Arrows Into the Sun

by Jonreed Lauritzen

I thought of this book in context of the other ones I've been reading recently. It's been quite a few years since I read it, but some things do come back to me. It's a story set in frontier times, about a boy of mixed race- part native american, part white- who befriends and eventually falls in love with a pioneer girl. She happens to be Mormon. I remember finding the story fascinating but also a bit disturbing, because some of the depictions of Mormon beliefs and how they acted didn't quite match up with what I know of LDS culture (from having grown up in that church). In particular, I was bothered by the hints of violence- I recall that once the boy saw a portrait of Joseph Smith in someone's house and the painting showed him holding a sword. It unsettled the character, and this reader as well.

The novel itself was a good read, however, with interesting characters that struggled with their differences, with their growing minds expanding beyond the constricts of their respective cultures, with the disapproval their friendship brought upon them from each of their communities. I can't remember the ending well; I think they ran away together but I'm not sure. Has anyone else read this? What do you recall?

I wish I could find the book again but it's out of print.

Rating: 3/5 ...... 309 pages, 1943