Sees Behind Trees

Sees Behind Trees. Michael Dorris. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1996. 104 pages. (Hardcover). ISBN 0-7868-2215-5. Grades 3-5.

My Thoughts …

This novel took me by surprise and left me with a feeling of confused understanding. I know that doesn’t make sense, but I feel that I am seeing like Sees Behind Trees does through out the story. He doesn’t see and understand everything, but he understands he isn’t supposed to yet. I know what happens in the story, can explain it, etc; but I know I did not get every single meaning and message. This isn’t a complicated book reading level wise, but it teaches a lot of lessons. I liked that it taught about nature and history, but I also liked how it focused on one’s own desires, self, and gifts. It was pretty cool.

I also liked how this Native American novel was completely different than the last one I read in terms of time period, characters, theme, etc. I was interested also that Sees Behind Trees is differently-abled, which gives the story another level. At first I wondered if he was completely blind, but realized that couldn’t be the case. I think the fact that there weren’t optometrists and ways to fix vision in the past slips people’s mind, because I never thought about what people would do if they couldn’t see. I was surprised to read that Sees Behind Trees didn’t realize other human people could exist besides his community. This is a concept that we would never understand since the world has been developed and connected as long as we have lived. This was not the case before America was completely settled, however. This is definitely something neat to think about.

The mystery of Gray Fire and Otter and what really happened is also very engaging and unexpected at the end. I think the gradual revealing of personal information and pieces of the story really kept me engaged. I think this will also interest readers of the target age. I hope that other readers will enjoy the connectivity of the Strangers, Otter and Gray Fire, and Sees Behind Trees as much as I did. I also hope they are as tickled by the different meanings of Trees in this story. I loved that Sees Behind Trees points out that people and their past is one of these meanings, because the younger readers may not have gotten that on their own, and that is a key point to this book. I have to say I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.