The Sacrificecord Book

Matcheck's inaugural young adult novel challenges traditional roles of women, spiritual beliefs and bravery as she follows an 18th-century Apsalooka girl in her quest to fulfill her destiny. A dream tells Chews-the-Bear that his wife, carrying twins, will die in childbirth; one child will die young and the other will grow into one of the greatest leaders of the tribe. When the mother dies, the father assumes the male twin, Born-great, will live on to grand achievement while the female, Weak-one-who-does-not-last, will not. But the boy dies at age four in a Cheyenne raid, and Weak-one lives on, plagued by guilt but determined to achieve the status her father's dream foretold. Her determination takes on a pig-headedness and self-absorption that distance her from her tribe, and that readers may also find off-putting. However, readers who stick by her through those early chapters will soon be swept up in her solo journey across the plains' dramatic landscapes, complete with a near-fatal tussle with a grizzly bear. Matcheck wisely shows readers glimmers of Weak-one's potential but also the would-be warrior's sense of entitlement, which stands in her way. The novel turns when the protagonist is captured by Pawnee and forms a friendship with a revered boy in their tribe. From him, she learns what true sacrifice and humility mean. Matcheck's success lies in her thoroughly credible portrait of an arrogant girl's metamorphosis into a teachable, worthy woman, whom readers will believe is indeed capable of greatness. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)