Status
Available
Call number
Call number
B Hob
Genres
Collection
Publication
St. Martin's Press (1976), Edition: Re Issue
Description
Biography & Autobiography. Family & Relationships. Nonfiction. HTML:The beloved real-life story of a woman in the Alaskan wilderness, the children she taught, and the man she loved. �From the time I�d been a girl, I�d been thrilled with the idea of living on a frontier. So when I was offered the job of teaching school in a gold-mining settlement called Chicken, I accepted right away.� Anne Hobbs was only nineteen in 1927 when she came to harsh and beautiful Alaska. Running a ramshackle schoolhouse would expose her to more than just the elements. After she allowed Native American children into her class and fell in love with a half-Inuit man, she would learn the meanings of prejudice and perseverance, irrational hatred and unconditional love. �People get as mean as the weather,� she discovered, but they were also capable of great good. As told to Robert Specht, Anne Hobbs�s true story has captivated generations of readers. Now this beautiful new edition is available to inspire many more. �The memoir reads like an old-fashioned novel, a heartwarming love story with the added interest of frontier hardships and vividly portrayed characters.��Publishers Weekly.… (more)
Original publication date
1976
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member TimBazzett
First read this book probably twenty years ago. Reminded me of CHRISTY. Simple tale of a very young and inexperienced teacher working with a mixed community of miners and Native Americans in the tiny town of Chicken, Alaska. It's a love story too, and the young heroine, Anne, has the temerity to
Last week my mother died. She was nearly 97. In the last months of her life she was making her way slowly through TISHA one more time, despite failing eyesight and crippling pain. I was reading the final chapters to her myself just two weeks ago. She could no longer speak, but she could still listen, and she would nod and smile at the by-now familiar words and passages. TISHA is that good. My mother and I thank Robert Specht and the book's heroine, Anne Hobbs, for telling the story of a young teacher from many years ago. My mother was a young inexperienced teacher herself just ten years later than Anne Hobbs was. She could relate, I'm sure.
Did I say that TISHA is a good book? Well it is. One that bears up well no matter how many times you read it. Highly recommended.
Show More
love a mixed race man. Hey, it's a beautifully told simple little love story of life on the wild frontier nearly ninety years ago. I passed it along to my mom, who loved it so much she bought additional copies for her friends and ended up reading it several times herself over the years. And I didn't fault her for it; it's that good a story.Last week my mother died. She was nearly 97. In the last months of her life she was making her way slowly through TISHA one more time, despite failing eyesight and crippling pain. I was reading the final chapters to her myself just two weeks ago. She could no longer speak, but she could still listen, and she would nod and smile at the by-now familiar words and passages. TISHA is that good. My mother and I thank Robert Specht and the book's heroine, Anne Hobbs, for telling the story of a young teacher from many years ago. My mother was a young inexperienced teacher herself just ten years later than Anne Hobbs was. She could relate, I'm sure.
Did I say that TISHA is a good book? Well it is. One that bears up well no matter how many times you read it. Highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member labfs39
There are some books that I return to again and again, every few years, and never tire of their ability to charm. Tisha is one such story. I first read it as a girl and was drawn to the idealistic young teacher who travels to the Alaskan frontier to make a difference. As a young adult, I was
Show More
impressed with Anne's independence and willingness to risk public censure to do right. Having just finished reading it once more, I am thinking of the sacrifices Anne and Fred Purdy made for each other, and how fierce was Anne's love for her adopted children. Simply told, with vivid characters, and a fast pace, I can't wait to share the book with my own daughter and look forward to my next reading of it. Show Less
LibraryThing member countrylife
Thoroughly enjoyable memoir of Anne Hobbs (1901-1987), Alaskan schoolteacher, as told to author Robert Specht. He took some liberty with location and age, but if the rest of the account is to be believed, Anne's was a remarkable life.
Hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to teach in Chicken, a
This is the story of Anne's adventures in Alaska, learning to live with scarcity, dealing with extreme cold and poverty, and with extremes in people, as well – from gruff but kind-hearted 'old-timers' to openly resentful Indian-haters; from those who came to strike-it-rich and desperately want to leave but can't afford it, to those who love the wild country for what it is, the True Alaskans.
Anne, herself, became a True Alaskan, living there most of her life. The last chapter of her book, dated 1975, tells the rest of her story, and I shan't give away the end, but it was fitting to her initial goals and her heart life.
With a stunning sense of place, this is a nicely written story of courage and love. Recommended! (7 out of 10 stars)
Hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to teach in Chicken, a
Show More
remote settlement in Alaska, this young 'white' woman does things her own way and treats all the children the same, white or Indian, which riles up the whites. Remembering her own youth, rejected for being part Cherokee while growing up in Missouri, and then dirt-poor in mining camps in Colorado, her Cherokee grandmother her only ally, Anne stands her ground to give her Indian charges an equal education and chance at life. Further complicating her role in the community, she falls in love with a half-breed. This is the story of Anne's adventures in Alaska, learning to live with scarcity, dealing with extreme cold and poverty, and with extremes in people, as well – from gruff but kind-hearted 'old-timers' to openly resentful Indian-haters; from those who came to strike-it-rich and desperately want to leave but can't afford it, to those who love the wild country for what it is, the True Alaskans.
Anne, herself, became a True Alaskan, living there most of her life. The last chapter of her book, dated 1975, tells the rest of her story, and I shan't give away the end, but it was fitting to her initial goals and her heart life.
With a stunning sense of place, this is a nicely written story of courage and love. Recommended! (7 out of 10 stars)
Show Less
LibraryThing member BoundTogetherForGood
One you don't want to end. A great book about teaching and about Alaska.
LibraryThing member estellen
I loved every second of this endearing, sweet and interesting book. Paints a detailed picture of life in a small town in Alaska, its people, customs and history. Read and re-read constantly.
LibraryThing member kathywbld
Wow this is the real thing--can't beleive how the natives were treated
LibraryThing member stacyinthecity
This is my mom's book. She let me borrow it about 20 years ago - around the same time we moved out of Alaska. For about the past 10 years or so, she has been asking for it back, so it was time to read it.
I loved this book. I grew up in Alaska, so I was not blown away by the descriptions of the cold
But this book is more than a story about the hardships of 1920s Alaska. When Anne Hobbs moved to Alaska, she not only encountered harsh winters and a very different way of life, but also prejudice and racism against the Native Alaskan people and anyone who had any native blood. This would not stand for Anne. She, being part native American herself, felt a deep compassion for all people, and couldn't see how the Athabaskans should be treated any differently than the whites.
In doing this, she risked everything. The other settlers in the town disagreed with her decisions and made life difficult for her. She risked losing the man she loved, the children she loved, her job and future teaching, and so on.
It is an adventure story with the harsh Alaskan frontier has a backdrop - not only cold weather, but dramatic dog sled races. And it is a love story.
I loved this book. I grew up in Alaska, so I was not blown away by the descriptions of the cold
Show More
weather, deep snow, or dark winter. Those were facts of life. I've even ridden in dogsleds before. So instead I read those passages with a bit of nostalgia. Of course, I lived there in the 70s and 80s and I lived in Fairbanks so I had quite a bit more comforts!But this book is more than a story about the hardships of 1920s Alaska. When Anne Hobbs moved to Alaska, she not only encountered harsh winters and a very different way of life, but also prejudice and racism against the Native Alaskan people and anyone who had any native blood. This would not stand for Anne. She, being part native American herself, felt a deep compassion for all people, and couldn't see how the Athabaskans should be treated any differently than the whites.
In doing this, she risked everything. The other settlers in the town disagreed with her decisions and made life difficult for her. She risked losing the man she loved, the children she loved, her job and future teaching, and so on.
It is an adventure story with the harsh Alaskan frontier has a backdrop - not only cold weather, but dramatic dog sled races. And it is a love story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cmbohn
themes: race, discrimination, love, education, survival, courage
setting: Alaska 1920s
Anne Hobbs grew up in mining towns, but she decided she wanted some adventure, to do something different with her life. So she set off for Alaska to be a schoolteacher. She faces some harsh conditions there, but
This is very similar in feel to Mrs. Mike. This also has a love story, but it's not such smooth sailing. Only after a tragedy is Anne able to find her way to a happy ending, and even then, it may take a while.
I really loved this book. Great feeling for the place and time, the attitudes and the hardships settlers faced in Alaska. Highly recommended.
setting: Alaska 1920s
Anne Hobbs grew up in mining towns, but she decided she wanted some adventure, to do something different with her life. So she set off for Alaska to be a schoolteacher. She faces some harsh conditions there, but
Show More
the hardest thing to deal with is the persistent racism against the Indians. Anne's own grandma was an Indian, and she was the only person who ever showed her unconditional love. Anne is the last person to hold someone's race against them. Whenever Anne needs a standard for how to behave, she looks to her grandmother. This puts her in opposition to most of the town people, but she refuses to back down.This is very similar in feel to Mrs. Mike. This also has a love story, but it's not such smooth sailing. Only after a tragedy is Anne able to find her way to a happy ending, and even then, it may take a while.
I really loved this book. Great feeling for the place and time, the attitudes and the hardships settlers faced in Alaska. Highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TheLoisLevel
I owned this for years, but I finally read it over Christmas break...excellent book.
LibraryThing member gakgakg
Such a surprise to enjoy a book whose cover looks like a 1960s Mutual of Omaha/Doctor Zhivago romance novel. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) I read this for the community book club I'm in against my will (the reading, not being in the club).
But wow. It was so captivating! Put a young
Two things made this all the more wonderful: first, it's a true story and second, I read it when the temperature was 7 below. In the book they make reference to temperatures of 54 below or greater with nothing to heat the house but a small stove... I couldn't stop thinking of the fortitude of these pioneers (but even more so, the amazing survival powers of the Indians. Who we destroyed and continue to mistreat.)
Great read and I would recommend enjoying it on a blowy, freezy, icy night.
But wow. It was so captivating! Put a young
Show More
girl with open ideas in a remote town and set her loving acceptance against the racist ideals of a scared and small-minded clan. The struggle feels like it could've taken place in 2018 instead of in the 1920s. (Once again, thank you Trump and all who voted for him.)Two things made this all the more wonderful: first, it's a true story and second, I read it when the temperature was 7 below. In the book they make reference to temperatures of 54 below or greater with nothing to heat the house but a small stove... I couldn't stop thinking of the fortitude of these pioneers (but even more so, the amazing survival powers of the Indians. Who we destroyed and continue to mistreat.)
Great read and I would recommend enjoying it on a blowy, freezy, icy night.
Show Less
LibraryThing member dara85
Based on the true story of Anne Hobbs who traveled to Alaska in 1927, on horseback to become a teacher in the small town of Chicken, Alaska. Anne faces harsh weather and has some harrowing experiences as she finds love in this in this isolated wilderness. She takes in two children when their mother
Show More
dies of tuberculosis. The boy calls her “Tisha” instead of teacher. She and her husband, Fred adopt the two children along with several others. This is one of 100 Favorite Novels Recommended by Librarians. Show Less
LibraryThing member kaulsu
This book began very slowly for me. I would read a chapter and then move on to read a different book that could hold my attention. About half-way through, though, it grabbed me. It was filled with so much action, I couldn't put it down. What would the people of Chicken do next? Would Anne survive?
Show More
Would the love story find a happy ending? Mostly, I was left with appreciation of the people who populated Alaska, including, especially, the native Alaskans. Show Less
LibraryThing member Eosch1
“Tisha as told by Robert Specht” just didn’t do it for me. I found the narrative and writing style difficult to wade through.
it’s a story of a real person in a real place with great reviews, but I just couldn’t connect with it. There are a lot of people that will defend its merit on
it’s a story of a real person in a real place with great reviews, but I just couldn’t connect with it. There are a lot of people that will defend its merit on
Show More
goodreads (one of which claims to be a direct descendant), so maybe it’s I situational thing for me and I just couldn’t see it’s value…moving on. Show Less
LibraryThing member hobbitprincess
Anne Hobbs accepts a job teaching in Alaska in 1927, at the age of 18. This is her story, as told to Robert Specht. The way she and the brave people of Chicken, AK, lived is astounding. They are definitely a tough group of people. One thing that was hard to read was the intense racism against the
Show More
Native Alaskans and those who were part white, part Native Alaskan. I had to keep reminding myself of the time period to accept what I read. It made me admire Anne even more for sticking to her principles of treating all children and indeed all people as equals. She and her husband eventually adopted 10 Native Alaskan children. It was interesting to read of how day-to-day life was lived in a place that was often 50 degrees below 0. The last pages of the book were particularly exciting and scary. I could hardly put it down. Show Less
LibraryThing member kslade
Really fascinating account of a young teacher's time teaching in a small Alaskan community during the 1920s. She goes against community for liking a half breed and for adopting Indian kids who lost their mother. Fun read.
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
Alaska, 1927. Anne Hobbs has traveled by ornery pony to be a teacher in the Alaskan remote village of Chicken. Tisha is a true story as told to Robert Specht. Barely twenty years old, Anne begins her adventure in Chicken battling sub-zero cold winters and even more frigid prejudiced hearts. The
Show More
natives of Alaska are considered lesser people even though it is their land. The word siwash is derogatory, both as a noun and a verb. Even the children are not exempt from cruel words and actions of the white community. Anne is not fazed by the immature behavior of the white community and, after developing a fondness for one such "half breed" child named Chuck, insists he attend her school. The taunts and threats now targeting Anne grow louder when she develops an even stronger fondness for a "half breed" adult named Fred. It isn't until Anne and Fred survive a terrible tragedy that the community starts to slowly come around. Show Less