addie slaughter: the girl who met geronimo review

imagine my surprise when i took tessa to the library the other day, and she told me, quite out of the blue, that she preferred stories about real people.  we headed over to the non-fiction section and found some books on rosa parks, sacajawea and barack obama.

her newly-discovered interest made me realize that, for our own library, i have sadly neglected including biographical books, despite my own interest in biographies when i was in elementary school.  i remember when i started reading a series in my school's library and i was amazed that i could read a book about a real person that read just like any of my favorite fictional stories.

with that in mind, i was happy to receive a copy of addie slaughter: the girl who met geronimo ($15.95).  i have recently read a couple books about the "wild west" that described the lawlessness that was so prevalent in those times and the attempts to bring justice to the western territories.  up until this time, i have been fairly ignorant of what life was like during that time period in that part of the country.  i want the girls to be able to learn about that time period as well. 

obviously this is a less romanticized look at pioneering than the little house series of books.  addie slaughter describes her experiences with rattlesnakes, smallpox, and blizzards as well as attacks by native americans and run-ins with outlaws.  addie travels with her mother (until she dies en route) and her father, the famous texas ranger, john horton slaughter.  in the course of her travels, she also has the opportunity to meet the famous warrior, geronimo.

the descriptions in this book are a little too intense still for tessa (she's very tender-hearted and doesn't like to hear about mothers dying).  this book is very age-appropriate for zoe, however, and i think it is a great supplement to the study of the united states that she just completed this year.  i want her to enjoy the stories of laura ingalls wilder as much as i did, but i also hope for her to hear more stories about the dangers, excitement and hard times that were a part of life as pioneers in the time before the west was completely settled.

the book does a good job of historical accuracy; author Susan Krueger, ed.d. uses stories told to adeline greene parks by her mother, addie slaughter.  i think the book would be a great addition to a home school curriculum, as well as a good supplement for kids in public or private schools.

this is a mamabuzz review.  i received a free copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  regardless, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are purely my own.