Author: Alan Venable

In 1803, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned army officers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to find a suitable route of travel from the Mississippi River settlement of St. Louis westward to the Pacific Ocean. Sacagawea (sometimes spelled Sacajawea) was a young Shoshoni Indian woman who accompanied the expedition on its journey.

Kidnapped in the Rockies as a young girl by an Indian raiding party, Sacagawea had been transported to an Indian settlement near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota. There, she was later given in marriage to a French Canadian trader named Charbonneau. When Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau as an interpreter, Sacagawea was about 16 and had just given birth to a son, who would also become part of the epic journey.

Although Sacagawea had no official role in the expedition, she quickly proved herself more courageous, dependable, and useful than her husband. Her greatest moment came when, on reaching the Rockies, she was reunited with a community of her tribe and enabled the explorers to negotiate with her brother, a Shoshoni chief, for horses and guides across the mountains.

While always consistent with the historical record, this book portrays the expedition as it might have appeared to Sacagawea herself. It describes how she might have felt about joining the expedition to and from the Pacific Coast, enduring its hardships and joys, all the while raising her young son and exercising her own courage, intelligence, curiosity and sense of adventure.

The Start-to-Finish Advantage! – This audio book is like NO OTHER!  We start by writing and editing our text to specifically support students who struggle with reading grade-level text fluently and with comprehension.  In addition, we add auditory support that includes thoughtful pacing, inflection and accentuation to engage the listener throughout the entire story.  This Start-to-Finish Gold Library book is perfect for the middle- and high-school curriculum to support readers who need age-appropriate resources written at a lower readability.  The readability of the printed text is 2-3rd grade.

Would you like to add the paperback or computer book to this audio download? Visit www.donjohnston.com for ordering information.