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Girls Survive
Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story
Twelve-year-old Mary and her Cherokee family are forced out of their home in Georgia by U.S. soldiers in May 1838. From the beginning of the forced move, Mary and her family are separated from her father. Facing horrors such as internment, violence, disease, and harsh weather, Mary perseveres and helps keep her family and friends together until they can reach the new Cherokee nation in Indian Territory. Featuring nonfiction support material, a glossary, and reader response questions, this Girls Survive story explores the tragedy of forced removals following the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
43 people are currently reading
917 people want to read
About the author
Andrea L. Rogers
13 books164 followersAndrea L. Rogers is a writer from Tulsa, Oklahoma and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian and Alaskan Arts with an MFA in Creative Writing. Currently, she is splitting time between Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she is a Ph.d. student at the University Arkansas and Fort Worth, Texas, where her family lives. Her book Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story was named an NPR Best Book of 202) by both NPR and American Indians in Children’s Literature.
Ms. Rogers is on the Board of the Fort Worth Public Library.
A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she is currently revising a middle grade mystery, writing an adult literary horror novel, and working on a series of picture book manuscripts.
All text and images © Andrea L. Rogers 2018 – 2021, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
Ms. Rogers is on the Board of the Fort Worth Public Library.
A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she is currently revising a middle grade mystery, writing an adult literary horror novel, and working on a series of picture book manuscripts.
All text and images © Andrea L. Rogers 2018 – 2021, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
April 25, 2023
Enjoyable historical fiction, but not as engaging or immersing as I had hoped it would be. The beginning had a smooth flow but later chapters skipped over longer time periods and thus over the distress and hardships too. The walk along the trail is not the main focus, but rather life in the detainment camps and the miserable conditions there. Some difficult and emotional events are touched upon, but not always in a way that evokes emotion from the reader. Sometimes I felt that Mary wasn't sad over leaving her home as much as she was sad over missing her father. Traditions and way of life are mentioned but I didn't connect them as specific to the Cherokee people versus anyone trying to survive in such conditions.
I thought the story read younger than I would suggest for the recommended age group; I would say it is best for the low end of the range. The upper end of the range would find it too simple and not exciting enough.
This is a hard topic to cover in such a short book and be able to include all the relevant details. I appreciated the author's note which adds detail and is written at a higher vocabulary level. There's also a glossary including some Cherokee terms. I would read more in this meaningful and educational historical fiction series.
I thought the story read younger than I would suggest for the recommended age group; I would say it is best for the low end of the range. The upper end of the range would find it too simple and not exciting enough.
This is a hard topic to cover in such a short book and be able to include all the relevant details. I appreciated the author's note which adds detail and is written at a higher vocabulary level. There's also a glossary including some Cherokee terms. I would read more in this meaningful and educational historical fiction series.
November 10, 2020
My 7-year-old son loves American history so this series provides a great way to introduce him to significant, and often grave, events in an age-appropriate manner. To be sure, the events in this book caused us to shed a few tears together.
About midway through the book, I wondered why the author spent so many pages discussing the family’s experience at the internment camp. The author’s note at the end opened my eyes to reality.
We often think of the Trail of Tears, as “just” a forced march from East to West. It was more than that. It began by stripping the rights and the property of indigenous peoples, then dehumanizing them by forcing them to live in squalid conditions with less-than-adequate supplies while American leaders decided how to move them across thousands of miles of land and water.
I appreciate how a “children’s book” can be so educational for both son and mom! Always learning, and best when we can do it together!
About midway through the book, I wondered why the author spent so many pages discussing the family’s experience at the internment camp. The author’s note at the end opened my eyes to reality.
We often think of the Trail of Tears, as “just” a forced march from East to West. It was more than that. It began by stripping the rights and the property of indigenous peoples, then dehumanizing them by forcing them to live in squalid conditions with less-than-adequate supplies while American leaders decided how to move them across thousands of miles of land and water.
I appreciate how a “children’s book” can be so educational for both son and mom! Always learning, and best when we can do it together!
May 9, 2023
Hi people. I’m not looking at my phone as I tyoe this so I dunno how it will turn out. (Only that sentence, I’m looking now and I have amazing skills as I only messed up once.) Would you like to read my review? Yes, you would. Have fun(ish)!
It’s obviously targeted toward a younger audience than me lol, so I didn’t really enjoy it that much.
The one thing that really bugged me was when they learned their grandma died and they had basically so reaction. I remember Mary told her sister that their grandma was dead, and I might be wrong but the book said, “she cried for a little bit”.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?? If my grandma died I would probably go insane and cry for maybe…I dunno…more than a little bit?
That might be like really really rude and I might be totally wrong but these are just my thoughts and I’m basically just typing them as they come. 🤷♀️
Well, that’s all for this review and it was very short. I’ll see ya in the next one! 👋
It’s obviously targeted toward a younger audience than me lol, so I didn’t really enjoy it that much.
The one thing that really bugged me was when they learned their grandma died and they had basically so reaction. I remember Mary told her sister that their grandma was dead, and I might be wrong but the book said, “she cried for a little bit”.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?? If my grandma died I would probably go insane and cry for maybe…I dunno…more than a little bit?
That might be like really really rude and I might be totally wrong but these are just my thoughts and I’m basically just typing them as they come. 🤷♀️
Well, that’s all for this review and it was very short. I’ll see ya in the next one! 👋
May 27, 2022
I had never heard of this series before and I kind of love the idea of the series: it's like I Survived, but with female protagonists. In this novel, Mary is forced to endure the trail of tears. It's not graphic nor as brutal as real life because it's meant for kids. However, it is really heartbreaking without any more added in.
I love that it's written by a native author. And I do love that the enduring focus on family and being together is centralized.
I wish I had time to add this to my Western Expansion unit!
I love that it's written by a native author. And I do love that the enduring focus on family and being together is centralized.
I wish I had time to add this to my Western Expansion unit!
September 7, 2020
At just 100 pages, this illustrated chapter book is a great (fictional) primer on the Cherokee Removal. I really appreciate kids books that don't shy away from the truth, even when it's violent and devistating. Roger's does a great job of mixing elements of hardship and death with hope and resilience.
I am so grateful for this book and the author's work to make history about Indigenous peoples' accessible and accurate for kids (and me!).
I am so grateful for this book and the author's work to make history about Indigenous peoples' accessible and accurate for kids (and me!).
February 5, 2020
A really good book for middle grade and younger to understand the Cherokee removal.
January 12, 2024
Horrific history.
August 27, 2024
Great historical fiction for middle-grade readers, who are ready to take a step up from American Girl books.
This book in the Girls Survive series focuses on one of the darker blots on our nation’s history, The Trail of Tears. Told from young Mary’s viewpoint, the reader can get a real sense of how difficult it was for these Native Americans to be driven from their homes. The author’s notes at the end were excellent, also, especially her quote, “Our ancestors were people, not numbers.”
This book in the Girls Survive series focuses on one of the darker blots on our nation’s history, The Trail of Tears. Told from young Mary’s viewpoint, the reader can get a real sense of how difficult it was for these Native Americans to be driven from their homes. The author’s notes at the end were excellent, also, especially her quote, “Our ancestors were people, not numbers.”
May 3, 2025
This middle-grades chapter book was an NPR Best Book of 2020, an American Indians In Children's Literature Best Books of 2020, and recommended by Social Justice Books. The story follows the journey of Mary, a Cherokee girl who is about 11 years old, and her multi-generational family as they are displaced from their ancestral homeland in Georgia, taken to an internment camp, then marched to the newly designated Cherokee Territory in Oklahoma. The story is logged like a journal with dates and times marked at the start of each chapter. The opening scene begins with Mary weaving a burden basket according to her family's tradition while her older sister cooks corn and her grandmother sits near them. As the story unfolds the reader learns of the rest of Mary's extended family, including her married and pregnant oldest sister and her brother-in-law, her parents, grandfather, and younger sister. Through Mary's descriptions the reader learns about Cherokee ways of life, including living spaces, relationship to nature, family traditions, Cherokee writing and language, and Cherokee communal activities. As Mary tells her story, the reader also learns of the legal maneuverings of the US government at this time to rid Georgia of any Cherokee people and the violence and general brutality they were subjected to before, during, and after their displacement to Oklahoma.
While reading I enjoyed the way the book was divided by dates and times. It felt like a more engrossing account of what happened because I could track how long one scene took, how long Mary and her family had to wait at their internment camp before marching, and how long the march was. It felt like I could take on the role of historian. I also enjoyed the illustrations; they lended more opportunity to visualize the characters' clothing and the time period overall. At the end of the book there was a note from the author that described the Trail of Tears in more detail, as well as the author's experience writing this story as a descendant of Cherokee people who were forced to travel the Trail of Tears. I thought the story balanced historical fact with narrative detail and brought to life the difficult experiences of the Cherokee people through engaging dialogue, characterization, and problems that a middle grades student might relate to easily, such as missing home and worrying about family and friends.
This novel appears to be part of a series of books called "Girls Survive," which may be a great way entice students who prefer fiction to read more informational books. The book would best suit students third through fifth grade, with the possibility of it being applicable to lower readers in sixth grade. Some instructional focuses for the book could be sequence of events, cause and effect, problem and solution, and characterization. Because the novel is historical fiction, there is opportunity to track historical facts vs narrative elements. Students could also explore themes of community, home, and justice. The book portrays several deaths, including a grandparent dying of disease, a grandparent being shot, and an infant dying. These are not graphically detailed scenes, but this may be something to prepare sensitive or younger students for as you read.
Overall an enjoyable read packed with information and an engaging plot that has many instructional possibilities.
While reading I enjoyed the way the book was divided by dates and times. It felt like a more engrossing account of what happened because I could track how long one scene took, how long Mary and her family had to wait at their internment camp before marching, and how long the march was. It felt like I could take on the role of historian. I also enjoyed the illustrations; they lended more opportunity to visualize the characters' clothing and the time period overall. At the end of the book there was a note from the author that described the Trail of Tears in more detail, as well as the author's experience writing this story as a descendant of Cherokee people who were forced to travel the Trail of Tears. I thought the story balanced historical fact with narrative detail and brought to life the difficult experiences of the Cherokee people through engaging dialogue, characterization, and problems that a middle grades student might relate to easily, such as missing home and worrying about family and friends.
This novel appears to be part of a series of books called "Girls Survive," which may be a great way entice students who prefer fiction to read more informational books. The book would best suit students third through fifth grade, with the possibility of it being applicable to lower readers in sixth grade. Some instructional focuses for the book could be sequence of events, cause and effect, problem and solution, and characterization. Because the novel is historical fiction, there is opportunity to track historical facts vs narrative elements. Students could also explore themes of community, home, and justice. The book portrays several deaths, including a grandparent dying of disease, a grandparent being shot, and an infant dying. These are not graphically detailed scenes, but this may be something to prepare sensitive or younger students for as you read.
Overall an enjoyable read packed with information and an engaging plot that has many instructional possibilities.
November 25, 2020
This is a fantastic introduction to Indigenous history in the US for chapter book aged kids. It's real, and it's painful, and so incredibly important for kids to read and understand. We are taught the white version of history in our schools for the most part, and we need to listen to the voices of peoples oppressed for centuries. For anyone who thinks this is too tragic or difficult a topic to cover with young kids, think about the Magic Tree House books that cover the Titanic. This book does a great job of wording hard topics simply for young kids to understand.
October 22, 2025
Pre-read for curriculum consideration. It has the shape of a good story but really needed someone to help pull the story out and help it flow. It needed significantly more show not tell.
I’ll probably still list it as a good book to help round out if someone wants additional reading, but it wasn’t a spine selection for me.
I’ll probably still list it as a good book to help round out if someone wants additional reading, but it wasn’t a spine selection for me.
November 14, 2021
I really liked this book. It was an absolutely heartbreaking read, but I think it’s important to sometimes break your heart for other people. It develops your empathy. While this was an emotionally hard read, I don’t think it’s too much for the intended age group. I hope I can get the library to buy more books in this series.
March 2, 2022
Powerful little book. As tough as this subject I am glad this is written for kids because kids their age went through this so you should be able to read about it.
Narration by Kimberly Guerrero & Natalie Standingcloud was very well done.
Narration by Kimberly Guerrero & Natalie Standingcloud was very well done.
March 22, 2020
Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story tells the story of a horrific chapter in our history through the eyes of the children who were affected. The reader gets a sense of the fear and horror of the Cherokee removal and the resilience of the Cherokee people in a compelling story centered on strong, young female characters. ᎣᏍᏓᏛ!
November 11, 2020
CW: Grief, racism, forced family separation, sickness, death of child
July 6, 2022
4.5⭐️ Popsugar Reading Challenge 2022: A novel by a BIPOC author. The book was well written about a true but difficult story. I prefer reading children books about this topic because it is hard to read but, I am so happy that the truth is being written for all of us to do better !
April 11, 2024
It told a decent heartbreaking story of the Indian removal. There was a lot of pain, death and struggle the author threw in there. At first I thought it might be too much for my kids to be listening to, but it’s the reality of that situation so why sugar coat it for kids.
July 28, 2022
Most people know about slaves and how they were treated in the South but there's another group that was also badly treated but aren't covered as much and that's the Native Americans.
Bluntly, they 'owned' America before the colonists came and then, over time, they got pushed back further and further from the East Coast with their land being taken over by the colonists, often with the help of the government.
This book is about one of those cases, the Trial of Tears, where the Cherokee tribe was forced out of their land and made to go west so that the settlers could take over their homeland for themselves.
Mary is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is young. They live in cabins but troops arrive to force them out and they have no problem killing any Cherokee that refuses to cooperate.
The book covers how little time they had to prepare, how they had to leave many things behind, and the terrible conditions they had to go during their removal to the West. The book includes notes from the author, a glossary and a making connections section.
The story covers one of the various dark deads that the government performed on anyone they felt were in the way of the progress of the colonists in stealing land from those who had lived there for centuries. The book is well done and very realistic.
Bluntly, they 'owned' America before the colonists came and then, over time, they got pushed back further and further from the East Coast with their land being taken over by the colonists, often with the help of the government.
This book is about one of those cases, the Trial of Tears, where the Cherokee tribe was forced out of their land and made to go west so that the settlers could take over their homeland for themselves.
Mary is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is young. They live in cabins but troops arrive to force them out and they have no problem killing any Cherokee that refuses to cooperate.
The book covers how little time they had to prepare, how they had to leave many things behind, and the terrible conditions they had to go during their removal to the West. The book includes notes from the author, a glossary and a making connections section.
The story covers one of the various dark deads that the government performed on anyone they felt were in the way of the progress of the colonists in stealing land from those who had lived there for centuries. The book is well done and very realistic.
October 17, 2021
Even though several of the main character’s family members died in this story, it wasn’t lingered on long enough for me to feel the emotional weight that could have been there. Furthermore, the conditions while traveling along the Trail of Tears wasn’t shown; the book focused more on the conditions in the camps where the Cherokee were held before and while being removed from their land. Mary was only one of the children in her family of four sisters, and the book didn’t really seem to have her at the center. I just felt like by the end I still didn’t really know her, except for the fact that she loves her family.
April 3, 2021
Being from western North Carolina, I have always been interested in stories about the Cherokee and the Trail of Tears. Being a youth services librarian, I am trying to read more children’s books this year. So this was a perfect choice for me. It was a bit violent and depressing, but so is history, and all books for kids don’t have to be sunshine and roses. It is written by a Cherokee author and the nonfiction support material at the end was very enlightening as well. I am definitely interested in reading more books in the Girls Survive series.
December 28, 2021
This book tells the true story of Cherokee Removal through the fictional experiences of a young girl, and even though it is very grim, the episodic, rather rushed nature of the story helps buffer the effect of the many deaths that occur, since readers have little time to grow attached to characters. Also, many deaths occur in summarized exposition, with the author giving a sense of the general devastation occurring in disease-ridden internment camps.
This fictional narrative is strongly based in recorded history, and the author's note at the end provides additional context and information. The author also writes about what it meant to her personally to write this book, since she is descended from indigenous ancestors involved in this historical injustice. In the story, she passingly mentions that enslaved Africans were also involved in the Trail of Tears, but she never explains why or what their roles were, and even though she mentions them again in the author's note as an overlooked part of this time in history, she still doesn't provide any context for this, which is a gap that I wish she had filled.
She also mentions that white people who had intermarried with indigenous people were involved in the Trail of Tears. I am glad that she mentioned this, since so many historic mixed-race marriages and children are completely lost to time and unacknowledged. If a child or adult is interested in learning more about this dynamic from a different time period and geographic location, I would recommend the American Girl historical mystery Trouble at Fort La Pointe, which is about a girl with a white French father and Ojibwe mother.
Overall, I enjoyed Mary and the Trail of Tears and would recommend it. It is very historically accurate, which is essential in a story like this, and I appreciated the additional context offered at the end about how there were many white people who opposed the injustice of Indian Removal, including Davy Crockett, who is also mentioned in the story. It's helpful and balanced to explore horrific injustices like this without the unintentional message that everybody in majority culture went along with this or agreed with it at the time.
This fictional narrative is strongly based in recorded history, and the author's note at the end provides additional context and information. The author also writes about what it meant to her personally to write this book, since she is descended from indigenous ancestors involved in this historical injustice. In the story, she passingly mentions that enslaved Africans were also involved in the Trail of Tears, but she never explains why or what their roles were, and even though she mentions them again in the author's note as an overlooked part of this time in history, she still doesn't provide any context for this, which is a gap that I wish she had filled.
She also mentions that white people who had intermarried with indigenous people were involved in the Trail of Tears. I am glad that she mentioned this, since so many historic mixed-race marriages and children are completely lost to time and unacknowledged. If a child or adult is interested in learning more about this dynamic from a different time period and geographic location, I would recommend the American Girl historical mystery Trouble at Fort La Pointe, which is about a girl with a white French father and Ojibwe mother.
Overall, I enjoyed Mary and the Trail of Tears and would recommend it. It is very historically accurate, which is essential in a story like this, and I appreciated the additional context offered at the end about how there were many white people who opposed the injustice of Indian Removal, including Davy Crockett, who is also mentioned in the story. It's helpful and balanced to explore horrific injustices like this without the unintentional message that everybody in majority culture went along with this or agreed with it at the time.
September 14, 2022
This is part of the Girl Survives series that is much needed. For years, there has been a series that features mostly male children surviving historic events. This story of Mary and her family is well researched and very moving, yet I know it only scratches the surface of what the experience of Trail of Tears was like for Native Americans.
Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. In the back of the book, she includes a note about the Trail of Tears, a glossary of Cherokee words used in the book and even a few discussion questions. This would be a great teaching tool for the classroom and is perfect for middle-grade students. It's a short book packed with information and a devastating yet insightful story about Indian Removal in the US. Too many people don't understand (or even know about) the Trail of Tears and this is an excellent primer for discussion about a part of our history that absolutely should be taught.
Someday I would like to read more about this topic. In recent years, I have been making a point of reading more books about the Native American experience and point of view since I did not read any for so many years and really didn't get taught anything in school that I can remember.
Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. In the back of the book, she includes a note about the Trail of Tears, a glossary of Cherokee words used in the book and even a few discussion questions. This would be a great teaching tool for the classroom and is perfect for middle-grade students. It's a short book packed with information and a devastating yet insightful story about Indian Removal in the US. Too many people don't understand (or even know about) the Trail of Tears and this is an excellent primer for discussion about a part of our history that absolutely should be taught.
Someday I would like to read more about this topic. In recent years, I have been making a point of reading more books about the Native American experience and point of view since I did not read any for so many years and really didn't get taught anything in school that I can remember.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2024
This is such a hard and sad story to read but my goodness it’s an incredibly important part of history. Reading stories about native tribes is alway so difficult, you know what happened to them, but reading it, learning finer details of everything they went through always hits harder.
The story follows Mary a Cherokee girl whose family get removed by law from their own land, their own home forever, to go on a treacherous, dangerous and long journey. Forced to stay at prison camps with very little to live on, with family missing, sickness occurring constantly and death surrounding them.
This was such an emotional read, it was so incredibly and delicately written, I really loved the characters and my heart hurt for them at every turn their life took, due to the horrific circumstances they were put in. I was shocked and relived with the ending of the story, but they all endured through so much pain and suffering.
A incredibly well written native story aimed so that children can read it, it doesn’t skirt around the bad or scary parts, it’s honest and open. The facts provided at the back share a bit more detail into it. I’m glad books like this exist, that share what happened to the native tribes, the horrific historical events that they had to go through just to live.
The story follows Mary a Cherokee girl whose family get removed by law from their own land, their own home forever, to go on a treacherous, dangerous and long journey. Forced to stay at prison camps with very little to live on, with family missing, sickness occurring constantly and death surrounding them.
This was such an emotional read, it was so incredibly and delicately written, I really loved the characters and my heart hurt for them at every turn their life took, due to the horrific circumstances they were put in. I was shocked and relived with the ending of the story, but they all endured through so much pain and suffering.
A incredibly well written native story aimed so that children can read it, it doesn’t skirt around the bad or scary parts, it’s honest and open. The facts provided at the back share a bit more detail into it. I’m glad books like this exist, that share what happened to the native tribes, the horrific historical events that they had to go through just to live.
January 25, 2021
Mary and her family love their land. Some of their new white neighbors are kind, but many are greedy and unkind. Eventually, despite their Constitution, Mary and her family are forced to leave their home at gunpoint, unable to even bury a relative who recently died. They are moved to a camp until they can be moved farther west. Life is very hard and Mary wonders if they will even survive.
A heart-wrenching, and moving story that will hopefully get readers angry at the injustices the Cherokee and others faced in the past and motivated to make sure such things don't happen to others now. I like that this is an #ownvoices story, and the author incorporates a lot of great details to help readers get to know Cherokee history and culture. Highly recommended for historical fiction fans and those studying the Trail of Tears.
Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Deaths from old age, disease, exposure, and gun shots are included in the story. None are gorily detailed, but several are very moving.
A heart-wrenching, and moving story that will hopefully get readers angry at the injustices the Cherokee and others faced in the past and motivated to make sure such things don't happen to others now. I like that this is an #ownvoices story, and the author incorporates a lot of great details to help readers get to know Cherokee history and culture. Highly recommended for historical fiction fans and those studying the Trail of Tears.
Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Deaths from old age, disease, exposure, and gun shots are included in the story. None are gorily detailed, but several are very moving.
January 1, 2021
Part of a new "Girls Survive" series published by Capstone, "Mary and The Trail of Tears" is a very sad story based on a terrible period in history in the USA in the late 1930s. It is estimated that approximately 3,500-4,000 men, women, and children died during the "Cherokee Trail of Tears."
I would describe this historical fiction novel as a fast-paced pageturner that is well-written and exactly the right length for a young audience. The author is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and does a commendable job in sharing what this experience might have been like for a 12-year-old girl.
* Best for ages 9-13.
* I look forward to reading more titles from this series.
* Spoilers in private notes, but parents should be advised that death/murder/violence/grief are central themes.
I would describe this historical fiction novel as a fast-paced pageturner that is well-written and exactly the right length for a young audience. The author is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and does a commendable job in sharing what this experience might have been like for a 12-year-old girl.
* Best for ages 9-13.
* I look forward to reading more titles from this series.
* Spoilers in private notes, but parents should be advised that death/murder/violence/grief are central themes.
April 17, 2020
Written by a Cherokee Nation citizen, this #ownvoices middle grade historical fiction is full of thoughtful and accurate details, quietly showcasing Cherokee culture.
From the fingerwoven belts worn on the front cover illustration, to the characters’ matrilineal family structures, the sprinkling of the Cherokee language throughout the story, and much more, this book does a great job spotlighting the specifics of Cherokee experience of the Trail of Tears in the 1830s rather than being a generic “Native American” story full of cliches and stereotypes.
This would be a great resource for teaching American history to middle grade readers as well as an awesome gift for Cherokee children everywhere.
From the fingerwoven belts worn on the front cover illustration, to the characters’ matrilineal family structures, the sprinkling of the Cherokee language throughout the story, and much more, this book does a great job spotlighting the specifics of Cherokee experience of the Trail of Tears in the 1830s rather than being a generic “Native American” story full of cliches and stereotypes.
This would be a great resource for teaching American history to middle grade readers as well as an awesome gift for Cherokee children everywhere.
November 9, 2023
As someone who is a direct descendant of people who made it through the long walk, this book was both meaningful and gut wrenching.
Despite growing up in Oklahoma, on the Cherokee Nation Reservation as one of its citizens, I was never taught about the removal in this sort of detail while at school. It was all hand me down stories from our family. I am grateful for Andrea in sharing a history that is probably scary for the target demographic. I think it comes across in an age appropriate manner.
I hope many students and educators read this story and share it in order to bring some reality about the hardships the Cherokee and other removed tribes faced at this point in history.
Wado, Andrea for writing this!
Despite growing up in Oklahoma, on the Cherokee Nation Reservation as one of its citizens, I was never taught about the removal in this sort of detail while at school. It was all hand me down stories from our family. I am grateful for Andrea in sharing a history that is probably scary for the target demographic. I think it comes across in an age appropriate manner.
I hope many students and educators read this story and share it in order to bring some reality about the hardships the Cherokee and other removed tribes faced at this point in history.
Wado, Andrea for writing this!
October 16, 2023
This is an incredibly difficult subject and seemingly impossible to make it a story for children - but it's not a story that anyone can read easily. The author does an exceptional job at choosing a strong protagonist and doesn't shy away from the realities of the forced displacement of the Cherokee tribe. It's definitely a book that will lead to more questions for the child (and adult) reading it as this is not a subject taught to me when I was in school, I learned about the Trail of Tears as an adult. Therefore, if you're reading with children, I think some further exploration could be helpful in facilitating positive discourse on such a dark chapter in American history.
July 7, 2021
A bit simplistic for fourth grade but super readable as a mentor text for our study of historical fiction. Plus written by a Native American Woman who has dedicated her life to learning about her Cherokee culture. All the “Girls Survive” books are written by women of expertise in that field or culture. Great to juxtapose this book with Little House in the Prairie which right off the bat was racist and “othering” of the Indians and their “little brown babies”, however still
Is a primary resource of Westward Expansion. Lots of good talks came out of these two books looked at side by side.
Is a primary resource of Westward Expansion. Lots of good talks came out of these two books looked at side by side.
May 7, 2022
The story is fiction but the forced removal known as the Trail of Tears is true. The story is told through the view of Mary, a Cherokee girl who loves her family and community. Although this is written for children, it is not sugar-coated. What the character Mary and her family experienced were actual experiences of Cherokee who were forced to relocate to Oklahoma. There was sickness, mistreatment, and death.
The author's note also gives more information about the forced removal. This is a small but powerful book.
The author's note also gives more information about the forced removal. This is a small but powerful book.
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