Marjorie answers:

This is an imagitive question, Dalya. Tattoos have been used all over the planet for thousands of years, and some are intricate and beautiful. See what Google has to tell you and choose one you like. I did not choose for Dar’s clan, so you be the chooser! I really like your name.

My best, Marjorie Cowley

Marjorie answers:

Isabella,
Thanks for your good words about DAR. My problem with a sequel is that the readers ready for one would now be in high school, college, or married with babies. The timing has to be just right for sequels to work, and I’ve already missed my chance, but it would have been a good idea.

My thanks for your email.
Marjorie Cowley

Marjorie answers:

Good question, Mary. Like so many people, Bowan seems to be a guy sure of himself and convinced he is way better in every department than Dar is, who believes him. It is only in the initiation ceremony that Dar senses his fear and helps him, without putting him down—something that Bowan would not have done. Finally the boys form a real friendship which is good for them both as there are no other boys their age in the clan. The point: we all need friends.

My best,
Marjorie Cowley

Marjorie answers:

Dear Lanuola,
I Would love to know the Petaluma friend, but onward to your question: Dar was short, not really good at much of anything, scared of his uncle, BUT he was smart and quickly grasped the brilliance of the spear-thrower. You could throw it at your target from a long distance away, all you needed was a spear and the notched spear-thrower (not too hard to make, pretty easy to carry, and not too heavy), and every hunter would want one. When Dar becomes a fine carver, he could design, craft. and decorate them, an important talent that will be useful for the hunters his clan.

My best to you,
Marjorie Cowley

Dear Cindy,

Mora is a pretty remarkable old lady. She knows more about plants than anyone in her clan, she is compassionate and loving to Dar, her grandson . She insists on taking care of Dar as a newborn after his mother dies. Although it’s difficult, she tries to understand Dar’s uncle and his problems. I would put her age at around seventy (life span was shorter in prehistoric times times). I would love to have had a grandmother like Mora and I try to use her as a model with my five grandchildren.

Thanks for your question.
Marjorie Cowley

Marjorie answers:

Dear Shaniya,

This is a hard one! I believe that a powerful and repeated experience was when my family (three children and often their friends and our friends) would go back-packing in upper Yosemite. Magnificent area, huge trees, lakes and rivers, deer, and two bears! We did this for many years and I learned a great deal from these adventures, such as how not to complain if it was cold or rainy. How to put together the best meals we could think of with the limited food we carried on our backs. How to go straight up a steep mountain trail that was like a stairwell. How to love eating lunch by a stream with your boots off and your aching feet in cold water. Many bits and fragments of these trips have ended up in my books which makes me know how important these experiences were to me. Good question. Did it make you think how you would answer it?

Sincerely,
Marjorie Cowley

Dear Shaniya,
Good question and one that will take a little time. The most basic thing that makes them alike is their “humaness.” Both clans must be skilled in maintaining an adequate food supply and that means being skilled in tool making, hunting, and knowing which plants to cook and eat. Both clans must have devised ways of handling injury and illness.Both must have developed a society that works, and that means creating ways to hold down out-of-control competitiveness that can get out of control and become violent. These ways can include a method of selecting a competent leader (not a power-hungry dictator) and creating an orderly system of testing young people so that they gain recognition in the clan for achieving their maturity (tests for bravery, emotional strength, and an understanding of the clans’ rules of behavior that hold groups together. No clan or tribe or nation can survive for long without solving these all-too human problems.

I hope my answer helped answer your question, Shaniya.

Marjorie Cowley

Dear Adlaine,
You’ve asked an honest question. To me, but I think not to you, the novel ends with a profound achievement: Dar slowly conquers his problems of lack of confidence and loneliness. The book traces his difficulties and his triumphs. He finds the strength to help Bowan through his initiation ceremony and begins a friendship with him. He goes up a steep cliff to play a part in the rescue of his difficult uncle. He makes a frightening trip alone to Toreg’s clan to see if he can trade his sunstone for an amazing spearthrower. He turns down the invitation to live in Toreg’s clan and the opportunity to be trained by Seelag to become a skilled carver because he feels he has an obligation to his beloved grandmother who saved his life whe he was an infant. But the action that took the most courage was honestly confronting his uncle in the Pine Forest at the end of the book. The conversation was difficult,, but ends in a better understanding on both sides, which is important for them both and the entire clan as a unit. An important line at the end is: “The two MEN headed for home.” Hope this helps, Adlaine!

Marjorie Cowley

Marjorie answers:

Dear Kaylay,
The big lesson is not something we are not familiar with because most of us, young and old, go through this process and it’s called maturity. How do most of us (sadly, not all) go through this process? Dar starts off as an insecure boy, without parents, criticized by his uncle, and not skilled at the two things he must know: how to hunt and how to make tools. Slowly he gains confidence and finds he is able to help Bowan through his initiation ceremony, he goes up a steep cliff which if part of an effort to rescue his uncle, and he sets out alone on a difficult trip to find Toreg’s clan and see if he can trade his sunstone for the amazing spear-thrower. Finally—and this takes real courage—he meets his uncle in the Pine Forest and speaks to him honestly. The result is they come to an understanding of each other which is important to them both and to their clan. A mark of his growing maturity is that Dar goes back home to take care of his grandmother, knowing that he owes her his love and care; without her he would not have survived. Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Marjorie Cowley

Dear Autumn,
“The Golden Bull,” my last book, was included in the 2009 Guide to the Best Children’s Books of the Year; it was selected selected by the Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education. I was born in 1925, a very long time ago. When I was your age I thought people of my years were incredibly old. Now I consider myself lucky because I’m still writing and enjoying my life. There’s a bio on my website that may give you more information you feel you need or look at the Q and A’s on the website.

My best,
Marjorie Cowley