Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal - by Traci Sorell & Will Chavez (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Follow Cherokee youths on a 950-mile bike journey retracing the Trail of Tears--from Georgia to Oklahoma--on the annual Remember the Removal Ride.

This inspiring photo-rich nonfiction book follows Native youth riding to remember history, linking past and present through culture, resilience, and activism. For ages 10 and up.

Readers follow Cherokee youth as they train for the Remember the Removal Ride, dive into the Cherokee language, and find out more about the important chapter in their tribe's history. The ride began in 1984 and became an annual event in 2009. There are nearly 300 alumni, including coauthor Will Chavez, who was also a coordinator of the program.

Here are 112 pages of photo-illustrated nonfiction penned by enrolled Cherokee Nation coauthors. This does something no other book does: presents the Trail of Tears in a contemporary context. While Cherokee people suffered that grim chapter in history, they thrive today.

Traci Sorell is an award-winning author of children picture books and middle-grade books. Will Chavez is an award-winning journalist and photographer. Both creators are citizens of the Cherokee Nation.

About the Author

Best-selling author and Cherokee Nation citizen Traci Sorell writes inclusive, award-winning fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people. She is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree for her nonfiction work. She has received many awards from the American Indian Library Association. She is the author of We Are Grateful Otsaliheliga, We Are Still Here!, and Mascot, among many others.

Award-winning journalist, photographer, and Cherokee Nation and San Felipe Pueblo citizen Will Chavez previously coordinated the annual Remember the Removal ride from 2019-2024, participated in the inaugural ride in 1984, and served as a mentor rider in 2019. He is an assistant editor at the Cherokee Phoenix. He also serves on the board of directors for the National Trail of Tears Association.

The Cherokee Nation's Remember the Removal bicycle ride is a youth leadership program that includes a three-week, nearly 1,000-mile memorial ride to commemorate the forced removal of Cherokee people. The ride teaches culture, history, and language as youth cycle the same route their ancestors walked in 1838-1839.