Synopsis: It’s 1973, and in Denver, Colorado, Patsy Antoine doesn’t usually give much thought to her relatives living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. After all, her classmates don’t even know she’s part Lakota. Then she learns the tiny town of Wounded Knee has been occupied. Now Patsy’s relatives are stuck amid the conflict between American Indian Movement activists and Oglala Lakota tribe members on the one side, and federal marshals and FBI agents on the other. When Patsy visits her relatives on Pine Ridge, she learns more about her heritage and the clashing perspectives on the Wounded Knee occupation. As she connects with her roots, Patsy must grapple with the complexities of the conflict and of being biracial. It’s the storytellers that preserve a nation’s history. But what happens when some stories are silenced? The I Am America series features fictional stories based on important historical events about people whose voices have been excluded, lost, or forgotten over time.
Release Date: 1st January 2023
Genres: Historical, Native American History, Middle Grade, Family, Friendship
Pages: 160
Thank you so much to Jolly Fish Press and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.
Review: Patsy learns that the treaty between the Lakota people at Wounded Knee and those in charge of abiding by the treaty has been turned into a battle, an occupation. With stories on the Tv, newspapers, gossip at school start her thinking, wanting to know more and understand what her Lakota people were going through. When her dad has to go back to help his sister and mom she goes with him to get the answers she seeks.
Wow eye opening story, it is an incredibly well written story. Seeing the mistreatment of the native people always makes me so sad, the violence against them, yet they get the blame it’s so sad. It’s an important thing to learn about though, and I loved the way the story was handled and told within this book. I loved how we not only learn of what was happening in the 70’s but we learn what was happening previously, to get to that point.
I really loved Patsy she was a very insightful young girl, she was inquisitive and wanted to make things right, she wanted to understand the whole story before making a decision, which is exactly as her teacher had been telling them they should be doing. She was so incredibly brave and took a big risk, she learnt and experienced so much.
I was gripped into this story from the start and didn’t want to stop reading at all, it was incredible, it was sad, moving, thought proving and great to finally get a book tell the whole story, of this occupation. Unfortunately most native stories cut out the truth they tip toe around it, but this one shared it all. You also get an incredible look into the history in the back sharing more details about it and what became of it after.
I love this series, the stories are incredible, sharing of history not often spoken about. I loved getting to learn more, to understand a part of history I wouldn’t know otherwise. If you have a someone in your life that likes learning history, you want to get your children into history or you teach history this series of books are a must read.
apapergirlapapertown 