Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 6/18/2016 + 1185 more book reviews

I really enjoyed this book! The Education of Little Tree is the story of a young orphaned 5-year old boy called Little Tree, who is taken in by his half-Cherokee Granpa and Cherokee Granma. The story takes place during the Great Depression in the mountains of Tennessee. Little Tree learns how to survive in the mountains and how to respect nature. He also learns the ways of the whites, especially the politicians and tax collectors who are trying to put Granpa out of his whiskey business. The book is full of wisdom and sometimes hilarious anecdotes relating how Granpa keeps his business afloat and scares off would be investors in his business. While Granpa teaches Little Tree the ways of nature and his trade (whiskey making), Granma teaches him how to read and the benefits of an education. Towards the end of the story, Little Tree is taken away from his grandparents and placed in an orphanage to get a better education, but ends up being beaten and abused by the system.

This was a very inspiring story and many consider this a classic along with Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird. When it was originally published, it was touted as a true memoir of the author. However, it was later shown to be mostly fiction and it was found out that the author was a former member of the KKK and a speechwriter for Alabama Governor George Wallace. See this Wikipedia article on the author.

Not sure how an ex-KKK member could write such a moving and inspiring story but overall, I would still highly recommend this!

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