Review of "Donner Dinner Party," by Nathan Hale

 Review of

Donner Dinner Party, by Nathan Hale, ISBN 9781419708565

Four out of five stars

Horrible title, good historical rendition

 Given that the Donner Party was trapped in the snow on their journey to the west coast and resorted to cannibalism to survive, the title of the book is appalling. Yet, the story is rendered in a historically accurate manner. The original members of the group left Springfield, Illinois with a destination of the area of California near San Francisco. They started on their journey in April of 1846 with high expectations, a large team of oxen and what they thought were more than enough provisions for the journey.

 Like many of the people that executed their dreams to go to the west coast, the people of the Donner party underestimated the difficulty of the journey. Unfamiliar with deserts and mountainous terrain, they did not appreciate how hard it was to traverse areas of what was still largely wilderness.

 Their fatal mistake was their attempt to follow what was claimed to be a short cut late in the season. While it was clear that the new route was shorter, the information they were told about the difficulty was wrong. Taking that path also took them off the main trail where there would be other travelers. The presence of which could help them in their difficulties.

The story is well told and does not dodge the fact that the people ate the bodies of their dead fellow travelers. This is an important story of survival in extremely adverse conditions and is a point of history that should be brought to the attention of modern students.

 The fact that the story is told in the form of a graphic novel should not be used to belittle its use in classrooms. I am a big fan of education done in any way possible and properly done comics and graphic novels can be valuable teaching tools. Despite the bad title, this one is properly done.

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