THE ROUGH-FACED GIRL, by Rafe Martin

Quick Facts:
- Illustrated by David Shannon
- 32 pages

Native American cultures are among those most frequently misrepresented in popular culture and literature, particularly in that targeted to young audiences. Too often, children's understanding of Native Americans is limited to the European-crafted tale of Thanksgiving and the high adventure and high stereotyping of cowboy/Indian tales.

The Rough Faced Girl, by Rafe Martin, is unique in its respectful and authentic retelling of an Algonquin "Cinderella" story. Rather than using the familiar story structure to incorporate western European elements into the story, Martin stays true to the tale's Native American perspective- even when that leads to narrative choices that have the potential to confuse conventional western-European audiences.

One of the most fascinating aspects of The Rough Faced Girl is the "prince" figure, here known as the Invisible Being. In most traditional versions of Cinderella, the prince is little more than a symbol of power, a reward that Cinderella receives for being pious/generous/gracious/etc. The Invisible Being of this tale, however, is more nuanced. He lives with his sister, who speaks with all the women who wish to marry her brother. Her questions suggest something very interesting about the Invisible Being: that the only woman who will be able to see him is the one who knows already what he looks like.

This seems contradictory, for how could any woman know what he looks like if he is invisible? The answer, of course, is revealed during the titular Rough Faced Girl's conversation with the Invisible Being's sister. Though I will not spoil it, I will say that it is grounded in Native American respect for and understanding of humans' relationship with nature, and is thus in keeping with the cultural heritage of this particular "Cinderella" tale.

David Shannon's illustrations further reinforce both the cultural background of the story. Shannon uses muted, largely earth-tone colors suggestive of Native American art. The brightest illustrations come towards the end of the book, when he is depicting scenes of nature that have a distinctly spiritual, otherworldly cast to them. Reserving his brighter colors for these scenes emphasizes their importance to both the story and to the culture that produced it.

In terms of characterization, the Rough Faced Girl is at once a familiar and a progressive "Cinderella" figure. Like many of the heroines that populate similar stories, the Rough Faced Girl is kind, gentle, and virtuous. Her identification of the Invisible Being also suggests that she is more spiritually aware than the other women vying for his hand. However, unlike many of her counterparts, the Rough Faced Girl is the primary instrument of her own fate. There is no fairy godmother, or magic bird, or helpful crocodile that shows up with a means of her escape. Rather, after being told by her father that he has nothing left to give her, the Rough Faced Girl creates her own garments and goes on her own power to seek the Invisible Being and his sister.

Ultimately, it is the Rough Faced Girl's own understanding of the Invisible Being that wins her his hand, rather than her beauty or an intriguing glass slipper.