Trail of tears cover

Trail of tears

by Frances Patton Statham

The heartrending story of the Cherokee Nation and one woman who fought to save it from destruction... The child of two worlds, she would inspire and sustain her people on a forced journey into exile... Though educated in a white man's world, Laurel MacDonald, daughter of a powerful Cherokee chief, found fulfillment teaching at the mission school in New Echota, the capital of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia. But her happiness was short lived. The beautiful wilderness nation was now a battleground. The Georgia Militia's government-sponsored campaign to remove the Cherokee people from their land pitted friend against friend, brother against brother, white man against Indian. Imprisoned while awaiting their forced migration out west, families were separated. Disease and despair took their toll. Bravely, Laurel and her people faced the devastating hardship that lay ahead on "the trail that cried." Her heart torn between two men, Edward Faraday, and the other, a young Cherokee chieftain, Night Hawk, Laurel left behind more than memories.The history of the Cherokee Nation, its capital, and her teaching had been woven into the very fabric of her life. But as official interpreter of the Cherokee detachment, she would fulfill her heritage as a Cherokee woman by helping to forge a new nation...

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?