My Heart is on the Ground: the Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 - Hardcover

Grade 4-7-As a potential translator and bridge between two cultures, Nannie Little Rose is assigned by her teacher at the Carlisle Indian School to keep a diary in order to practice and improve her English skills. Beginning in broken English, Nannie tells of her incredibly difficult first year at the school, including entries detailing her previous life as her ability to communicate in English grows. From December, 1879, to October, 1880, readers follow a remarkably resilient girl, uprooted from her home and culture, trying to find a place for herself in a rapidly changing world. Loyal, caring, and creative, she is able to see a spirit helper in a kitchen mouse and willing to defy regulations in mourning the death of her dearest friend. Rinaldi depicts widely divergent cultures with clarity and compassion. Captain Pratt, founder of a school that forcibly strips children of their native culture, also provides vocational training and field trips, and responds to his students as true individuals. The body of the text is followed by an epilogue telling of Nannie's later life, an extensive historical note, and black-and-white photos. The period, the setting, and Nannie herself all come to life. An excellent addition to a popular series.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Beginning with slow, laboring words that lead first to ghastly realization, and then to mature understanding, Rinaldi (Cast Two Shadows, 1998, etc.) explores some of the tragic fates of Native American children during the late 1800s. This entry in the Dear America series explains how thousands of such children were sent away from their families and people to schools intended to purge them of traditional ways. As a student in Pennsylvania's Carlisle Indian School, Nannie, 12, struggles to cope with the mysterious ``white'' people. She protects her vulnerable best friend, Pretty Eagle, who often goes into spiritual trances. When the whites mistake Pretty Eagle's trance state for death, and bury her alive, Nannie knows she could have prevented the tragedy, and finds this knowledge all but unbearable. This is a strong addition to Rinaldi's ongoing historical explorations; it builds slowly to a terrifying climax that will linger long in readers' emotions, and offers genuine insight into the courage, weaknesses, and essential humanity of Native American children who made the painful transition from old ways to new ones. (b&w photos, maps) (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.