Dear Mr. Applegate,

Our class has just finished reading your book the Devil's Highway. It was a very exciting book.

My favorite scene in the whole book was when Zeb, Hannah, and Christmas all try to cross the river. I think if you had had Big Red and The Fiddler see them in the river and go in after them and try to catch them it would have been more exciting. Another of my favorite scenes in the book was when the sergeant shot off the gun to try to scare Harlequin so that Zeb would fall off.

I wish that you hadn't left the book off at them all being at Hannah's house. If the second book was already out, then it would have been all right. I don't like having to wait to find out what happens to Zeb and his Grandpa.

I think one of the most difficult things for Zeb and Hannah to do was to cross the river. Especially because Hannah didn't know how to swim. Something else that was probably difficult for Hannah was finding out that her family had moved to Washington. Finally something that was difficult for Zeb was letting Hannah come with him on his trip, knowing that he would run out of food and he would also have to make sure that she stayed safe.

I can't wait for the next book Natchez Under The Hill.

Sincerely, Jeff Stark

Dear Mr. Applegate,

Our class has just finished reading your book the Devil's Highway. It was a very exciting book.

My favorite scene in the whole book was when Zeb, Hannah, and Christmas all try to cross the river. I think if you had had Big Red and The Fiddler see them in the river and go in after them and try to catch them it would have been more exciting. Another of my favorite scenes in the book was when the sergeant shot off the gun to try to scare Harlequin so that Zeb would fall off.

I wish that you hadn't left the book off at them all being at Hannah's house. If the second book was already out, then it would have been all right. I don't like having to wait to find out what happens to Zeb and his Grandpa.

I think one of the most difficult things for Zeb and Hannah to do was to cross the river. Especially because Hannah didn't know how to swim. Something else that was probably difficult for Hannah was finding out that her family had moved to Washington. Finally something that was difficult for Zeb was letting Hannah come with him on his trip, knowing that he would run out of food and he would also have to make sure that she stayed safe.

I can't wait for the next book Natchez Under The Hill.

Sincerely, Jeff Stark

I realy think this is a cool book, because when Zeb gets to ride his horse christmas, that's when it get cool.Also my best part was when the sargent wanted to scare off the horse that Zeb was on with a gun and it exploded in his hand and whent "booooooom!"

Cyrus Byington was a missionary who lived among the Choctaw of Oklahoma in the mid 19th century. He set out to construct a lexicon of the Choctaw language in order to translate many Christian prayers, hymns, and bible passages into Choctaw. What resulted was one of the most complete lexicons for a Native American language that exists today. Dictionary is not complete however, and many of the words do indeed date the work. However the work itself has two parts; an English-Choctaw, and a Choctaw-English component. A must have for anyone interested in languages.

This is an excellent start on the subject and is the only book written to date on this helicopter. If you are interested in the S-58/CH-34 series you should keep a lookout for the soon-to-be published and much more comprehensive Schiffer book on the S-58 by the same author (Lennart Lundh).

This is a good book to learn about the Choctaw tribe from the early spanish that first meet them to the point that they are moved to the indian lands in OK. I recommend it for anyone that wants to learn more about the history and culture of the Choctaw People.

If this one of the best books that contempory fiction writers have to offer, then the TV set and old, worn-out movie plots have little competition from the literary world. This book is poorly written and constructed. It is not intersting. It has a liberal slanted viewpoint and racial connotations. It was a disappointing read, good enough for an A++ on a high school term project, but grossly deficient for a published work of fiction.

I was intrigued by the cover description, and I did enjoy many things about this book. I liked the way Gibbons wrote different view points of different races, and how he realistically portrayed the running away of Reuben and Martha-it was not a sugar-coated adventure. Their love had it's ups and downs. However I did not like the ending because I personally like neat and tidy endings (even though those are unrealistic!), this ending was too abrupt, and nothing else was written about what happened to Martha and their children.

Couples may not have to trek through the woods and hunt for food now, but for those who dare to cross the racial lines here in the South, it can be lonely, and even brutal.

The Mercy Seat is a rich novel, replete with biblical allusions and biblical themes. It vividly depicts life and the settling of the West during the second half of the 19th century as well as the eternal struggle of good over evil. It is a strong first novel. I found it difficult to get into at the beginning, and I found the ending unsatisfying. But for the most part, it is a gripping read.

The center of the evolving story is the conflict between brothers, recalling biblical struggles between Cain and Abel, Esau and Isaac, etc. John Lodi is a skilled craftsman in the art of gunmaking, and a man of his word; Lafayette [Fate] Lodi is a smooth talker, full of envy. Together they move their families to the San Bois Mountains of Oklahoma; but though they share physical struggles, they have no shared vision. The struggle between the brothers extends to their families, and their communities.

Askew has been compared to Faulkner, in that her themes stress the weight of family history and lore on our lives, our psyches. Additionally, Askew uses the technique of multiple voices in the exposition of the story: Mattie [daughter of John Lodi] is the main narrator, but also narrating portions are her mother, Demaris; Thula Henry, a Choctaw woman with a gift of healing; and several others.

This novel allows you to participate in the heavy cost of settling of America. You encounter: former slaves, still enslaved by prejudice; white men on the run from the law; Native Americans pushed from their homes; Evangelical preachers riding their circuits. You particpate in death, in hunger, in illness, in fear,in helping others to protect yourself, in honoring the miracle and struggle of life.

Rilla Askew's fascinating novel succeeds on several levels. She tells a good story -- one that made this reader want to keep turning pages long after bedtime -- and she accurately portrays a way of life and a multi-layered society that has been ignored by most American writers. However, most impressively, she mixes biblical truths, wisdom of the ages, passion, and the creative imperative, to create a morality tale that is all her own. Askew has been compared to William Faulkner and Toni Morrison, but she is unique: Like them, her talent is undeniable, and like them, she writes about forgotten groups of people, but her voice and the rhythms of her language are incomparable. Her writing is informed by the King James Bible, but the beauty and power of "The Mercy Seat" are strong enough to stand on their own merits, without comparison.

This book is particularly interesting to me since I tramped around the area of the country that serves as the territory of much of the work. There is a uniqueness of this geographical area, given it's kinship with the Indian Nations, early white settlers, and now modern Oklahoma Statehood that is illustrated in a way that captures the unusual and unique character of the people and land it describes.

This book needs to be edited and revised so that the language presented flows on a smoother gradient from simple to complex. It begins very simply and ends with a story containing a great deal of grammatical complexity, most of which has not been explained or presented. Also, it is impossible with the data given in the course to do some of the exercises. I found it very frustrating. Its greatest feature, however, is Charley Jones as a native speaker.

This is a great way to learn how the sounds of the language should be. One of the hard points about the language is trying to understand how the words should sound or be pronounced like. This tape helps you in learning the language and speaking it correctly. If you want to learn more about the language, this is the tape series you need.

This is the first book for this author I have read. However, after 60 pages, I can't bear to read anymore. The reading level has to be about 2nd grade. She uses the same adjectives over and over. Often, they are used inappropriately. The father is described as a lion at least 10 times. The hero is described as a "brute" several times when we are not noticing his "wide shoulders". The heroine is murmuring "Damn". While in court, the prosecutor "rubbed his chin thoughtfully" several times while the heroine "gave an encouraging nod" which her brother give her later in the book. The heroine is supposedly devastated about her baby brother being charged with murder but yet she stands there dreaming about all the places she wants the hero to touch her. Her metaphors and analogies have been used 1000 time before. "She was as wet as a soaked kitten". Don't waste your time on this one unless you want to learn what not to do when you read a book! There are a lot of excellent books out there but this is not one of them.

Lusa is a strong willed and beautiful half breed. She is torn between the traditional Choctaw ways and the new white man ways. She will do anything to protect her brother who has been convicted of murder and is on the run. Talako is a strong willed lighthorseman (Indian lawman) bound by honor and duty to track down Lusa's brother to be sure he is executed for his crime. Talako has had a sad past and has learned not to trust woman. He has reason not to trust Lusa; but, is helpless to fight against his growing passion/desire for Lusa. Together they end up tracking Lusa's brother (Talako to bring him back for justice; Lusa to do whatever it takes to prove his innocence or save him from certain execution). This story is a battle of wills between Talako and Lusa on every page. It is about the struggle between Talako's honor and Lusa's loyalty to her brother. Love between them grows even in this struggle. This was a hard book to put down (I read it in a few evenings).

Georgina Gentry is the best at what she does! The research and notes to the reader in the back of each book are as enjoyable as the book itself!

This book is an introduction to the autobiography of a Choctaw Indian who was enslaved as a child. The book is marred by Littlefield's racist introduction, in which he insists on referring to Tubbee as a "black" passing for "Indian." Littlefield claims that Tubbee was born to a black slave mother and a white father who emancipated the mother and two older children (who later became prosperous members of the "free colored" community but kept Okah Tubee (then called Warner McCary) as the slave of his own mother and siblings. Littlefield, in his devotion to hypodescent, does not want to consider that Tubbee was most likely a Choctaw slave trying to claim his lost heritage.