Sacajawea of the Shoshone

Gr 3–4—Sporadic fictionalization and speculation make this book an uneven resource. Sacajawea, an iconic figure in United States history, became a legend for guiding explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark through the newly acquired Louisiana Territory from 1805 to 1806. Yim's account of Sacajawea's story vacillates between straightforward facts and unsupported speculation. The first page tells a sensationalized version of Sacajawea's childhood kidnapping, during which "clouds of dust swirled across the plains," Sacajawea's "heart thudded against her chest," and "a pair of muscular arms scooped her up." Although the rest of the book stays closer to verifiable facts, nothing indicates that Yim has taken some artistic liberties for this exciting introduction. The author also offers a poor model for young researchers when she postulates that Sacajawea "certainly must have preferred" a tepee to an earthen hut, and "must have been very glad" to share a home with her husband's first wife, but does not offer any supporting evidence of the young woman's feelings. Some visuals, including photos of Lewis and Clark's diaries, are appropriate inclusions; others, such as a roaring grizzly bear and a WikiCommons photo of unidentified plains, merely fill space. Poor design devalues the useful pictures of primary sources by shrinking them to the point of indecipherability and placing several of them in the middle of the gutter. Joyce Milton's Sacajawea: Her True Story (Grosset & Dunlap, 2001) is a more responsible biography for young readers.—Allison Bruce, Bank Street Library, New York City