For the young historian who loves to imagine themselves in the past, this interactive book lets you explore early North American expeditions from multiple perspectives.
A parent might reach for this book when their child is learning about the 'Age of Exploration' and is ready for a more nuanced view than traditional textbooks offer. This interactive history book allows readers to experience three key expeditions (Columbus, Coronado, La Salle) from multiple viewpoints. By choosing to follow a European explorer or an Indigenous person, children directly engage with concepts of justice, empathy, and cultural conflict. For ages 9 to 13, it is a powerful tool to foster critical thinking and help a child understand that every historical event has more than one side.
Includes themes of disease, death, and cultural loss based on historical events.
Mild PerilMild
Characters face dangers like starvation, harsh weather, and navigating unknown territory.
Sensitive Topics
The book addresses historical violence, disease, and the subjugation of Indigenous peoples. The approach is direct and factual, framed within a secular historical context. Resolutions are realistic rather than hopeful, reflecting the actual negative impacts of colonization. The content is presented in an age-appropriate, non-graphic manner but does not shy away from the harsh realities of the events.
Ideal Reader
A 9 to 12-year-old who is fascinated by history but finds traditional textbooks dry. This child enjoys video games with branching narratives and is ready to grapple with the idea that history has multiple, often conflicting, viewpoints. They are beginning to ask questions about fairness and why historical events are portrayed in certain ways.
Parent Prep
Parents should be prepared to discuss the harsh realities of colonization. Previewing the endings, especially from the Indigenous perspectives, is recommended as these sections depict death from disease, violence, and the loss of culture. This book requires context and is an excellent tool for a conversation about how history is written and remembered. The parent's child has just started a unit on early explorers in school and is repeating a simplified, heroic narrative about Columbus. The parent wants to introduce a more complex and accurate perspective that includes Indigenous voices and consequences.
Age Experience
A 9-year-old will likely be drawn to the adventure and survival aspects, focusing on the choices and immediate consequences. A 12 or 13-year-old is more equipped to grasp the larger themes of injustice, cultural conflict, and the long-term consequences of these expeditions. They can analyze the differences between the perspectives more critically.
What Makes It Special
Its key differentiator is the interactive 'You Choose' format applied to non-fiction history. While many books present Indigenous perspectives, this one forces the reader to actively embody that perspective through choices, making the historical stakes feel personal and immediate. It directly contrasts the colonizer and colonized experiences within the same event.
Read plot summary
This book is a 'You Choose' style interactive history, covering three major European expeditions to North America: Columbus (1492), Coronado (1540), and La Salle (1682). In each section, the reader chooses a perspective: a European participant (sailor, adventurer) or an Indigenous person (Taino, Zuni, and others). The reader's choices lead to different historical outcomes and details about daily life, conflict, and cultural exchange, with many paths resulting in realistic, often grim, endings.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.
Discussion Prompts
1
After reading from the perspective of a Taino Indian, how did your view of Columbus's arrival change compared to what you may have learned in school?
2
In the Coronado section, you could choose to be a Spanish adventurer or a Zuni Indian. What were the main goals of each character? How did their goals conflict?
3
Many choices in the book lead to difficult outcomes like sickness or capture. Why do you think the author included these 'unhappy endings' in a history book?
4
Sieur de La Salle claimed the entire Mississippi River basin for France. Based on the perspectives in the book, how might the Indigenous people living there have felt about this claim?
