Sacagawea Book

Sacagawea
Written by: Judith St. George
Review by: Katie Lerond

"A strong arm swept her up as easily as if she were a fish being plucked from the stream. Captured!" If not for this, Sacagawea never would have been invited on the famous Lewis and Clark expedition, and without her help, it most likely would have failed. This incredible book captures every detail that went through her journey, without making it long, tedious or boring. In the very beginning, the Minaterees (Indian tribe) captured Sacagawea and the rest of her tribe, and Judith St. George caught every intense moment. St. George's Sacagawea gave me a sense of life in North American wilderness.
One of the best life lessons is illustrated thoroughly in this book, "What comes around, goes around." Sacagawea was a great help to all on the expedition. She treated the sick, and taught them things of the wilderness, and many would have been killed or lost without her. In turn, when she was deadly ill, she would have most definitely have died if Clark hadn't treated her and made her healthy. Sacagawea's snobby husband, a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau was full of himself, and thought he was better than everyone. Charbonneau was also a coward, and just outwardly not helpful when it came to their journey. Because of this, he was never taken on journeys that required bravery, asked to do anything that needed any small amount of work, so he generally didn't get to do anything exciting.
I think Judith St. George did an amazing job of recounting the life of Sacagawea and putting together the stories into a larger and more magnificent picture. She showed that during that time men were allowed to have several wives, which would not be tolerated today. Sacagawea was one of two of Charbonneau's wives, and tolerated him since they married, she at 16, he at 46 years old! Most don't get married until their 20's now, but back then it was normal to have such age differences in marriage. Sacagawea though it was normal for things like these, but if I were put in her shoes, I would be outraged at the way he acted and would call a divorce (if they eveen had those). She went through a lot, but eventually made her goal, to have "wings".
I think everyone should read this if you enjoy historical fiction, and especially if you like stories about Sacagawea. This book had incredible moments, made your heart skip in parts of terror, and brought together the true story of Sacagawea. I truly enjoyed this book, and I hope you will like it just as much as I did!