 First edition | |
| Author | Alice Dalgliesh |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Leonard Weisgard |
| Genre | Historical Fiction |
| Publisher | Scribner and Sons |
Publication date | 1954 |
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh is the story of a young girl who travels with her father into Connecticut during the early 18th century, and her experiences with the native Schaghticoke. It was published in 1954 and received a Newbery Honor Award. [1]
Sarah accompanies her father in his journey to set up their farm in a newly purchased plot in New Milford. Once they arrive, Sarah and her father begin scouting the land he has bought. They are approached by the people who lived there, the Schaghticoke. [2] Sarah is frightened because of rumors she has heard from children about the "Indians" they would encounter, [3] but finds that the Schaghticoke are friendly to her and her father. They teach them the things they will need to know to survive. In the story, Sarah gives the "Indians" new Christian names, and is given credit as the first teacher in New Milford. [4]
Alice Dalgliesh begins the book with an author's note. In the note, she explicitly states that this is a "true story" and makes a reference to "records" of events. [5] There is still much research that needs to be completed to verify the "facts" presented in this book. As it stands, the New Milford Historical Society holds the majority of the resources for this research. [6] Currently, there is research under way to study the sources that have made this book a mainstay in the education system.[ citation needed ]
The Courage of Sarah Noble was published in 1954. Today there is controversy about the treatment of the Native Americans in this book. Some people feel that because the story is so widely used in school curriculum, the criticisms are ignored.[ citation needed ] The controversy surrounding the story was also linked to some dissatisfaction about a statue erected for Sarah Noble. [7]
The New York Times Book Review said of The Courage of Sarah Noble "This story is one to be long remembered for its beautiful simplicity and dignity." [8] The American lists it among their best books for 1954 for juveniles to read. [9] Reviewer Anita Silvey appreciates Sarah's character when she calls her "a protagonist strong enough to accompany her father into the wilderness to build a new cabin for their family and to remain there alone when Father goes back for the rest of the family." [10]
Despite this praise, the book has been criticized. The review from Oyate is much more detailed in its analysis of content, citing that "The Courage of Sarah Noble was published in 1954, and it is very much a product of its time—a time that has come and gone." [11]
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations are written on them. Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same.
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Eleanor Estes was an American children's writer and a children's librarian. Her book Ginger Pye, for which she also created illustrations, won the Newbery Medal. Three of her books were Newbery Honor Winners, and one was awarded the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Estes' books were based on her life in small-town Connecticut in the early 1900s.
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Gone-Away Lake is a children's novel written by Elizabeth Enright, illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush, and published by Harcourt in 1957. It was a runner-up for the annual Newbery Medal and was named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list in 1970. It tells the story of cousins who spend a summer exploring and discover a lost lake and the two people who still live there.
Alice Dalgliesh was a naturalized American writer and publisher who wrote more than 40 fiction and non-fiction books, mainly for children. She has been called "a pioneer in the field of children's historical fiction". Three of her books were runners-up for the annual Newbery Medal, the partly autobiographical The Silver Pencil, The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, and The Courage of Sarah Noble, which was also named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list.
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Anita Silvey is an American author, editor, and literary critic in the genre of children’s literature. Born in 1947 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Silvey has served as Editor-in-Chief of The Horn Book Magazine and as vice-president at Houghton Mifflin where she oversaw children’s and young adult book publishing. She has also authored a number of critical books about children's literature, including 500 Great Books for Teens and The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators. In October 2010, she began publishing the Children's Book-A-Day Almanac online, a daily essay on classic and contemporary children's books.
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