I personally loved the detailed writing just like with Old Yeller. I'm not going to say that reading this book was a waste of time, because it surely wasn't. Sam has a huge part to play but really remains in the background for much of the book. In addition, there's Lisbeth who's fourteen and really close to getting molested by her captor. My main issue was that nearly half the book was spent on the children being mistreated and beaten by the Native Americans. I thought the plot was interesting but drawn out. Of course, I do understand that this was prevalent at the time people had to survive, I just didn't expect it to take up the majority of the book due to the fact that this is a children's book. It's a completely different type of a story and very graphic with animal killing, scalping, and general violence throughout.
We didn't enjoy this book as much as Old Yeller. Most of the references seem racist, but I believe they're historically accurate with this time period. Some readers today might have some contensious debates over the use of terms, particularly the names used with describing the Native Americans. It's full of adventure, but it's also distressing and a poignant reminder of the difficulties during this tumultuous time between the Native Americans and settlers. While their history textbook seems to hide much of the turbulence of this time, Fred Gibson doesn't spare on the details, in fact, I do believe he does a very nice job writing this time in history throughout this fictional narrative. My children are right at this period (1870's) in their history studies which was perfectly timed with reading Old Yeller and Savage Sam. Where are the Native Americans taking them? Will they ever be rescued? Is Sam going to survive? As the Native Americans hastily whisk them away on horseback, the future looks bleak and Travis wonders if he'll ever see home again. Both boys are hurt and Sam seems to have been brutally injured before running off.
During this scuffle, a group of Native Americans ride in unexpectedly and capture them all. All Arliss can think to do is catch the bobcat.
Little Arliss- even though a year older-is still as ornery as ever and won't listen to Travis's commands. They ride out and find Arliss and Sam hunting a bobcat. The family are hesitant to believe him (as we learned in Old Yeller, Searcy tells many stories and is quite a windbag), but just to be safe, Travis heads off on his horse along with Lisbeth to find Sam (Yeller's son) and his little brother Arliss. Savage Sam opens at the Coates' homestead with Bud Searcy bounding in on his horse to warn the family of incoming Native Americans. It became apparent to us right away that this book was going to be very different from Old Yeller. After reading Old Yeller a few weeks ago, my children were eager to get right into the sequel Savage Sam.
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