The Trail of Tears (We the People (Compass Point Books Hardcover))

From School Library Journal Gr 3-5-Well laid out and attractively formatted with a large, clear typeface and ample period reproductions and photographs, this introductory work gives a concise, blow-by-blow account of the events leading up to the Cherokee Removal. Beginning with an overview of early Cherokee contact with whites, the author intensifies the focus through a series of broken treaties beginning with the inception of the United States as a nation and continuing unabated through the Removal of 1838. The brief text makes the full impact of the injustice amply clear without losing objectivity. Although the glossary and "Did You Know?" sections are too brief to be useful, the appended chronology, list of important people, source list (books, Web sites, places to visit), and index are all added pluses. Less detailed than David K. Fremon's The Trail of Tears (New Discovery, 1994; o.p.) or R. Conrad Stein's book of the same title (Children's, 1993), this introduction is well suited to the informational needs of younger students.