Lost Title Finally Found

It only took 4 years, but I finally remembered the title of that historical YA novel I read back in 6th grade.

Here's a review.  I was close on several details:

KIRKUS REVIEW

The first half of the book is about Quick Eagle, the son of a respected Miami chieftain, and the person who seemed most likely to qualify in the future to assume leadership. The second half deals with John Cutchen, the name Quick Eagle took after he discovered in horror that he was really white and had been kidnapped as a baby. This is a very personal study of his agony which lasted for a two year stretch right after his attainment of manhood. His complete loyalty to his tribe and its traditions are made very clear and are particularly signified by the very close relationship between Quick Eagle and his adored father. But he could not reconcile the fact of his tainted blood with life as an Indian so he severed himself from the tribe and went to live in solitary among Americans. After he learned who his true father was he agreed to be a translator for Clark's expedition. His suffering came from being an outcast of two completely opposing ways of life, neither of which was per se right or wrong and his personal reconciliation eventually came when he recognized himself as a man rather than as an Indian or a white person and when he realized that he could function as a ""bridge,"" a trader and a go-between for the two sides. It's an excellent portrayal of human relations, and one which will suit the idealism of teenagers.

It's only 4 pm on Wednesday, but I feel like I've accomplished a week's work.

(Don't keep me waiting so long next time, Memory, because I WILL get all Javert on your elusive ass.)

What WAS That Book?

I shook the memory tree today and nothing fell out but confetti-sized scraps of literature. I'm trying (and failing) to remember the title of a book I read back in the fall of 1972 or possibly early 1973; it was right around my 11th birthday. What ails me? It's only been 36 or 37 years. -- practically overnight, right?

Rather than grumble all day about my faithless BookMemory, I've decided to give you all the information I remember and ask for help in identifying this young adult novel, published sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

The reason I can pinpoint the time I read this book is because I was going through a phase in which I was obsessed with books about Native Americans or Indians, as we said back then. Someone (Mom? Dad? Aunt?) bought this book for me. The main character was a young Indian male of about 14. He was about to go through some rite of passage (hunting on his own?) to mark his transition from child to young brave. This main character had an animal name like Something Eagle or Wolf or Bear. Or perhaps it was a nature name like Something Leaf or Cloud. (Sorry, that's not very helpful, is it?) He had a BFF who was about his age and his name was something more descriptive.

Main Character got along well with his mother and father. Because of his age, he was getting hairy-faced, and his mother was always running for her clam shell tweezers. He noted that his friends didn't seem to share his hirsuteness. (Foreshadowing.) His dad was always available for a father-son talk, and to show his respect and affection, he would look into Main Character's eyes and stroke his arms from shoulder to elbow and back again.

Something went wrong during the rite of passage stuff. Main Character messed up somehow, I think inadvertently. But ignorance didn't cut any ice with the tribal council. Main Character was sentenced to die by sitting in a circle in the middle of camp and being starved to death. If he tried to leave the circle, he would be taken out with a spear or a bow and arrow. His father and mother were heartbroken, but nothing could be done to reverse his sentence.

After a few days in the circle, Main Character was pretty bad off. He managed to surreptitiously dig some grubs out of the dirt. Then he noticed that it was going to rain and knew that he'd get a drink of water. He hallucinated that he was drinking so much rainwater that he was drowning, but didn't realize that members of the tribe were holding a buffalo hide over him so that he couldn't get any water.

Main Character survived beyond the maximum number of days that anyone had ever lived in the circle (nine or ten?) and the tribal council decided to spare him. Soon after that, some white men attacked the camp and in the chaos and confusion, Main Character found out that he wasn't an Indian, he was white. He was taken back to the white settlement.

Some time went by. As a new section of the book began, 1-3? years had passed and Main Character was still in the settlement and not liking it a bit. He wasn't used to his white name (something Biblical, like Matthew or John or Daniel) and since his Indian mom wasn't plucking his face anymore, he was quite beardly. He thought white people stunk -- as in, they didn't wash themselves enough. They cursed, smoked and spat constantly.

And that's all I can remember! I think Main Character returns to the tribe and strokes his Indian father from shoulder to elbow, but I'm not sure. I am certain that this book isn't Little Big Man or A Light In The Forest, but as you can see, that's all I know for sure.

20% Amnesia

Okay, this has been bugging me for a few months now. I can't remember the title of the following book. I checked it out from the library sometime after "budget cuts" at my school in June, 2003 and before I went to Korea in November of 2004. Actually, the time frame must have been pre-blogging days, or I probably would've written about it. I read the first couple of chapters but didn't finish before it was due back at the library. Here's what I remember:

A middle-aged woman lives somewhere in the US (one of those cold states, I think, like Michigan or Minnesota) with her husband, who is a minister. (I think. He might have been a doctor or professor.) One day, a young woman comes to the house for counsel of some kind with the husband and the woman serves her some kind of comfort food, like cookies and cocoa (couldn't swear to the menu, though). Then the young woman tells the older woman, "You're so kind and sweet. You remind me of Mrs. Santa Claus." The older woman is horrified by the comment, especially when she later does a mirror check and sees anew her plumpness, and her short, graying curly perm. (I'm sure about the gray, but not the perm) This is a catalyst. The woman goes on a crash diet, grows her hair out, puts some dye on it and divorces her husband and moves to Vancouver (or maybe it was Toronto) to start a new life. Her ex-husband and grown children think she's gone off her rocker.

Can anyone help me? What's the title of this book? Who's the author? I'd like to find it and finish it.