Shelley Pearsall
Children's Book Author
USA and Scotland
CROOKED RIVER
Available in paperback, ebook and audio
it is the time when the leaves
are small on the trees.
too small
for hiding.
The year is 1812. A white trapper is murdered and a young Chippewa man stands accused. Events unfold in the alternating poetic and prose voices of the accused man and a thirteen-year-old settler girl trying to save his life.
Crooked River offers a powerful look at prejudice, justice, and the clash of two cultures on the frontier. Based on a true story. Includes a Reader’s Theater script at the end.
Curriculum Connections
Early Settlement, First Nations people, Poetry.
Recommended for Grades 5 to 8
Crooked River
ISBN:0-440-42101-6
256 pages
Publisher: Knopf
Setting: Ohio in 1812
School Library Journal
"A must-read for fans of historical fiction...would aptly serve as a discussion-rich tool for American studies."
Starred review
Kirkus Reviews
"This vivid look into the reality of crude frontier life and justice is outstanding historical fiction."
Starred review
The Sanford Herald
"This is a nail-biting historical fiction account."
Honors
Junior Library Guild selection
Great Lakes Book Award Finalist
New York Public Library Top 100
Notable Social Studies Trade Book
Starred reviews in Booklist and Kirkus Reviews.
State Reading Award Lists: Oklahoma, Maryland,
Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire
Cuyahoga (Crooked) River, Ohio
Quick Classroom Idea
Crooked River is written from two alternating points of view -- the voice of Chippewa John Amik and settler Rebecca Carver. Have students reread Chapter 10 (pages 58-61) and write a poem in the voice of John Amik, giving his reaction to the settlers’ treatment of him in Chapter 10.
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