Trail of Tears (Essential Events)

This title examines an important historic event, the Trail of Tears. Readers will learn the background of European settlement in Native American lands, relations between the groups, and how this led to the Trail of Tears. Also covered are the key players, the tragic loss of thousands of Cherokee on the trail, and the event's effects on the future of Native Americans and the United States. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index. Essential Events is a series in Essential Library, an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.

Three worthwhile new additions to the Essential Events series offer insights into historical eras and associated questions. Each book begins with the event itself and then retraces its development and consequences, with additional background information provided in sidebars and images. The books in the series all include extensive and informative back matter, such as a comprehensive time line and endnotes citing the primary-source quotations that appear in the text. In Trail of Tears, Vander Hook not only describes in harsh detail the forced removal of the Cherokee from their homeland but also continues the story of the tribe to the present day—a useful addition to the typically abbreviated discussions of this event in history textbooks. This series continues to do an excellent job of putting historical events into a more expansive context. Grades 6-8. --Miriam Aronin