Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Donner Dinner Party (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales Book 3)

Top positive review

Accurate and respectful

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017

I write this review as an actual real-life descendent of the Donners (yes, really; yes, those Donners). Like most members of our family, I know the story extremely well because it's our family history, NOT just a story. And, like many members of our family, I take a perverse pleasure in offering the name Donner to a restaurant host so they have to call for "Donner Party of..." Anyway, I checked this book out from the public library, read it, and then bought it because I liked it so well. I found it both accurate and respectful, not overly gory but without glossing over the true horror of the situation. Then I shared info about it on social media with many other Donners who also appreciated it. It's on my shelf at home with many other books about the Donners.

58 people found this helpful

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SAM

NOT FOR YOUNG READERS

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2017

Ok, so I should have read more of the reviews before purchasing this book. AND I should have pre-read before letting my kids read it. We have thoroughly enjoyed the other Nathan Hale books so I didn't hesitate to let them read this one. But, this book goes a little far with the grim truth in history. After all, this book appears to be aimed at adolescents given its comic book style. I wish I had known about the extent of cannibalism and the meaning of the title before buying. I included a photo of the page which reveals the cannibalism and another page which shows who all the people were that ended up being eaten (anybody who's pic contains a "C"). Several 3 and 4 year olds are marked with a "C!" Coming from a young person's perspective, this hits a little too close to home. In all fairness, the author warns the reader during the story on page 96 that "this tale is not for the faint of heart. Horrible things are going to happen. If you are easily upset, you may want to skip ahead to page 113." They also have a disclaimer on the back of the book which gives a "Hazard Level" and mentions "cannibalism." BUT directly next to the Hazard Level, they make a joke about what cannibalism is. The character on the back of the book says, "It's when someone is shot out of a cannon. Obviously."
This book is NOT for anyone younger than 13 in my opinion. I still like the other Nathan Hale books and we can't deny these terrible things happened in our history but just beware of the content!

20 people found this helpful

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From the United States

ProfKinFLA

Accurate and respectful

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017

Verified Purchase

58 people found this helpful

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Star

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2022

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Bought the first two books and my read them and really liked them, then had a falling out of reading ANYTHING!
Bought this one and he read it in 1 day and wrote a report on it.
These books are great for getting kids interested in history and reading.
A must!!!

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T.Holst

Excellent Companion Book!!

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

I discovered Nathan Hale's Donner Dinner Party right after finishing Daniel James Brown's book on the same subject. I was blown away by the quality of the art, the historical accuracy and the charm woven into this tragic survival story. I felt as though I was watching an animated movie and could not tear myself away. There are a lot of families and names to keep track of when you read about the Donner Party. Nathan Hale's book lays out all the facts in a visually stunning way to help you grasp it all and remember. This is an excellent companion book to any other written about the Donner Party and I highly recommend it.

3 people found this helpful

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E. Anderson

Another great book in this series!

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

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.

20 people found this helpful

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Dylan

Delicious Read!

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2022

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This is so cute, in the worst way. A grotesque and whimsical cautionary tale. DONT BE ALARMED! Yes, this book is about the Donner Party—but it was so educational, insightful, and honestly hard to put down. I did a proof read before letting my son (12) have the book—it was awesome! I absolutely loved it.

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M. Heiss

A Mom's Review -- BUY

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2013

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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.

7 people found this helpful

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sblendita

Fun one!

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2019

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I (and more importantly, my son) love the NHHT books, and this was a great one. We visited the Donner monument and I wanted some reading material for him, but worried what would be kid appropriate. This was a great book to teach him the history in an entertaining way. It addresses the tragic situation without making it too dark or morbid for elementary school kids. (I would think middle and even high schoolers would find the books equally entertaining.) Recommended.

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D. A. S. Moulton

great for 4th graders

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2020

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this is such a fascinating story and sparked many conversations over the dinner table. yikes. my son read this one in one day he was so eerily enthralled. im reading it next. highly recommend. definite choice addition to any child's home library.

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JenW

Hazardous Tales are Hilarious and Hysterical

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2015

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I LOVE these "Hazardous Tales!" I found them entertaining and accurate as an adult, and my students can't get enough of their engaging drawings and dialogue. Many of them have gone out and bought their own copies since I only have one each of the series. The children love the narration by the quirky character "The Hangman." Despite the tongue-in-cheek titles, the content is well-researched and beautifully drawn. It is far more "kid-friendly" than I had anticipated. I cannot recommend them enough.

One person found this helpful

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Liz Dyer

Great books

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

My boys love these books! We have all of the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales. They are even entertaining enough for adults to read them. I appreciate that my kids are learning about history while reading.

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