Jo's Old Site

Megan Lindholm wrote this book that took me two days to read and it was published by Voyager which is a imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. Also the book’s ISBN number is 0 00 711422 2 and while I was reading this book I could imagine Tillu’s experience with her son Kerlew may be similar to what parents go through who have disabled children who depend on them. Except I don’t think Kerlew was really disabled as he was just different in the way he thought and talked and he had trouble remembering what people said.

Children from the Benu tribe also found out that Kerlew had an extreme fear of bears, as whenever Kerlew heard growling noises he would run to his tent while the kids laughed at him.

Also as Kerlew and Tillu were often travelling by themselves Tillu told her son that if he heard a bear that he should stop gathering food and run and although Tillu often felt annoyed with how most people treated her son she never was sorry about what she told Kerlew to do if there was a bear nearby. However though Tillu’s son was unpopular with most people there were a couple of people who treated her son well like Carp who was a shaman and has taken Kerlew on as his apprentice but as Tillu didn’t feel happy about that she tries to take her son away from Carp’s influence but she was totally unaware that her son was helping Carp find them but then she knew that Carp would find them eventually. Also the other person that treated her son well was a man called Heckram and he was from a tribe that was called The Reindeer People.

Heckram also treated Kerlew well because he knew what it was like to grow up without a father, and though he was aware of Kerlew’s differences he wasn’t quick to judge Kerlew like other people were.

As instead of placing judgement on Kerlew he spends some time teaching Kerlew how to carve spoons, and one time they went hunting together too, and under Heckram guidance Kerlew shot and killed three rabbits. But even though Heckram was definitely a good influence, Kerlew’s mother was still wary and protective of her son.