Wendy Hawkins (Children's Literature)
Mattie and Sarah, two sisters from the Mohawk tribe, tell this story as they travel by train to a Native American boarding school so their "life would be better." Upon arrival at the school, they become aware of the harsh environment to which they will be subjected. Descriptions of demanding and often cruel teachers who command the girls to march about campus to meals and lessons in English create empathy in the reader. For the older sister, Mattie, learning comes easily, as does a natural defiance to the stricter teachers' demands. She often finds herself in trouble for sleeping late or marching out of step. Sarah, who cries nightly for home and struggles with her lessons, is more submissive and tries to listen to her sister and obey while at school. Sarah's only fight against the system is to smuggle in two items: a scarf for herself and a sweetgrass basket for Mattie, both made by their mother who died before they left home. When Mrs. Dwyer, the headmistress, accuses Mattie of stealing and destroys her basket, Mattie runs away from the school only to find herself cold, wet, and sick. A railroad worker returns her to the school, where she faces severe punishment, but because of her illness, Mattie dies in her sister's arms during the night. Sarah is left to survive the school on her own with nothing but what she gains of her sister's will and the sweetgrass basket, which a kind janitor returns to her. The alternating narrative points of view of the sisters as they tell the story add a richness of understanding to the events as they unfold. The shocking ending leaves the reader believing Sarah will gain enough strength to face the remaining challenges she may encounter at the school. 2005, Dutton Children's Books/Penguin, $16.99. Ages 9 to 12.

Valerie O. Patterson (Children's Literature)
After the death of their mother, their father sends two Mohawk sisters, Mattie and Sarah, to an off-reservation boarding school. There they face a rigid structure, marching to and from classes designed to teach them to read, cook, and sew--all in training for life as domestic servants on the outside. Mattie, the elder sister, runs afoul of a harsh teacher and later is wrongly accused by the teacher of stealing a silver brooch. The brooch disappears the same day as Mattie’s sweetgrass basket, a gift from her mother that she has kept hidden. Mattie runs away, trying to reach home, but she is eventually caught and returned to the school. She becomes ill from exposure and dies, leaving Sarah to carry on without her. One day Sarah finds the missing brooch but decides not to return it to the teacher. Instead, she makes sure it is never found. A worker who has befriended Sarah returns her sister’s sweetgrass basket and she tucks it in her drawer for safekeeping. Told in two voices, the book captures the struggles the girls endure to survive in a hostile environment, preserve their cultural heritage, and support each other. The author drew inspiration for the book based on the experiences of her husband’s great aunt, who attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the early 1900s. 2005, Dutton Children’s Books/Penguin Putnam Young Readers Group, $16.99. Ages 10 to 14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 16))
In her second novel, Carvell (Who Will Tell My Brother?, 2002) employs alternating voices to create a poignant verse novel telling the historically sensitive story of Mohawk sisters who were sent to the Carlisle Indian School after the death of their mother. Forced to abandon their language and all things from home, the sisters and the other students at Carlisle struggle to be true to their heritage. Marching wherever they go, learning menial tasks, being punished for displaying any remnants of their Indian life and strict enforcement of stringent rules create a disparaging environment. Mattie's and Sarah's struggle to survive amid intolerance and cruelty brings about a bittersweet ending. This satisfying read will awaken young readers to a situation often ignored in our history. 2005, Dutton, 160p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 9 to 14. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Karen Coates, Reviewer (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January 2006 (Vol. 59, No. 5))
Mattie and Sarah, two Mohawk sisters grieving the loss of their mother, reluctantly step into yet another grief as they board the train that will take them to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. There, Mattie, with her proud and spirited defiance, has trouble humbling herself before the teachers, and younger Sarah, more timid and sentimental, has a hard time keeping her tears and her daydreams at bay. When Mattie is falsely accused of stealing, she runs away, only to be returned, sick and defeated, several days later. During her punishment in solitary confinement, her condition worsens but goes unnoticed, so that when a kind teacher finally negotiates her return to the dormitories, she dies in the night. Carvell tells the story of the sisters in prose poetry, alternating between the two girls’ voices (the speaker’s name precedes each poem). Though the limited perspective may cause some confusion over Mattie’s death (she’s clearly unwell, but no explicit cause is stated), the technique is effective in drawing out the girls’ nuanced emotions as they learn the harsh discipline and routines of domestic labor of the school. The book makes eloquently clear that this is an experience of sadness and loss; Sarah’s experience after Mattie’s death is especially moving, as is Mattie’s postmortem poem. Never overplaying sentiment, this book presents a searing emotional honesty that is often missing from other fictional portrayals of life at Indian boarding schools. A pronunciation guide for included Mohawk words (their meaning is left to be inferred from context) is included. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Dutton, 256p, $15.99. Grades 5-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2006)
In a powerful historical novel, two Mohawk girls are sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. In spare prose poems with alternating first-person perspective, Carvell relates the sisters' heartbreaking attempts to "be good"; the denial of their culture; unending menial labor; and, from the school's director, racism and cruelty. Despite the inevitable tragedy, Carvell leaves readers with hope. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2005, Dutton, 245pp, 15.99. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Janelle B. Mathis (WOW Review: Reading Across Cultures, March 2009 (Vol. 1, No. 3))
The Carlisle Boarding School was one of many institutions at the turn of the century established to save American Indian children, remove their “Indianess,” and prepare them for menial jobs as they became adults in the early 1900’s. Through poetic text and alternating voices, Marlene Carvell weaves a moving story of two Mohawk sisters sent to live at the Carlisle Boarding School when their father is convinced by visitors that this is the best place for his daughters following their mother’s death. This novel is based on the experiences of members of the author’s Mohawk family, four of whom attended Carlisle. History documents the forced assimilation of many Native American children in the United States and Canada sent to boarding schools when their parents were either convinced it was for the children’s own good or forced to send them due to local laws. After arriving at Carlisle, Mattie and Sarah are forced to work and required to use only the English language. Although they are not allowed to have remembrances from home, Sarah surprises Mattie with her beloved sweetgrass basket, a gift from her deceased mother, only to have it destroyed after being taken from them. They keep memories of their home and culture alive amidst the cruelty of the school’s director and some of the students, leaning on each other for strength. Mattie, the older sister, is falsely accused of stealing a brooch from the head of the school, and tries to escape and return home. When she is found, she is ill and, after returning to the school, her solitary punishment results in her death.
    While oppression is a theme that weaves throughout the story, the girls’ resistance offers hope and points to their strength. The girls find friendship with an African American worker who tells them what the school leaders expect and steps in to help the girls when possible, despite his own forced submission to the dominance of those in charge. This friendship strengthens the resilience the girls develop as they work as a seamstress and in the laundry, marching to work and school with frequent reprimands for not following all the rules. Homesickness and defiance enter often into their dialogue, and while they are powerless, Sarah does have the final victory when she finds the missing brooch. Rather than clear her sister’s name, she decides not to give the head of the school the pleasure of having her brooch or of thinking it was returned out of guilt. While the story sensitively represents the sadness of tearing families apart and the attempts to strip away the cultural lives of these children, it also preserves the integrity of the culture through the personal insights, strength of spirit, and cultural values of each narrator.
    Carvell is known also for her moving novel, Who Will Tell My Brother (2004), a contemporary story of a young man who takes a stand against the stereotypical attitudes towards Native Americans at his school. This story captures Carvell’s own sons’ experiences and, as in Sweetgrass Basket, she portrays the Native American struggle through strength and integrity, despite the social injustice. The two books can be used together to compare attitudes toward Native Americans at the turn of the century and in contemporary times. The images in Sweetgrass Basket document the history of the Indian boarding schools through this family generational sharing.
    This story can also be paired with the picture book, Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell (2008), to explore the boarding school experience. The friendship shared between two oppressed groups, Native American and African American, can be compared with friendships in such books as Crossing Boc Chito: A Choctaw Story of Friendship and Freedom by Tim Tingle (2006), or the friendship between a Japanese-American girl in an internment camp during War II and a Mohawk boy in Weedflower by Cynthia Kadhota (2006). Dutton, 256 pp.