Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party

2012 saw the debut of a new line of children's history books, told in graphic novel format. The books are written and illustrated by a guy with the historically fortuitous name Nathan Hale. Taking a cue from his own name, Mr. Hale has the books narrated by the historic Nathan Hale, executed by the British for espionage in 1776. Nathan Hale, his own Hangman, and the British Provost form a kind of triad narrator, chiming in with their own opinions and asides as the historic tales unfold. The first two books were One Dead Spy, telling Nathan Hale's own story as part of the American Revolution, and Big Bad Ironclad about the first ironclad ships used in the American Civil War. The third book just came out in 2013, and I've read it a few times, and recommended it to every teacher and parent and history buff I can find. And now you.

With a title like "Donner Dinner Party," I'm guessing adults will cringe, and kids will um...eat it up. The book tells the story of the doomed Donner-Reed Party, who was traveling from the midwest to California in 1846. As with the previous two books, "Donner Dinner Part"y is about more than just that expedition, but about Westward Expansion on the whole--in brings in information about the Black Hawk War, the Gold Rush, the Oregon Trail and Mormon pioneers, and just how dangerous it was for any group to move west, not just the Donner Party.

From the first chapter, Hale establishes that James Reed is something of a buffoon, pretentious and preening, and making foolish choices. He's able to do that in a fairly even-handed way, balancing the foolishness with the sort of "pioneering spirit" that we like to think Americans have. Reed, one of the leaders of the Donner-Reed Party, will be a source of comic relief--but also a serious threat--for much of the book. In Chapter 2, Reed leads his group of wagons into a serious blunder: following the Hastings Cutoff. A shortcut promoted by Lansford Hastings, who had never even been on the route he was touting, it's probably what caused the death of so many in the Donner-Reed Party. Instead of following the well-traveled path of the Oregon Trail, it led them through the mountains of Utah and the deserts of the Great Basin (including the Great Salt Lake Desert), some of the least hospitable land in the entire continent.

The first dramatic death is Billy the Pony, The Hangman, who loves cute little animals (even though his career is executing men) is sure "he went and found a nice meadow to live in. Right?" But Nathan Hale tells him, "Billy most likely ended up as dinner for someone farther down the wagon train. Fresh meat shouldn't be wasted." The Hangman responds with a full page "NOOOOOOOO!!", his fingers clenched, his face a rictus of horror. It's a nice way of letting the reader experience the emotion, but also laugh at themselves a little, and eases the tension a little...because things are going to get much worse.

There are several places where Nathan Hale (the narrator) warns the reader that this isn't a happy story, and things are going to get worse. He even tells us that we can skip ahead to page 113 if we want to get away from the worst of it. But of course, we don't.

When you hear the phrase "Donner Party," besides thinking of cannibalism, you probably think of a small group of people. A two-page spread on pages 42-43 shows us how many people there really were, and how the 81 of them were arranged in groups of ten families, with nineteen wagons, each with four oxen needed to pull it. It's one of the many times in these books where the pictures really help to understand the story, and even though I've read several books about the Donner Party, this one ended up being one of the better ones.

Once the group is stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the deaths start coming quickly. Hale (the author/illustrator) uses the classic Grim Reaper imagery to show the taking of lives, and is somehow able to let the reader experience the grief and the solemnity of being forced to cannibalize the flesh of someone who's died without being too horrific about it. It's not graphic, but it's still disturbing. Even then, when it gets to the cannibalism, the Hangman is able to bring a little bit of humor--but also a reality of life in the past--that we often overlook in discussions of The Donner-Reed Party. I won't spoil what it was, but it's on page 104, if you're looking.

As a history teacher, one of the things I love about these books is that Hale tells you about the research that he does in order to write the books. He includes tools found in other (non graphic novel) history books, like a good bibliography, biographies of major characters in the book, and questions that might be raised while you're reading the book. In this case, there are also a few one-page mini comics that explain some of those. A case in point: one boy who was a part of the Donner-Reed Party, William Hook, actually died from overeating. Hale explains how that happened. There's also a two-page "Who Died and Who Survived" chart that looks almost like a periodic table of everyone in the party, including how they died and whether or not they were eaten after they died. It's a little creepy, a little morbid, but not as disturbing as you'd expect. Another part of the appendix is a one page story "By the Hangman" that made me laugh out loud...and does some healing for those who were too saddened or traumatized by the story of the Donner-Reed Party, and needed to cleanse their palate.

This book, like the first two in this series, is fantastic. It makes for good reading, it's historically valid, and it's able to tell a very serious story in a way that's informative and entertaining. I was wondering if Hale would be able to tell such a tragic story without making light of the people involved, and he does so admirably. I loved this book. You don't need to read the first two in the series to understand why the historic Nathan Hale and his executioners are narrating a Donner Party story, but the characters do get more interesting over the course of the books. Whether you're a kid or adult, whether you like history, or are morbidly curious about one of the most famous tragedies in the American West, you'll probably enjoy "Donner Dinner Party." Bring the dessert.

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!

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.

"I like this book. It's weird to know the people had to eat the other people and their pets to survive. It really made me think: would I do that in that situation? I would only suggest this book to other kids who like adventure. There's a guy who gets stabbed with a knife and blood drips down his body, and another guy gets hit and his face is bleeding. So if you don't like that sort of stuff, you might not like this book. They don't show the people being cannibals, they just talk about it."

My 8yo son has read each of the NHHT books multiple times. He keeps one with him wherever he goes. They can have themes that may be shocking for some, but those opened good discussions for our family. For example, _The Underground Abductor_ exposes some atrocities of slavery that I wasn't aware of. Our kid asked questions, and we talked them out.
If you have a kid who loves learning and humor and you can handle having discussions about hard stuff occasionally, then I highly recommend these books.
We have loaned a couple to friends who don't love reading for pleasure, and they also LOVED these books.

My 11 year old who loves to read and is very insightful found this book to be very grim and graphic. It involves murder and talks about cannibalism which is part of the sadness of the story, however, its a little much for grade school readers. I do not recommend it for elementary age readers. These books say ages 8 and up, but I think 8 is too young for this book. It's creepy with pictures of the grim reaper and sad stories of death. It's a tragedy and so it should be carefully considered before letting your child read it. Definitely should be for an older child.

I am a self-proclaimed ignoramus when it comes to history. This tale was something I knew nothing about and was surpised by the twist in the title! The graphic novel made learning about history much more enjoyable....if I can say that with the scenarios that occurred during the Donner Party's travels across the Colorado mountains. A required read for a college Young Adult Lit class. Even engaging for an adult.

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.

there's nothing inappropriate, its just that the writing style is not for kids. i ordered several of these and 10 yr old doesn't like / didn't finish any of them. And he reads a lot -- everything. these books get bogged down in minutia of history that doesn't keep kids attention. its like whomever wrote it doesn't really know kids reading interests. my kid loves graphic books but even that didn't get him to stick with any of the 4 we ordered.

I bought my son the Hazardous Tales series for his 8th birthday, and we have both absolutely loved them. I was a little worried this one might be too dark, but that just betrayed my very limited knowledge of what happened with the Donner party. Of course, the cannibalism was sad (although tastefully handled), but I learned much more about pioneer life in general than I expected. I'm glad to know that my son will go into 3rd grade with a broader knowledge of American history than most adults, and I'm happy to finally be learning this stuff myself!