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A review by panda_incognito
Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story by Andrea L. Rogers
4.0
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 [b:Trouble at Fort La Pointe|1566834|Trouble at Fort La Pointe|Kathleen Ernst|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1185299283l/1566834._SX50_.jpg|669471], 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 [b:Trouble at Fort La Pointe|1566834|Trouble at Fort La Pointe|Kathleen Ernst|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1185299283l/1566834._SX50_.jpg|669471], 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.