Zimmerman, Dwight Jon. Saga of the Sioux

Zimmerman, Dwight Jon.  Saga of the Sioux .  Henry Holt/MacMillan Children's Publishing Group,  2011.  208p  $18.99     978-0-8050-9364-3     ms/hs      E-BN       

     This is a retelling of Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee for young readers, and focusing mainly on the Sioux.      It is a detailed history of relations between the US government and the Sioux in the mid-west between the end of the Civil War and the early 1900s.  The book’s layout is very attractive, with plenty of beautiful sepia-toned photos and a user-friendly font.  The information will blow students away, as they learn of treaty after treaty, promise after promise, that the US government entered into and then violated.  It is angering, and heartbreaking, to read of the ruthless disregard that the white man and his world had for these indigenous peoples.  The story is told cogently but without extra drama ... it is presented very objectively and simply, without a lot of excess verbiage.  The author is careful to credit Dee Brown’s original book, and he lists a number of helpful resources, as well as a glossary, a good index, and notes. 

Subject: American Indians    

Carol Kennedy