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English Titles

		The Winter People Joseph Bruchac New York: Puffin, 2004. 168 p. ISBN 014240229x Ages 12 and up
The Winter People Source

Joseph Bruchac retells the events of the cowardly October 1759 attack led by Major Robert Roberts of the Rangers on the Abenaki village of St. Francis, near Sorel, Quebec. The story is told from the point of view of a 14-year-old boy called Saxso. The Abenakis were allied with the French; most had converted to Catholicism and lived in timbered houses. The Chief was warned that the Bostoniaks were attacking and so he decided to leave with most of the warriors to ambush them. The Rangers attacked the defenceless village; most of the women and children were killed and the buildings were burned with the people still inside. Saxso's mother and sisters were taken hostage and he was wounded in the raid. When he recovered, he followed the Ranger's trail.

Throughout Saxso's perilous journey to rescue his family, he remembered the stories his mother told him of the Winter People. These people became creatures through their insatiable hunger — they would eat but never be filled, and in their greed, they consumed everything and everyone until their hearts were like ice.

–LS