Shane Book Review

1/5/2022

Sometimes I reread children’s literature because I enjoy being captured again by the quality of writing and the stir of imagination. I read Laura Ingalls Wilder alongside every Louis L’Amour western in my junior high library. Not one librarian said I couldn’t read them because I was a girl, and thankfully, those same librarians pointed me next to Zane Grey. At age 13 and 14, these westerns were deep to me, even if I did recognize the plot patterns. I loved them. Action, mystery, rescue, the setting sun, the lonely West, and often, a misunderstood man.

In the same vein, Jack Schaefer’s very first novel creates a story that’s even more impactful. Shane (1949) began as a short story that was serialized in three parts in Argosy magazine in the late 40s. First titled “Rider from Nowhere,” it wasn’t intended for young children, though it’s certainly suitable. Through the eyes of a child narrator and from his opening description, Schaefer crafts a deeper cowboy character than most, perhaps because we witness Shane’s moral choices and his influence upon an entire family...

Read More at Reformed Perspective

2 Comments

Jonathan

1/24/2022 08:17:56 am

I taught this book to a class of 6th graders last year. I had an extended substitution (a month long) for a teacher who quit three weeks into the school year because he was too afraid to teach when we went back to in-person learning.
I was pleasantly surprised. The book was much better than I had expected. It reminded me also of Little Britches (if you have read that book).
I think was I appreciated most was how the author let violence be something reprehensible (or is that too strong?) and never glorified it. But then he also made you ask when it was warranted. Like you suggest, at the beginning I thought I had the book figured out, but soon I realized it was not going to be that simple.

Christine

1/24/2022 09:33:37 am

Hi Jonathan!
So good to hear from you. Yes to Little Britches! I think Moody and Schaefer may have been writing at the same time. Several similar themes.

I am sure those 6th graders enjoyed the story and discussion. Shane is such a difficult character to figure out that I know the students "had to" keep reading. So fascinating that the novel wasn't intended for children, and yet a child narrator draws us in.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Blog

Shane Book Review

Leave a Reply.

Categories