School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-5-These factual and ultimately sad chronicles of four men reveal the life stories of valiant, ingenious chiefs of Native American tribes in the final half of the 19th century. All four biographies follow the same easy format. A brief, single-page introduction precedes five chapters that introduce the life of the man, his people, and his victories and tragic losses. With the exception of Native American names and language, the reading is easy and significantly enhanced by period photographs, maps, paintings, and full-color cartoon illustrations. Highlighted insets provide additional information. All four of the books tell an unremitting story of perfidy, betrayal, broken promises and treaties, and genocide. What comes across in each presentation is the great courage of these chiefs. Although men such as Geronimo and Sitting Bull (who was treacherously murdered while under U.S. government protection) did kill in battle, they did so to defend what they had been taught from birth was their homeland. The books serve as excellent research models for young scholars creating their own biography reports. The authors demonstrate how to unveil a life in chronological fashion and how to accentuate the most dramatic aspects of a person's history.-Jerry D. Flack, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.