Mr. Tucket (The Francis Tucket Books)

Francis Tucket is 14 years old when he strays from his family's wagon on the Oregon Trail and is captured by the Pawnee. With the help of Mr. Grimes, a one-armed trapper who maintains an uneasy truce with the Pawnee by trading them guns and ammunition, Francis escapes and spends a winter learning to survive by living off the land. The boy's admiration and respect for Mr. Grimes causes him to question his role in "civilized" society and delays his return to his family. Francis' image of Mr. Grimes is altered forever, however, when Grimes takes revenge on an old enemy with what Francis sees as unnecessary savagery. Paulsen nods in the direction of responsibility in his depiction of Native American peoples, and he gives us a fast plot and sufficient character development. Unfortunately, he wraps everything up in the final two and one-half pages, resulting in an abrupt "surprise" ending that is ultimately unsatisfying.-from Amazon.com.