morning Girl was fully describe how she looked like in a chapter because her apperance seemed to be a secret from her. Along with the characters the setting was described throughly as well when Star Boy mentions about the beach and how life of a rock is so different from life of a human being. The conflict of the story is different, but throughout the story the conflict was the diifference between Star Boy and his older sister, Morning Girl. As the story goes on the conflict between the siblings are slowly resolved and they gain more understanding of each other.

This book was a decent book, but the setup of the story was complexed because most people are used to reading types of books with one plot throughout the entire story and when there is one plot throughout the story, the book's main focus is on the one moral which the book emphasises on. Recommendations to this book would be to people who aren't used to regular formatting books with one plot throughtout the entire story.

[Wai Wing · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book MORNING GIRL, is a historical fiction novella (short novel) that is intended for young children of the age 9 and above. Michael Dorris, the author, descriptively paints a wondrous scenery around his novella but misses the structure historical fiction and a plot so twisted, it seems to circumlocate with no point.

The character development is well and thorough for Dorris clearly illustrates the view of his characters. Then he develops a beautifully painted setting of the late 1400's beach, where he puts his own characters. This truly creates a wonderful imaginative background like on the second page where Morning Girl enjoys "the alnoeness of the early morning." (2) Also, diction and word choice is used very elegantly and elaborately. One example would be when there is a miscarriage and yet the word itself never comes up:"No. Not a little brother, either. Not this time." (20) When there are times where Dorris' characters admire the world he created to the times of the unfortunate, Dorris' characters can maintain a level of understanding for younger readers.

Though the qualities that begin are wonderful, the plot of MORNING GIRL however is loosely formed. Dorris' characters waste time in the wonderful scenery bickering over very little problems. Not only this but the moral to these very subtle problems are absurd and non-understandable to even older readers.

Thus to the loss of plot and morality in a beautifully drawn scenario spoils the story altogether. It is like examining a non complete human with no skeleton; a non living nor interesting specimen. The same goes with this novella. Dull, mundane, and uninteresting.

[Louis Cai · Rating 5 out of 5]

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, running when he should sit."(14), also, "Tell me about my face,: I asked mother one day when we were walking along the beach. She stopped, turned to me in confusion."(31)

The author's conflicts, diction, and moral were a great development too. Where for diction the author descriptively wrote: " The clouds were the color of dark boulders scattered on a wet beach."(37). For morals, it was a valuable experience," I got to know myself as a rock even better than I had known myself as a person, one part at a time, with no rushing and nothing to make me hurry past something important." The conflict was engaging because it started something. "Then,still later, beneath a blank sky where clouds had washed away my familiar starts, I got the maddest of all."(57). In overall the novel was mediocre. It is mediocre because it tells us things in an indirect way, which confuses me sometimes. But I recommend this book to people who are interested in descriptive writing and historical fictions.

[William Uhm · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 middle stages of the story, there was a storm that destoryed many paths in their villages. In this novel, there was too much dictions in the story, which was confusing.The morals/themes Dorris communicates are uninspiring because there weren't really a lot of lessons in the novel. Moreover, the conflict that Dorris created was dull because it's boring and repetitive. For example, Morning Girl and Star Boy was keep complaining and being negative during the story.
In conclusion, this novel was dull and repetitive because there were lacks of storyline. Also, this novel wasn't really interesting because there were no actions in the storylines. Overall, this book is not recommended to teenagers.

[Amanda Zheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

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. Every chapters has its own problems. Every chapters has a lesson teaching kids what they should or shouldn't do. The conflits aren't as powerful as the characters. The conflicts are easy and simple. Michael should describe more details about the conflicts like the way how he described the characters.

[amelia~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5*- Absolutely amazing! This book is incredible, it's like a piece of poetry!
I am in awe with all of the metaphors, similes, and personifications!

This is what this masterful book is about:
Set in 1492, a 12 year old girl, her parents, and her little brother are living on an island in the bahamas. The girl and her brother don't get along often, as they are *almost* the complete opposite. Yet, they have to put aside their differences as they come across some events. They also come across some self-discovery. Some events that happen to keep in mind are a hurricane, a baby whom doesn't arrive, and Christopher Columbus's voyage.

This book has 9 chapters and an epilogue, so read it now!!! *you'll thank me later* Overall, this is a fascinating and beautiful book and I would totally recommend! Hope you enjoy the book, and happy reading! ✨

[Crusader93 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! Not only an endearing historical tale, but peronalizes the pre-Columbian era for students of all ages.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to dive into anything about the author, because even though that's the type of drama I love, I'm going to keep this short.

This book is something I say a lot about older works: it's fine, but there's better out there today. In the past twenty-some years we've definitely come out with more eloquent works that (at least) have a solid plot.

I liked that the author tried to educate about a culture that isn't as well-known, but I personally thought the ending with Columbus was super weird. This is very slice-of-life, but the tone changed when the colonizers arrived, making me think twice about what I had just read.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, really good family discussion after this one. The kids identified with the family - a bossy older sister and a younger brother working on their bond and their places in the family. The turn comes in the final chapter and the Epilogue, when strangers land on their island — Christopher Columbus. The epilogue- Columbus’ own letter about the people he discovered - was meant to be contrasted to the characters we just spent time with and really shocked the kids. Supplemented with the first chapter of Zinn’s A Young People’s History of the United States to tell more of the story.

[Leeanne G · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beauty of this book blew me away. The writing was simple but elegant, and the descriptions of life on this Bahamian island were vivid. Within a few sentences from both perspectives, I felt a deep connection to both Morning Girl and Star Boy. I wish this book could have been longer but I’m glad we didn’t have to see how Columbus destroys their world. It is too painful to even imagine. The end already broke my heart; I don’t know if I could have managed to read what happened next. I know already. Somehow, knowing what would happen next without it being shared and described was more devastating. Thankfully, these characters can live untouched by colonialism in my mind. They can continue their lives. I’ll pretend they could but always remember that they would not have been left untouched in reality. They represent all the children whose lives Columbus and his followers for centuries to come would destroy.

“When I had nothing else to think of, I simply let the air wash over me. I became the darkness. I listened to my breath as it ran in and out of my mouth like tides on the beach. I put my hands flat on the sand and felt the smoothness against my palms. I sniffed the air, got to know this great, wide [world], because I didn’t know how long I would have to live in it.”

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter book about indigenous Bahamians pre-Columbus.

[Yuris Ng · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I really enjoyed this story about a brother and sister living on a Bahamian island in 1492 just before Columbus and his men arrived. I read it aloud with my 10 year old daughter, who said it was just ok. We had a great discussion about assumptions and how they are frequently wrong - what Morning Girl assumed about the Spanish, what the Spanish assumed about the Taino people. For that, it was worth the slower pace.

[Michelle Veliz · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Mariah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this book back when I was 8 years old, but didn't finish it because it didn't capture my interest. I thought that it was beyond my reach, and later on, when I was 17 or so, I picked up the book again to try reading. I didn't finish it then either, but that was mostly due to other obligations in my life at the time. But now, at 21, I've realized that I was never interested in this book at all.

Honestly, I don't understand how this book got an award. It is so uninteresting and the characters are so monotone. The whole reason I pushed through to read this book was so that I could finally read it, be done with it, and never have to pick it up again. And boy, will I never pick up this book again. The alternating chapters between Morning Girl and Star Boy was a good idea, though poorly executed. If it weren't for how fast I read or how short the chapters are, I'd easily confuse who was who. I remember when I was 8 years old, I'd have trouble remembering if the chapter I was reading was either in Star Boy's or Morning Girl's point of view.

The book is supposed to be historical fiction, but there is never anything historical that ever happens. I was expecting something big and tragic to happen, and yet the most that ever did was the hinted miscarriage that the mother had. Granted, there is no concrete word that the mother had a miscarriage, all that happens is that the mother disappears for a day then comes back.

I'm not fond of the way Star Boy and Morning Girl are written to be observant and intelligent children. Not only are they written to sound just like the other person, but a lot of their observations make them seem more like robots than children. The characters are supposed to be different from one another, but the only real difference is that one is a girl and another a boy. Star Boy does things in the story to understand the world around him, but these things are really weird. He hangs out with rocks all day and likes it when his family comes looking for him yet don't find him. He claims that his older sister, Morning Girl likes to butt into conversation, yet when the perspective of a chapter is written as her, she rarely butts into one at all. If anything, Morning Girl is just stuck up at times, thinking herself to be more adult than she really is.

There is a chapter where she wonders what she looks like, and since the family does not own a mirror, she tries to look into the water to see her face, though it never happens to be still enough for her, since a fish comes up in the water every time. She proceeds to ask her family, and their descriptions of her seem like empty reaches to make the writer's prose seem poetic. Somehow he makes everyone seem robotic and grey.

The worst part of the book is the ending, by far. Morning Girl makes her rounds walking early in the morning, when a small group of people come by on a canoe. These people are no doubt to be Christopher Columbus' crew, from the journal entry at the end of the book. What disgusts me the most is that the author would make 72 pages of the regular day and life of these characters, then mush together some pseudo Christopher Columbus meet up and call it historical fiction. The reader ends up spending all this time with Morning Girl and Star Boy for them to end up as a slave of Columbus (or at least their people). I don't understand why the author thought that bringing this up at the end of the book was a great idea. Maybe it was to lead into a sequel, but as far as I know there isn't one.

This is a short book, not even 80 pages, but it's a long read because of how uninteresting it is all over.

[Natalieee :D · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Sami C · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris is generally a puzzling book. Morning Girl was the winner of the Scott O’Dell award for Historical Fiction. The main characters and narrators are, Morning Girl and Star Boy. They are siblings that live on an island. The audience of the book is recommended for ages nine and up. Morning Girl would be hard to understand for young readers.

The characters and moral/theme in Morning Girl is relevant and valuable. The progress of the characters in the story is efficient because the characters are relatable. The characters in the story are well defined through their dialogue and name. “The name my family calls me is Morning Girl because I wake up early…” (1) Dorris names the characters by how they act and remind readers why and how the character got their name. The characters seem real and any normal child would do, making their actions relatable. The morals and themes were appropriate for young readers. They would find the morals reasonably helpful and are valuable for anyone of all ages. The morals /themes are hard to find through the author’s choice of diction. For example, ‘“Why should my own face be a secret from me?” ‘There’s a way,’ Father said kindly. ‘Look into my eyes,’ he told me. Suddenly I saw two tiny girls looking back. Their faces were clear, their brows straight as canoe, and their chins as narrow and clean as lemons. ‘Who are they?’ ‘They are the answer to your question,’ Father said. ‘And they are always here when you need to find them’” (35-36) The morals shown in these pages is fitting for the plot of the story.

On the other hand, the setting, diction, and conflict in Morning Girl are confusing and blurred. The setting is first introduced in the beginning and only a brief description, “Grains of white sand…” (8) Without details no one would be able to visualize where the story takes place. The diction that Dorris uses is hard to interpret. His choice of words is too vague and broad for a young reader to understand. The conflict in the story is unclear and not brought upfront to readers. Readers would have to dig to find the conflicts in the book. "And so, I realized, was I. Worse than disappointed. I felt the way I feel when some big girl, like my cousin Feet, is playing too rough in the sea, kicking water at me when I tell her to stop. That makes me want to cry." (21)

In general Morning Girl was a confusing book. Most of the few literary elements in the book, were unclear and not noticable. This book is recommended for young readers that like to read with their parents because the ideas of the story are very complex and challenging.

[Grace Gao · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Diana K · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.