Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal

by Traci Sorell, Will Chavez

Follow Cherokee youths on a 950-mile bike journey retracing the Trail of Tears—from Georgia to Oklahoma—on the annual Remember the Removal Ride.

This inspiring photo-rich nonfiction book follows Native youth riding to remember history, linking past and present through culture, resilience, and activism. For ages 10 and up.

Readers follow Cherokee youth as they train for the Remember the Removal Ride, dive into the Cherokee language, and find out more about the important chapter in their tribe’s history. The ride began in 1984 and became an annual event in 2009. There are nearly 300 alumni, including coauthor Will Chavez, who was also a coordinator of the program.

Here are 112 pages of photo-illustrated nonfiction penned by enrolled Cherokee Nation coauthors. This does something no other book presents the Trail of Tears in a contemporary context. While Cherokee people suffered that grim chapter in history, they thrive today.

Traci Sorell is an award-winning author of children picture books and middle-grade books. Will Chavez is an award-winning journalist and photographer. Both creators are citizens of the Cherokee Nation.

112 pages, Hardcover

Published August 25, 2026

About the author

Best-selling author and Cherokee Nation citizen Traci Sorell writes inclusive, award-winning fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people. In 2023, she shares Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series, a Kirkus Reviews starred nonfiction picture book biography illustrated by Arigon Starr, and Mascot, a middle grade fiction novel-in-verse co-authored with Charles Waters. Traci is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree for her nonfiction work. Her first five books have received awards from the American Indian Library Association. Learn more at www.tracisorell.com.

Reviews

[Aliceson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book catalogs the 2021 Remember the Removal bike ride. This is an annual ride taken by Cherokee youth which remembers the removal of their people from ancestral lands. They follow the path their ancestors had to walk (also known as the trail of tears) on bikes. It’s an arduous 950 mile ride that takes 3 weeks. They stop at historic Cherokee sites and learn about the history. Most of the book talks about this specific ride and recounts their day to day adventures, but it also includes a lot of historical information about what happened to the Cherokee people and why they were removed from their land. It states the facts without bitterness or blame and shows the events from the Cherokee perspective. It was very well written. There are pictures and maps in the book that help you learn more about the history. Most of the pictures are from the 2021 ride. I would have liked if they had included pictures of the historical sites they visited on the ride.

There are a lot of pictures in the book, but it’s more text than pictures. It talks about sexually assault and rape of the Cherokee women during removal. Based on those things, I would recommend this book for a middle school audience.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Trail of Tears was a horrific event in US history, killing thousands and causing lasting generational harm. There is a group of Native youth and support members that now annually ride this trail to remember what their ancestors went through. They cover almost 1000 miles in 3 weeks. however, before they leave they spend months training, learning more about the Cherokee language, and researching the removal. During the ride they will visit historic landmarks, often connecting with relatives along the way. This is an extremely tough ride both physically and emotionally.
Full color photographs, maps, and other insets complete the engaging story about this connection between past and present. Highly recommend.