Deadly Aim - by Sally M Walker (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Hits the mark."--Kirkus

An engaging middle-grade nonfiction narrative of the American Indian soldiers who bravely fought in the Civil War from Sibert Award-winning author Sally M. Walker.

More than 20,000 American Indians served in the Civil War, yet their stories have often been left out of the history books.

In Deadly Aim, Sally M. Walker explores the extraordinary lives of Michigan's Anishinaabe sharpshooters. These brave soldiers served with honor and heroism in the line of duty, despite enduring broken treaties, loss of tribal lands, and racism.

Filled with fascinating archival photographs, maps, and diagrams, this book offers gripping firsthand accounts from the frontlines. You'll learn about Company K, the elite band of sharpshooters, and Daniel Mwakewenah, the chief who killed more than 32 rebels in a single battle despite being gravely wounded.

Walker celebrates the lives of the soldiers whose stories have been left in the margins of history for too long with extensive research and consultation with the Repatriation Department for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the Eyaawing Museum and Cultural Center, and the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture and Lifeways.

Review Quotes

"An absorbing history of Company K, from riveting battlefield narratives and vivid accounts of horrors endured at Andersonville Prison to tales of poverty due to pension benefits denied."--Booklist, Starred Review

"Meticulous research and inclusion of historical photographs, maps, letters, and other Civil War-era documents, as well as the smooth integration of primary source quotes, provide a solid nonfiction target worthy of shelf space. However, it's the final chapter and epilogue recounting life after the war that give a human depth to the soldiers' lives and place this work squarely in the bull's-eye. Hits the mark."--Kirkus

Praise for Champion: The Comeback Tale of the American Chestnut Tree:

A Junior Library Guild selection and a National Council of Teachers of English 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Book.

"A compelling, inspiring true story of a species rescued from extinction through decades of determined innovation." --Kirkus

"The award-winning nonfiction author brings to light the intriguing story of the beleaguered American chestnut tree . . . . Fascinating and well-sourced." --School Library Journal

Praise for Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917:

"Riveting." --Kirkus, Starred Review

"Halifax does indeed have a story to tell, but Walker once again proves that it's her consummate gifts as a storyteller that breathe life into the tale." --The Horn Book

"This tragic, but well-told story belongs in most collections." --School Library Journal

About the Author

Sally M. Walker is the author of Champion, a JLG selection and one of NCTE's 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Books. She is also the author of ALA Notable Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917, the acclaimed picture book Winnie, and Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, which was awarded a Sibert Medal. She lives in Illinois.