Thirteen distinguished American Indians, from Tisquantum and Sacajawea to Wilma Mankiller and Sherman Alexie, are profiled here. In three or four brief paragraphs, Rappaport (No More!, p. 49, etc.) imagines a vivid scene for the reader (“Osceola fell backward. His rifle fell to the ground. He clutched his shoulder. It felt like burning”) and introduces the person and their achievements in a few sentences. Her prose is straightforward and precise—though it occasionally becomes halting, as she avoids clauses and compound sentences. The text, on one-third of each spread, is accompanied by a bright, attractive watercolor illustration that helps set the scene. Birth and death dates, Indian and English names, and tribe are given at the head of each spread. Useful endmatter includes a pronunciation guide, separate lists of research sources and suggested books, and Web sites for young readers (with works by Native authors marked), as well as notes from the author and illustrators on their research process. Rappaport gives examples of the type of works she looked at in order to imagine or recreate her scenes. Her coverage of each person is so brief that this won’t be useful for reports, but it might be used as a browser by students, or for teachers to introduce a unit. (Nonfiction. 6-10)
