Call It Courage

This short Newbery Medal winner is an interesting and well-written book. Mafatu, the son of a chief on an island of seafaring people, is deeply afraid of the ocean. After being taunted and looked down on, Mafatu finally decides to face his fears and starts out on a journey that will become a legend. It is sad that Mafatu’s desires to do “great things,” such as kill a wild pig, focus around what other people will think of him and how they will praise him, but that was a center of his society. I did not feel the book really had a good moral message, but it does not contain objectionable material, and it teaches a lot about the culture of the people. I do not recommend the book for children under 10 as it does have some scary parts with “people eaters.”

(Reviewed by Jenny Phillips)