Customer Reviews

The Journal of Jesse Smoke : A Cherokee Boy, Trail of Tears, 1838 (My Name Is America)

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Sixteen-year-old Jesse Smoke's Cherokee ancestors have lived peacefully on the land for generations. Jesse's own family once owned a large, successful, plantation, until the family was driven off their land by white people, who then killed his father. Now, Jesse, his mother, and his two sisters live on a small, backwoods farm in Tennessee. But even there, they are not allowed to keep their land. All the Cherokees are ordered to leave their homes and move west to Indian Territory, part of present-day Oklahoma. Those that refuse, among them Jesse's family, are rounded up in the night, their homes burnt to the ground as they watch, and then taken to overcrowded stockades to await their forced journey west. Jesse tells the heartbreaking story of the tragic journey his people come to call the "Trail of Tears." I reccomend this book to all My Name is America fans.

Jesse and his fellow Cherokee people have lived on the land for generations. Their ancestors grew old and died on the same Georgian land. However life changes suddendly in 1838 as the Treaty of New Enchota forces him and his mother and sister off of their land. At first like many of his people his family refuses to go. However in the middle of the night one night they were forced harshfully to move out. Jesse knows life will never be the same again as he sees the harships, sickness, death, hunger, fatigue, and sorrow in his Cherokee people. The "Trail of Tears" was truly a sad time in our nation's history.

If you like historical fiction, then I think you should read The Journal of Jesse Smoke because it was very exciting. It was exciting when the soldiers came to take all the Cherokee and Creeke Indians. I thought that was interesting because then a white man came trying to steal the house when a soilder beat up. Then, they went to a lot of forts. Many died. The Cherokee and Creeke Indians called that journey the Trail of Tears.
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The Journal of Jesse Smoke
If you like historical fiction then I think you should read The Journal of Jesse Smoke because it was very exciting. It was exciting when the soldiers came to take all the Indians away. I thought that was interesting because then a white man tried to steal a house when a soldier beat him up. Then they went to the fort. Many died. They called it the Trail of Tears.
The Journal of Jesse Smoke is about how the Cherokee and the Creek Indians have to live in forts. They think it is very unpleasant. Then a lot of Indians die. Most of them are very weak or and ill.
The soldiers wanted the Indian's land so they came and kicked them out. Some of the Indians refused to go so then the soldiers killed them. I thought that was very mean and sad.

11-19-2002
Amozon.com

The book was a book of triumph and struggle. It tells the sad story of native americans and how they were frced of of there land because of the white man( power to the people . it is a great book and i highly recomend it..

Nice little book on the Cherokee but not enough detail and to little history. Was so looking forward to an Indian view of the Trail of Tears but to a greater extent

Really good information about the Cherokee tribe and the forced march to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Learned about the dastardly, illegitimate treaty signed by self-appointed Principal John Ross to sell out tribal land and relocate tribe by force. Jesse Smoke comes across as a cool kid that makes a lot of lemon aid with life's lemons and is able to balance his life in his Native culture and the new White-man's culture by utilizing his talents.

The book was very good because it combines action and adventure and sadness the book was so good i read it two times and i always liked it so i read other books by the auther but i liked it best of all.

I read The Journal of Jesse Smoke. The author of Jesse Smoke, the owner of the journal. The book is historical fiction. It is about about a boy named jesse Smoke. He is apart of a Cherokee tribe. Jesse Smoke is Cherokee and has 2 sisters and a mother. His father had died and he does the work around the house. He owns this journal and wrights in it, it mainly takes place in camp Cherokee when he is captured and brought there. Many die there, he makes friends with a soldier named Will who gives information in camp. They get to leave when they pay for a pass to leave Camp Cherokee. I liked this book alot. I recommend it to people who like history. It is also recommend for people who like Indians or Cherokees. It is also for ages 12-adult. This book is good for people who like to read peoples journals.

Through the eyes of a young man, we were able to see the tragedy that the Andrew Jackson administration orchestrated in behalf of the Cherokee nation as well as many other Southeastern Indian tribes. We were able to feel the hurt and know the injustice of a peaceful people uprooted and driven, in the dead of winter, to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma. We were able to feel the hopes and dreams of a boy and a people shattered by greed, politics and military might. This is a classic which should be in every school library in the country. Yes, I have that drop of blood in my veins that makes me a bona fide Cherokee. I am proud that the legend of a proud, industrious, creative people still remains in our hearts.