Usually I quite enjoy these books. I've been collecting and reading/rereading the Dear America books for the past few years, and I have always come away with a positive rating. But this one I didn't enjoy.

The historical aspects felt off to me. I'm very ignorant of the Navajo removal and Navajo culture in general, but it just didn't feel right. Checking reviews of some other people who were more educated on the topic basically confirmed my feelings that this book wasn't quite accurate. I highly recommend checking out some other reviews because they'll be much more helpful and detailed than mine.

It didn't feel as bad as it should have. It focuses on The Long Walk, when soldiers rounded up Navajo people and marched them several hundred miles to an internment camp. Many people died. Many people were murdered. And it feels very glossed over here. Like I said, I'm reading a lot of these books and they cover some absolutely tragic events in a child appropriate manner. People were killed, but it focuses more on the "good" white man than all the tragedy. The tone just felt off.

Half the book is also Sarah Nita telling stories to various people, which lifts the mood. I understand the attempt, but I think that also went a long way toward trivializing the events. Everyone smiles when Sarah Nita finishes a story, regardless of the fact that a pregnant woman just got shot for going into labor and they're starving. I think this structure could have worked had it been written different, but it almost feels like it infantilizes the Navajo people.

This is the first of these books that I've read as an adult that I wouldn't recommend, to adults or children. It's just not worth it.