Westward Expansion: an Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: History)

Description

The era of Westward Expansion was a turning point in U.S. history. When President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from the French in 1803, it nearly doubled the size of the nation. The president sent Lewis and Clark to learn more about this land. Many people thought it was the nation's destiny to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean, a belief known as Manifest Destiny. People moved west to farm, to start businesses, or to strike it rich. But the American Indians who were native to these lands had a different perspective. If you were around at the time of Westward Expansion would you have been: A traveler on the Oregon Trail? A laborer? A Sioux warrior? You Choose offers multiple perspectives in history, supporting Common Core reading standards and providing readers a front row seat to the past.

Allison Lassieur has never had pop-star dreams, but she once sang in a choir that went on a multi-state tour on the way to Walt Disney World. Today she's an award-winning author of more than 150 history and non-fiction books about everything from Ancient Rome to the International Space Station. Her books have received several Kirkus starred reviews and Booklist recommendations, and her historical novel Journey to a Promised Land was awarded the 2020 Kansas Library Association Notable Book Award, and Library of Congress Great Reads Book selection. Allison lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, a scruffy, loveable mutt named Jingle Jack, and more books than she can count.

The author describes the pioneers and native Americans who lived and traveled Westward to open the borders of the United States to begin a new age of expansion in the 1800s. Historical events, hopes, and dreams of individuals, arduous travel, and amazing discoveries move the stories along. As readers proceed on their preferred, selected reading paths, directions on the bottom of the pages offer readers a choice as to which way the action of the story can develop. As an example, a reader can seek fortune as a new settler, try to find a job in this new area, or assume the role of a native Indian warrior who wants to preserve the land he knows, from the strangers "invading" it. For each group, death is a reality, never far from their thoughts. All individuals are besieged with feelings of anxiety and fear about the decisions they make. The narration summarizes decisions made and the barriers which each group must confront in order to stake out territory and a life for themselves and/or their families. A classroom teacher can divide the class into settlers, soldiers, and Lakota Indians and create activities to give students opportunities to role play and sense associations with these different groups caught up in the history of our country. In addition, writing and research assignments can uncover more information about this period and the additional choices which these individuals actually faced. Most historical facts are presented by Lassieur without subjective comment, with short sentences and brief descriptions to help readers imagine the setting. The text covers major events and those who lived through them, which helped change the face of the West. It is an excellent starting point from which parents and teachers can expand a young reader's investigation of how people coped with mammoth changes. This reviewer wishes that more detail might have been included in Chapter One about the variety of motivations the settlers had about leaving their homes and families to rush into an untamed area full of danger and unknown disasters. Sensitive young readers might be upset by the stark and tragic endings which their selected paths lead them to as they read the book. Perhaps more illustrations depicting the vastness and emptiness of the landscape might help to emphasize the huge changes individuals experienced. A time line from 1803 through 1890 is provided, along with a page labeled "Other Paths to Explore," a brief list of additional readings, an easy FactHound Internet website to explore and a Glossary. The book is part of the series "You Choose" and offers three story paths, forty-seven choices, amid nineteen endings. The author should be commended for the creativity of her approach which helps make this part of history come alive.-- "Children's Literature Comprehensive Database"