Books with author Julie McLaughlin

Jason never really knew what happened to his father. That is until he had a summer where the unexpected turned his life upside down. Between meeting Jim, a local store owner with a mysteriously abandoned school bus in his back yard, and dodging Dex, a bully who has it out for him, Jason learns that beneath it all, things aren’t always what they seem.

"G" moves slowly. Nana is creaky and forgetful. What excitement could possibly be in store for their grandchildren as they arrive for an ordinary sleepover? Someone unknown is threatening trees all over the neighborhood. This chapter book, with colorful illustrations throughout, tells the story of how this family comes together to solve the crime and save the day.

Marie McLaughlin, a 19th century American author of Sioux descent, compiled this collection of Sioux tales told to her from fellow members of her tribe. Among Native American tribes, the Sioux are one of the best known and most important. Participants in some of the most famous and notorious events in American history, the history of the Sioux is replete with constant reminders of the consequences of both their accommodation of and resistance to American incursions into their territory by pioneering white settlers pushing further westward during the 19th century. Some Sioux leaders and their bands resisted incoming whites, while others tried to accommodate them, but the choice often had little impact on the ultimate outcome. Crazy Horse, who was never defeated in battle by U.S. troops, surrendered to them in 1877, only to be bayoneted to death by soldiers attempting to imprison him. Black Kettle, who flew a large American flag from his lodge to indicate his friendship with the white man, was shot to death by soldiers under George Custer's command in 1868. Throughout the 19th century, the U.S. government and its officials in the West adopted a policy of dividing the Sioux into two groups: "Treaty Indians" and "Non-treaty Indians." Often they used these groups against each other or used one group to influence another, but the end was always the same. They were forced off the land where they resided, their populations were decimated by disease, and they were forced onto reservations to adopt lifestyles considered "appropriate" by American standards. Despite being some of the most erstwhile foes the U.S. government faced during the Indian Wars, the Sioux and their most famous leaders were grudgingly admired and eventually immortalized by the very people they fought. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse remain household names due to their leadership of the Sioux at the fateful Battle of the Little Bighorn, where the native warriors wiped out much of George Custer's 7th Cavalry and inflicted the worst defeat of the Indian Wars upon the U.S. Army. Red Cloud remains a symbol of both defiance and conciliation, resisting the Americans during Red Cloud's War but also transitioning into a more peaceful life for decades on reservation.