Sitting Bull

Starred review from September 21, 2015
First-person narration, while invented, makes Nelson’s (Digging A Hole to Heaven: Coal Miner Boys) illustrated biography of Native American warrior Sitting Bull both powerful and poignant: “The white men came to our land with two faces. They said one thing but did another. The trespassers spoke of peace and sharing while taking our hunting grounds.” Calm, measured storytelling details Sioux life and customs, as well as horrific battles with the U.S. Army. Archival b&w photos punctuate Nelson’s dynamic ink-and-colored-pencil illustrations, featuring stylized Native American warriors on horseback. His fluid artwork appears atop ledger paper, juxtaposing chaotic, all-over-the-page battle scenes with lined backdrops representing the white man’s more rigid, record-keeping ways. Harkening to an era when imprisoned tribespeople were given discarded ledger paper on which to draw, Nelson (a member of the Sioux tribe) succeeds in showing the disconnectedness of the two cultures. The tale ends with Sitting Bull’s tragically ironic death at the hands of fellow Native Americans. An extensive time line and author notes provide substantial background to reinforce the more creative tack Nelson uses to share Sitting Bull’s story. Ages 8–12.

August 15, 2015
A reverent tribute to the great Hunkpapa chief and holy man, cast as a memoir with a rich array of new and contemporary illustrations. Nelson also pays tribute (as he has elsewhere) to ledger-book art, with scenes done in that simple style. Here they depict, along with mystical symbols and traditional hunts and battles, a steamboat, a busy city street, the slaughter of women and children at Killdeer Mountain, Custer's death (depicted as a suicide) at Little Big Horn, and Sitting Bull's murder by a Lakota police officer. Sitting Bull himself, aptly named for a buffalo that would never back down, retraces in dignified language his early years, long struggles with the "wasichus" over invasions and broken promises, and his end. His is a strong voice, whether scorning subservient "Hang-Around-the-Forts" or commending his great contemporaries-of Crazy Horse: "He fought like a thunderstorm. I liked that man." He closes with a stirring exhortation to "honor those traditions that still serve our people," to "Brave up!" and to "go forth with a good heart." The first-person narration makes this problematic as nonfiction, but the backmatter provides a wealth of information. Along with period photos distributed throughout and a detailed timeline of Lakota history up to Wounded Knee, Nelson's lengthy closing notes on Lakota practices and spiritual beliefs will leave readers with a rich picture of this noble figure's personal and cultural context. Solidly historical and far more heartfelt than those on the overcrowded shelf of assignment-fodder profiles. (endnotes, bibliography, index) (Historical fiction. 10-13)

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Starred review from September 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Sitting Bull witnessed great changes in the lives of Native Americans during his lifetime (1831-90). Nelson, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the Dakotas, presents Sitting Bull's life as an entry point into that period of history. A detailed time line and author's note reflect extensive research and a depth of understanding about the topic. The book is engagingly told in the first person, with Sitting Bull describing his childhood training to be a warrior and a hunter. White people had been in the area for many years, but increased westward expansion and the decision to build forts brought the tensions among the various Native groups and white settlers and soldiers to a higher level. The book does not attempt to present all sides of the issue but instead concentrates on what happened to the Hunkpapa people and other Sioux groups and the pivotal battles of Killdeer Mountain, Rosebud Creek, and Little Bighorn. Although Sitting Bull was illiterate and did not leave memoirs, Nelson's choice to use the man's voice will draw in readers and give the events a sense of immediacy. The book is visually appealing, combining art inspired by ledger book art style (a note explains that American Indians incarcerated on military bases sometimes were given discarded books in which to draw) with period photographs and quotations, demonstrating the intersection of two cultures in a tangible manner. Though the images aren't overly graphic, they do depict death and violence (one picture includes a small detail of George Custer shooting himself in the head). VERDICT Not a typical report book, this portrait of a committed leader provides a unique perspective on the man and his time period.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

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Starred review from October 1, 2015
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* When Sitting Bull was born in 1831, the Lakota were living mostly as they had for generations. Two weeks after his assassination, in 1890, the last free-roaming band of Lakota was defeated at the Battle of Wounded Knee and forced onto reservations. Told through a calm but doomed first-person narrative, this enthralling biography recounts the life of the great chief and warrior Sitting Bull and the defeat of his fellow Sioux, as well as, just as incredibly, his later years in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and shocking murder. Interspersed throughout the text are quotes from Sitting Bull and several U.S. military leaders, allowing readers to comprehend the events within a broader historical context. Nelson draws upon the Ledger Book Art tradition developed by Plains Indians in the late-nineteenth century to illustrate key moments in Sitting Bull's life. With an often shocking bluntness, heightened by a papery flatness, these colorful and dynamic drawings depict buffalo hunts, dances, and battles. A tragic true story told in powerfully subdued tones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)