There are both positive and negative things about this book. First, the positive...The text is clearly written and what some may term as "considerate". (The print is large and there are not too many words on each page.) This allows a lot of readers access to this book. Gendell began the book with two questions about California missions which students can find the answers to by reading the text. This may be motivating for some students. Also, the photographs and maps in the book are colorful, clear and very appealing. There are good resources at the end of the book including a glossary and an index.
Unfortunately, I considered some things about the book to be misleading and/or inaccurate. Some of the drawings that were chosen to accompany the text make Native Californians seem more like members of tribes from the eastern part of the United States than from California. For example, on page 18 (when Gendell is writing about missions spreading religion) there is a picture of Native Americans in full headdresses and possibly smoking pipes. This drawing shows up in other books about missions in California, so it probably really is historic. However, I think my students would find this image confusing. On page 15, Gendell describes Father Junipero Serra as finally having his dream come true because he got to be a missionary. The author neglected to write about all his previous experience as a missionary in Baja California. Finally, on pages 34 and 43 Gendell refers to Mission San Francisco Solano as San Francisco "de" Solano. This is inaccurate. Overall, I liked the book and will still include it in my curriculum, but I had higher hopes for a book written in 2010. ( )