Told through the voice of the enigmatic Shoshoni woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark through the uncharted American West, this tale depicts the ordeals and triumphs of the famed expedition while drawing a lingering portrait of a woman of resilience and courage. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Glancy (Pushing the Bear) has fashioned an imaginative, second-person "diary" by the legendary Shoshone guide who aided Lewis and Clark on their expedition from Missouri to California. Sacajawea is a pregnant teenager in the late fall of 1804, having been abducted from her Shoshone tribe by the rival Hidatsas and then bought by Frenchman Toussaint Charbonneau. Charbonneau, characterized here as a brutish opportunist, serves as Lewis and Clark's interpreter, and from among his many wives he chooses Sacajawea to accompany them because she can help the explorers barter for horses from the Shoshone. In short paragraphs of staccato prose-poetry, Sacajawea offers her perspective on the arduous government-sponsored journey by foot, horseback and canoe in search of a water route to the Pacific. Her account is filled with her wide-eyed wonder at the strange ways of the white man-a party of 30 dragging their extravagant luggage over the mountains, writhing to the exotic tune of a fiddle and endlessly writing in diaries ("You watch the men write in their journals. What do they say with the gnarl of their letters? How can they say what the land is like with their marks?"). Throughout the book, excerpts from the actual diaries of Lewis and Clark serve as a counterpoint to Sacajawea's more intimate observations and mystical interpretations of their adventures. Though Glancy writes gracefully, Sacajawea's responses to the white men are predictable, and she never quite becomes a memorable character. Still, Glancy's sharply observed details and lyrical stylings make for a lively, thought-provoking read.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Readers rarely encounter the second person in fiction, but it is Glancy's choice for the reminiscences of Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their westward expedition. Her imagined words are juxtaposed against the actual words from the explorers' journals. Award winner Glancy (The Mask Maker) wishes to debunk the myth that her subject was a guide for Lewis and Clark; in her version of history, Sacajawea's role was to translate an exchange for horses at a critical point of the journey. But this makes Sacajawea no less heroic: shortly before the trip, she gave birth after a difficult labor and carried her son on her back throughout the arduous adventure. The interest in this retelling lies in the contrast between the two parties' journals: for instance, while Lewis and Clark present accounts of bringing white man's medicine to the natives, Sacajawea adds her thoughts on their constant use of bloodletting when a traditional herb could have been used. This intriguing retelling is recommended for historical fiction collections.-Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll., OHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Glancy, a prizewinning novelist and poet, has lyrically breathed new life into a seemingly exhausted legend. Sacajawea, the Shoshone native who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their famed expedition, narrates this fictional version of the magnificent, yet harrowing, journey. As told through the heart of a woman and through the spirit of a Native American, the Lewis and Clark expedition takes on entirely new contours. Though Lewis and Clark see with their eyes and record their observations diligently--excerpts from their personal diaries are inserted on every page--Sacajawea is blessed with an inner vision that puts an earthy and vibrant spin on each individual experience and encounter. Though Sacajawea's story has been recounted time and again, Glancy's intimate portrait of this remarkable woman's physical and spiritual odyssey operates on a more mystical plane and is well worth investigating. MargaretFlanagan. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.