The Saga of Indian Em'ly: Books 1-4

By: Sara Barnard

Narrated by: Henry Marshall

Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Twelve-year-old Wind That Knocks Down Lodges loves his little sister, Cactus Flower, and the wildness of the desert canyonland the Apache call home. But in one night of misunderstanding and mistakes, Knocks Down and Cactus Flower’s innocent world is shaken as they find themselves locked in the nearby fort with the pale face soldiers and their mother’s lifeless body. With no one to lean on but each other, Knocks Down and Cactus Flower must make their way as children of The People in the pale face world - pale faces who have now become the enemy.

After finding themselves at the mercy of the Army, far from Apache Territory and well on the trail to Colorado, Knocks Down must bring himself to trust the soldier, Pale Face Joe. But Joe disappears, and when ordered to dispose of the children or else, the other Army soldiers waste no time in depositing them at the nearest Catholic orphanage.

They manage to escape the evil orphanage along with a new pale face friend, Kid McCoy. But they are set upon by a gang of murdering claim jumpers who steal Cactus. With Kid McCoy’s help, Knocks Down goes after her. When they encounter a soldier who was responsible for their mother’s death, they realize he’s set on seeing them dead, as well. How can a boy defeat a battle-hardened soldier? Just when Knocks Down is about to give up, the biggest surprise of all changes everything...

©2015 Sara Barnard (P)2021 Sara Barnard

Fast Moving

I bought this title to listen to while on my daily walk. It is a wonderful tale. I fell in love with Wind that Knocks Down Lodges and his little sister, Cactus Flower. The story is well written. It moves along at such a fast pace that I finished my daily walk in record time.
I thought the narrator did a great job with the dialects and accents of all the characters. It was easy to picture them in my mind as I listened. The children seemed so real, I really wanted to take up for them when they were in the care of those awful people.

Overall, this is a wonderful audio book. I will definitely look for more by this author and narrator.

Intense Storyline

The Saga of Indian Em'ly has a very intense storyline. I must admit that being Indigenous some parts really bothered me because they were more fact than fiction. This is my honest opinion.