Sequoyah

Grade 1-3 A selective and sentimentalized biography, this consists of about 30 paragraphs of large print text accompanied by attractive if romanticized watercolor illustrations. Opening with Sequoya's return home to Tennessee after his participation in the War of 1812, the narrative ends with the creation of a Cherokee newspaper. Left unmentioned are subjects such as Sequoya's parents, early life, work as a craftsman of metals, marriages, as well as larger issues such as the reasons for Cherokee participation in the War of 1812 and the issue of Indian resettlement. To explain Sequoya's move into Arkansas, for example, the writers bloodlessly state: ``White settlers in Tennessee wanted the Cherokee land, and many of the Cherokee took the offer of new land farther west.'' Two obvious unanswered questions might be: what Sequoya is wearing on his head, and why is his name often spelled differently from book to book. Alice Marriott's Sequoyah: Leader of the Cherokees (Random, 1956; o.p.) provides a much more complete biography. Although full of fictionalized dialogue, Dorothea Snow's Sequoyah: Young Cherokee Guide (Bobbs Merril, 1960; o.p.) places the man in his historical context. Ruby L. Radford's Sequoya (Putnam, 1969; o.p.) contains essentially the same, if not more, material, and on the beginning biography level of reading. Although Sequoya is a worthy subject for an up-to-date study, this new biography contributes fewer details than an encyclopedia article, and leaves more important questions unanswered than answered. Yvonne A. Frey, Peoria Public Library, Ill.
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