Years ago, someone asked me about Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs. It wasn't the first ask but it is on my mind lately. I can't get a digital copy. I am able to read the first chapters in Google books. Here's notes as I read:
The cover illustration is, without doubt, a rendition of Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde. In addition to the title, the cover includes these words: "Tep didn't mean to unleash the ancient magic..."
Chapter 1 of Kokopelli's Flute begins with "The magic had always been there." Magic again? Immediate response from me? Umm... what is he talking about?! I continue reading that first paragraph. The "magic" is in "the light" and in "the rock" in "the miniature city the Ancient Ones left perched in the cliffs." For years, the main character, Tep, has been trying to get closer to "the magic." We read "This would be the night I not only got close, but crossed over."
Again, what magic? And where or what does he want to cross over to in that "miniature city"? Pause to look up the book description:
THE MAGIC HAD ALWAYS BEEN THERE. Tep Jones has always felt the magic of Picture House, an Anasazi cliff dwelling near the seed farm where he lives with his parents. But he could never have imagined what would happen to him on the night of a lunar eclipse, when he finds a bone flute left behind by grave robbers. Tep falls under the spell of a powerful ancient magic that traps him at night in the body of an animal.
Only by unraveling the mysteries of Picture House can Tep save himself and his desperately ill mother. Does the enigmatic old Indian who calls himself Cricket hold the key to unlocking the secrets of the past? And can Tep find the answers in time?
Back to chapter one, second paragraph. There we learn that a total eclipse of the moon will take place that night and Tep wants to see it from what he calls "Picture House." He's been there a lot, "puzzling over the secrets of the ancient pueblo." He thinks that maybe during the eclipse, if he listens hard enough, he might hear the footsteps of the Ancient Ones. Maybe even their voices. Maybe even dancers coming out of their kivas. Me: sighing, frowning, shaking my head. But there's more of that sort of thing on page three:
Eight hundred years ago the people came through all those little doorways for the last time, walked away, and left only stillness, silence, and secrets.
That wistful (if that's the right word) writing about any people makes me cringe, but especially when its a white character thinking about ancestors of today's Pueblo Indians.
On page four, as Tep and his dog wait for the eclipse, they hear voices. Turns out to be two men who are talking about how they're gonna make thousands of dollars digging at the site. Tep can't believe it. He sees the items they've dug up. One is a "seed jar" which struck me as odd. We call them seed pots.
"Picture House" Tep tells us, has not ever been vandalized because it isn't marked on maps and its hard to get to. The two men are in a room that Tep has been in many times. There's a back wall in that room that Tep says is built with a special purpose in mind, like to bury someone. Tep is only supposed to be a kid, but his character is created by an adult. Clearly, Tep doesn't like what the two men are doing but I don't like him going all through "Palace House" either, looking for the magic. Sheesh.
The two men have found "a burial" which is the body of what they call an albino because his skin is pink. There was a large pot with him that broke open. In that pot was a basket the two men call "a medicine man's bundle." So, the body is that of an albino medicine man. I really dislike this content. Hobbs (the author) seems to be telling us it is bad to do this, but in telling us the value of this activity, it doesn't jive. Especially when we read the next part.
Tep scares them off and then goes to see where they had been digging. They took the pot and the basket and most of its contents. In their rush they left behind a small polished flute. Tep thinks he should return it immediately to the albino medicine man but he is afraid of him and doesn't want to go into the room. He thinks the flute must be powerful. "Something told me I shouldn't put it to my lips" but he does it anyway, startled by how clear it sounds. Then he sees a packrat.
That's all I can see online. Reading the book's description, however, my guess is that "the magic" of the flute turns Tep into a packrat by night. Again, sigh.
At this point, I'm saying "not recommended." If I'm able to get a copy and have the wherewithall to read the rest of it, I seriously doubt I'd change my mind. This book is rife with do-gooder whiteness.
Why is it being assigned in schools? What educational purpose does it meet?!
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