Donner Dinner Party (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #3): A Pioneer Tale (Volume 3)

2012 saw the debut of a new line of children's history books, told in graphic novel format. The books are written and illustrated by a guy with the historically fortuitous name Nathan Hale. Taking a cue from his own name, Mr. Hale has the books narrated by the historic Nathan Hale, executed by the British for espionage in 1776. Nathan Hale, his own Hangman, and the British Provost form a kind of triad narrator, chiming in with their own opinions and asides as the historic tales unfold. The first two books were One Dead Spy, telling Nathan Hale's own story as part of the American Revolution, and Big Bad Ironclad about the first ironclad ships used in the American Civil War. The third book just came out in 2013, and I've read it a few times, and recommended it to every teacher and parent and history buff I can find. And now you. With a title like "Donner Dinner Party," I'm guessing adults will cringe, and kids will um...eat it up. The book tells the story of the doomed Donner-Reed Party, who was traveling from the midwest to California in 1846. As with the previous two books, "Donner Dinner Part"y is about more than just that expedition, but about Westward Expansion on the whole--in brings in information about the Black Hawk War, the Gold Rush, the Oregon Trail and Mormon pioneers, and just how dangerous it was for any group to move west, not just the Donner Party. From the first chapter, Hale establishes that James Reed is something of a buffoon, pretentious and preening, and making foolish choices. He's able to do that in a fairly even-handed way, balancing the foolishness with the sort of "pioneering spirit" that we like to think Americans have. Reed, one of the leaders of the Donner-Reed Party, will be a source of comic relief--but also a serious threat--for much of the book. In Chapter 2, Reed leads his group of wagons into a serious blunder: following the Hastings Cutoff. A shortcut promoted by Lansford Hastings, who had never even been on the route he was touting, it's probably what caused the death of so many in the Donner-Reed Party. Instead of following the well-traveled path of the Oregon Trail, it led them through the mountains of Utah and the deserts of the Great Basin (including the Great Salt Lake Desert), some of the least hospitable land in the entire continent. The first dramatic death is Billy the Pony, The Hangman, who loves cute little animals (even though his career is executing men) is sure "he went and found a nice meadow to live in. Right?" But Nathan Hale tells him, "Billy most likely ended up as dinner for someone farther down the wagon train. Fresh meat shouldn't be wasted." The Hangman responds with a full page "NOOOOOOOO!!", his fingers clenched, his face a rictus of horror. It's a nice way of letting the reader experience the emotion, but also laugh at themselves a little, and eases the tension a little...because things are going to get much worse. There are several places where Nathan Hale (the narrator) warns the reader that this isn't a happy story, and things are going to get worse. He even tells us that we can skip ahead to page 113 if we want to get away from the worst of it. But of course, we don't. When you hear the phrase "Donner Party," besides thinking of cannibalism, you probably think of a small group of people. A two-page spread on pages 42-43 shows us how many people there really were, and how the 81 of them were arranged in groups of ten families, with nineteen wagons, each with four oxen needed to pull it. It's one of the many times in these books where the pictures really help to understand the story, and even though I've read several books about the Donner Party, this one ended up being one of the better ones. Once the group is stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the deaths start coming quickly. Hale (the author/illustrator) uses the classic Grim Reaper imagery to show the taking of lives, and is somehow able to let the reader experience the grief and the solemnity of being forced to cannibalize the flesh of someone who's died without being too horrific about it. It's not graphic, but it's still disturbing. Even then, when it gets to the cannibalism, the Hangman is able to bring a little bit of humor--but also a reality of life in the past--that we often overlook in discussions of The Donner-Reed Party. I won't spoil what it was, but it's on page 104, if you're looking. As a history teacher, one of the things I love about these books is that Hale tells you about the research that he does in order to write the books. He includes tools found in other (non graphic novel) history books, like a good bibliography, biographies of major characters in the book, and questions that might be raised while you're reading the book. In this case, there are also a few one-page mini comics that explain some of those. A case in point: one boy who was a part of the Donner-Reed Party, William Hook, actually died from overeating. Hale explains how that happened. There's also a two-page "Who Died and Who Survived" chart that looks almost like a periodic table of everyone in the party, including how they died and whether or not they were eaten after they died. It's a little creepy, a little morbid, but not as disturbing as you'd expect. Another part of the appendix is a one page story "By the Hangman" that made me laugh out loud...and does some healing for those who were too saddened or traumatized by the story of the Donner-Reed Party, and needed to cleanse their palate. This book, like the first two in this series, is fantastic. It makes for good reading, it's historically valid, and it's able to tell a very serious story in a way that's informative and entertaining. I was wondering if Hale would be able to tell such a tragic story without making light of the people involved, and he does so admirably. I loved this book. You don't need to read the first two in the series to understand why the historic Nathan Hale and his executioners are narrating a Donner Party story, but the characters do get more interesting over the course of the books. Whether you're a kid or adult, whether you like history, or are morbidly curious about one of the most famous tragedies in the American West, you'll probably enjoy "Donner Dinner Party." Bring the dessert.

I picked up One Dead Spy from my local library on a whim after seeing it on a shelf. That night my 9 year old son, who is not a big reader and had shown no particular interest in history, stayed up until 11pm to read the entire book! He refused to go to sleep until he got to the end! For the next several weeks he would talk about Nathan Hale and the American Revolution. He was just as excited and enjoyed the second book One Bad Ironclad. To this day whenever historical figures or events are mentioned on TV he will say that they were in the NHHT books! The Donner Dinner Party is another great book in this series and is fun, engrossing, and educational. I was worried that the story would be too gruesome for kids or it would just be a story focusing on cannibalism. However, there are as many fun moments as there are tragic. The cannibalism is handled tactfully and in the context of the story you understand why they did it! We live in Ohio so I didn't know much about the Donner party except a vague recollection of cannibalism and that there was a movie about it. I learned a lot from this book and both my son and I have a new appreciation for the American pioneers and this part of our history. I can't recommend Donner Dinner Party and the other books in the Hazardous Tales series enough. Nathan Hale is a great storyteller and I really hope there will be more books in this series. I decided to buy this one instead of borrow it from the library to show my support for the series and help it be successful. You should do the same.

I have to say this is my absolute favourite of the NHHT series so far! I have to say I was quite curious how he was going to keep the humour going with such a topic as the Donner Party. But just read the title and you can tell he takes an irreverent stance to keep this book funny, and probably the funniest of the lot. The author does become irreverent but, as a Catholic, I never thought he went over the line. It's a difficult subject to discuss without being judgemental and Hale has managed it. In fact, he's gone the other direction and suggests that cannibalism was/is a normal human response under such dire circumstances. But only one of his main characters feels this way, the other two have the normal human response of disgust. I think he's done the Donner Party justice and treated them respectfully. He doesn't focus on the cannibalism (hardly even using the word) but on the whole journey, the pig-headedness of Reed in using the shortcut and the final survival and rescue. In fact, we come away from the book just realizing how many actually safely made it home and the acts of bravery that some members unthinkingly committed. Of course, the story is full of violence and murder too. Just make sure you know this story well before handing it to a young or sensitive child and while I thoroughly enjoyed the humour I would caution that some may find this topic unsettling or offensive in this comedic setting. I love this series! On to book 4!

This book handles this grisly subject beautifully. The story moves -- it encompasses the history of American westward expansion and the early troubles of the overland covered wagon caravans. The human interaction is superbly done, the art is great, and the graphic format carries the plot across the pages very clearly. But your kids won't even notice. All they will know is that they LOVE THIS BOOK. It's funny, it's interesting, it's beautiful. It's suspenseful. It's amazing. We are in a Golden Age of children's book publishing. More books like this, please.

I had always heard about the Donner Party, so I was excited to get this book for my school's library. It really has a LOT of detail--impressive. Lots of small illustrations--you really get a book for your money! I will say that a few of Hale's bits of info were not necessarily proved true...but they were kind of nitpicky. I would think that all of the detail would take away from students' interest in reading the book...except that they really do like these books!

This is a great graphic novel for fifth grade on up to high school. The story of the infamous Donner Party is interesting, fast-paced, and creatively told in graphic novel form. Many people who saw me reading this worried it would be "too graphic" or "too difficult to tell in graphic novel form"; however, the book does a great job of humanizing the story, including good breaks of comic relief, and not grossing out the reader (this book could really dip down to a fourth grade audience, but I assume the target age is fifth on up). Overall, this is a FANTASTIC book in a great series... I now plan on reading the rest! Cheers to the author/illustrator!

I bought this for my son, and he finished it in one night and brought it to me insisting I read it too. I picked it up once I had sat down to eat my lunch, and the next hour or two disappeared. I don't typically read my son's graphic novels. I'm more of a Austen, historical fiction or mystery kind of girl, but I had read Big Bad Ironclad and thought it was wonderful and funny. This was very different in tone from Big Bad Ironclad, more intense, but still interspersed with levity. Well as much levity as you can bring to a tragedy. I was familiar with the story of the Donner and Reeds, so I really didn't know how bad it would get. What an amazing story. I have got to hand it to Nathan Hale for bringing such a difficult story from history into an accessible book for kids, with pictures no less. I don't know if I would let an 8 or 9 year old read it, but an 11 or 12 year old should enjoy it. I love how I always learn new things from Nathan Hale's books and it inspires my son to ask deep questions after he's read them. I've already got his next book on preorder. I love this series so much. I would love to see him team up with Shannon again for another Rapunzel's Revenge type story though...

Bought this for my granddaughter who enjoys it very much!

Sobering in its subject-matter but injected appropriately with Hale’s characteristic humour ... again, this series is an excellent means of educating children and adults alike in some of the ‘Hazardous’ moments in U.S. history ... highly recommend!

Has great detail about what happened to the people on this ill fated adventure. Graphic details and good dialogue made this a worthwhile read.