Customer Reviews

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 (Dear America)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was not entirely that good. The writer (who is Anglo)wrote this book with the historical facts all wrong. The main character Sara Nita has an English name and the Navajo's didn't get English name until they were forced to the American schools. It is good to have someone write about the Navajo's but they should get their facts correct. The Americans were too nice in this book. I am Navajo and from what my Elders tell me they were cruel to my people.

This book was about a thirteen-year-old Navajo Indian girl on the Long Walk in 1863-1864. It showed how terrible the Native Americans were treated back then, even more than My Heart is on the Ground, another wonderful Dear America book. I highly reccomend reading this.

First of all I would like to say that I am not Navajo, do not know Navajo culture and therefore cannot talk about this book's cultural content. But I do study US history and can say that it is definitely lacking in historical accuracy. As a reader I can say that it is confusing.

The book is about Sarah Nita (I have to wonder how a girl who speaks only Navajo got an English name) is living with her family, peacefully, when one day her family is carried off by United States soldiers. Sarah Nita and her sister travel for many days to reach some of their father's relatives in a distant area. But after the girls reach the relatives, they too are taken by the American troops. The people are forced to walk for days on little food and water. They reach a camp and are then forced to walk some more.

Okay now you know what the story is about. Let me tell you why I gave this book only one star.

First of all it is a well known fact that if a pregnant woman was going into labor, on this death walk, would be shot because her giving birth would slow everyone down. In the book this only happens once or twice. In actuality it happened on a daily basis.

One statement in the book says that the soldiers were sometimes cruel to the women. Which is true, but that statement makes no sense to a ten-year-old child reading it. Take it from me; I read this at a fairly young age (about ten or eleven) and I did not understand that statement until about a year ago (I am a teenager now).

One more thing. This book glorifies the white soldiers! There are several instances in the book that refer to nice soldiers. Which of course might have happened but if it did there is no recorded evidence of it. As a Native American I personally find that insulting.

I would not reccomend this book to anyone.

P.S. In writng this reveiw I mean no disrespect towards the people, and their descendants, who had to suffer through such a horrible atrocity. I am only trying to state my opinion.

In the beginning of the book shows the part where she is with her family when the Amercian soldiers take her family when she is with her younger sister, Kaibah, herding sheep. Shara Nita is a very good story teller and Kaibah likes to listen to her stories.

When she heard someone scream she hopes it is not her mother, she tries to go to her family but her dog, Silvercoat, does not let them pass because he does not want them to get captured by the white man.

When they return to their home their family is not there. They decided to go to Caynon de Chelly to find their family from their father's side of the family. Sarah Nita and Kaibah had found the caynon on their own just to be with her family again.

They had found some people who were related to them and they stay with them until this evil time has pass. They were caught in the caynon walls when High Jumper had poked his head out and one of the white man had saw them.

They were taken to another place where they had to eat the white mans food and they did not like it at all because it was not good for their stomaches.

Some of the man and boys had run away because they didn't not like the way they were treated. When went on marching there was some old elders and pregnant woman who got shot because they could not walk any more.

When they reach Fort Sumner, Sarah Nita and Kaibah were looking for their parents. They had stayed with the people they found as their relatives to get to Fort Sumner. When they found their family members, her mother was a slave for the white man, and her father was very sick. This is a very emotional and very sad book to us, Navajos.

I'm am tell you this because this is a cultural thing to the Native Amercians. I am a Native Amercian and this is my history that is part of our lives and know one that is a Navajo will ever forget this time of the white man, which is also known as "The Long Walk".

This book was real page turner I loved it I am a huge fan of the Dear america series and this was one of the best booksI have read in the series. It really shows the true courage of Sara Nita and her sister and how true her love was for her family. and how she is not a quiter. Ann warren turner did a great job on this book the charcters are so real.atahere is never a dull moment in this book there is always one suspencfull event after another This is a must read book. and I also recemend The Winter Of Red Snow it is a great book to.

I like the story because it talks about our own people, the "NAVAJO'S". I like it also because I know more about what our people went through in the past. The story talks about helping each other to stay up with the troops that led them to Fort Sumner. What our people suffered from, and what they did to survive and what they went through to get our land back. So I encourage other to read this book and to actually know what happened to our people. What our people did to get our land back, that we are living on TODAY!

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow was a pretty good book. I really liked it toward the middle and end. I especially liked getting a Navajo's side of the story, not the American soldiers that did it's because they [the soldiers ] thought it was okay. The Navajos went through a lot and you never hear their side of the story.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I had heard it was really great and it sounded like it wa really well told, if a little complex. But still, when I got it, I found the first part awful. It was just boring. I guess it just wasn't like the other books I'd read in the series. It was more indian than american. It got better once there was some excitment, after Sarah Nita's family was taken by the soldiers, but It still had an element of boredem in it. I really wouldn't reccomend buying it, but if u can get it off a friend to borrow, i guess it's worth reading.

(...) I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!because I learned to have Faith and very
High SelfEsteem just like Sarah Nita. She was good and kind
to everyone around her she was not a quiter and going to be
put down and she stuck to ethnec group and religion I think
if all the Navajo people would have stopped doubting about
their future and pull together and be like Sarah Nita they
would have been freed alot early. and I'm reading The Winter OF
Red Snow and I would rate 5-star. (...)

I really liked this new book in the Dear America series. It was a new twist to the series, but that was good. I have had the pleasure of meeting the author of this book last spring, so I found out that it was coming out at that point in time. I was really excited and it lived up to my expectations. I can recommend this to anyone!