First Baptist Church, 6501 S. Hazel St., will host its monthly book review at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in the church’s fellowship hall. Refreshments and door prizes will be provided and the public is invited to attend.
Ann Thompson, a native of Pine Bluff, will review “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven.
Thompson is the daughter of a World War II naval officer who was stationed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Thompson attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where she met and married Richard “Dick” Thompson, a star basketball player for the Tigers.
Ann Thompson taught kindergarten in Pine Bluff, and she and her husband raised three daughters, all graduates of Pine Bluff High School. Thompson is longtime member of First Baptist Church.
The award-winning novel depicts the changing of the times and the long path to figuring out where one belongs. The story depicts a young vicar named Mark Brian, who moves from the city to a Native American village of the Kwakwala tribe. This tribe is witnessing changes, as the young move toward a more modern life and away from the past traditions, while the old are trying to keep their heritage alive.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“As he gets to know them by living with them, he realizes that it is people like him that are changing the tribe,” a spokeswoman said in a news release. “The tension created by this situation puts a strain on Mark emotionally. He feels ashamed that ‘his people’ would do something so cold to this peaceful and beautiful tribe.”
“There are few novels with this type of recognition about the way the Native American culture has changed and what a painful journey it was, is, and forever will be for the heritage of so many,” the spokeswoman said.
“‘I Heard the Owl Call My Name’ is not only about Native Americans and the journeys they have been through as a people, but also shows us a little more about ourselves and how we may perceive our past,” the spokeswoman said.