My Way West tells the story of real kids that traveled the trails across the west. The children told the stories and through their quotes and paragraphs about how folks decided to move west—the journey across the Oregon trails, California Trails, and Momon trails.

The kids told these journeys on the trails through the images and how life was on the trails. Children will be able to learn about the life and history of the US and the Oregon trails. This book shows tragedy and how everyone came together and helped each other along the way. Children can learn about this and American history by reading this book, not of it but a good glimpse of it.

I enjoy learning about the western expansion and the Oregon trails. I am one of those kinds of readers. I was learning about history through books and how life may have been back then—the dangers of it. When reading this book, I read the quotes first and then the information on the page. Tough, you can read it by doing the significant info about the journey or the topic that was talked about and then the quotes after. It doe not really make a difference in what way you read it. I enjoy that. There is no right way to read this book.

I like the focus was on the actual kids that traveled the Organ and California Trails. The author does a beautiful job of that. This book is suitable for middle-grade readers who want to learn about American history. This book would be an excellent book to have in classrooms as well.
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My daughter and I both read this book. It is a great short book about how people moved to the West. It is well-done and well-researched. It has great illustrations too.

As a long-time fan of books about the Oregon Trail, I appreciated this account of children's journeys along the west-bound trails and the challenges that many of them faced along the way. Kudos to the authors for finding true accounts as well as putting together accounts from little-known voices such as slaves and indian tribes. This is a great resource for educators and the illustrations are very good. ( )

Synergy: National Historic Trails

In the United States, national historic trails recognize original overland or water routes with historical significance. Nineteen trails have been established by acts of Congress. While many of these trails commemorate routes established during the westward movement of the mid-19th century, others trace their origins to prehistoric times.

Read the recently published informational picture book, then learn more at the website.

MY WAY WEST by Elizabeth Goss tells the true stories of children who traveled on the Oregon and California trails in the 19th century. Featuring quotes from primary sources such as letters and memoirs, readers learn about life on the trail. The book takes care to incorporate children from varied backgrounds including Native American and African American perspectives. The story begins by noting that the land was already occupied by Native peoples prior to the arrival of settlers. Each two-page spread focuses on a topic related to the journey such as the decision, the supplies, and bad weather. The book concludes with background information about over a dozen children represented in the book.

The NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS page at the National Park Service website provides access to information about nineteen historical trails that reflect routes of exploration, migration, struggle, and military action.

To visit the website, go to https://bit.ly/3iU1Ocv.

ARC courtesy of West Margin Press. Distributed by Ingram Publisher Services. ( )