《书目》(Booklist)书评

Gr. 6-10. Each of the eight volumes in the First Americans series focuses on the major North American Indian tribes in one region. Northeast targets the tribes, most of which are part of the Iroquois- or Algonquin-language families. Coverage includes the Iroquois confederacy, the French and Indian wars, and U.S. government native American policy in the twentieth century. Southwest describes the first Indian inhabitants of the area and other tribes that migrated there through the 1600s.Describing the social, political, and religious life of major tribes, including the history of settlement and descriptions of everyday living before contact with Europeans and the changes that resulted from European exploration and settlement, each volume has four chapters, concluding with eight-page photo-essays in color; however, the photos would have been more effective if integrated into the text. The numerous, scattered black-and-white photos, paintings, maps, and drawings show region and tribal location, clothing styles, artwork, and housing in traditional and contemporary settings. Both books offer a sympathetic but unromanticized view and examine the contact period and subsequent changes in a nonjudgmental manner.Readers may find the amount and complexity of information overwhelming at times, but generally, these books offer a manageable overview of tribes in a particular region, while emphasizing the uniqueness of each tribe. Coverage of contemporary native Americans is limited, especially in the volume on the Southwest. The series helps fill a gap in collections for young adult readers by bringing together information about major native American tribes by region. Documentation is limited to a few of the sidebar features. See the Series Roundup in this issue for two other titles. ~--Karen Hutt