Book Review: 'Addie Slaughter': For young readers and adults

‘Addie Slaughter’: For young readers and adults

Title: Addie Slaughter: The Girl Who Met Geronimo
Author: Susan L. Krueger, ED.D.
Publisher: Five Star Publications, Inc.
P.O. Box 6698
Chandler, AZ 85246-6698
ISBN 978-1-58985-197-9
Price: $15.95

On a ranch located in the remote area of the Arizona- Mexico border in the San Bernardino Valley, there lived a brave little girl and her family in the late 1800s. Susan L. Krueger, experienced teacher in reading, brings the story of the Slaughter family to readers as she describes their life from the perspective of a young girl, Addie Slaughter, the daughter of Arizona’s famous John Horton Slaughter.

Susan writes in first person, using the voice of Addie Slaughter to tell the story of her family and their life on the ranch. Life was not easy in the 1800s, and readers learn about the hardships of ranch life and traveling across the west, but also get to celebrate and see the joys the Slaughter family shared, especially learning about Addie’s exciting experience of meeting the Apache warrior and medicine man, Geronimo.

Historical photos help to bring the reality of life in the Wild West to the reader, and it is fun and interesting to see what clothes Addie wore, where she lived and what the actual necklace Geronimo gave her looked like.

Susan joined historian Dr. Reba Wells Grandrud, PhD., the John H. Slaughter Ranch historian, in telling the story of Addie Slaughter; which is evident as the stories of the Slaughter family are told in the book. Only someone who knew the background of the family so well could contribute such close understanding of their family life and life on the ranch.

Addie Slaughter: The Girl Who Met Geronimo is an impressive read, and you don’t have to be from Arizona to enjoy the story and appreciate the historical reference of the Slaughter family. Although it is a chapter book written for young readers, adults can learn much from the life of a young child living in the late 1800s and will also find this book as a very interesting read.

Visit the book website for more information: www.AddieSlaughterBook.com!

Please check back tomorrow for a Q&A with the author!

Thoughts on Monday

Getting away from daily life is a good way for me to re-focus, relax and re-energize myself. I often times become far to engaged in the worries and troubles of life. Am I doing enough? Will I ever succeed at what I truly want? And so I work and do, just as I have been taught. Then doing, doing, doing, begins to take away from life and I forget to enjoy each day. I begin to live just get by.

When I arrived home from a brief vacation, someone had e-mailed me the link to this video. I don't usually watch much YouTube, but this short story reminds me of taking each day as it is, and, perhaps, dancing more often.

A road trip

After trying to work out our schedules to take a short trip to get away from the snow, we finally just said we are going. Our summer is becoming filled, and since my husband’s busy time at work is during the warm months, if we don’t leave now we won’t be able to go until the snow comes back again.

The excitement of a map, an open road and now plans is refreshing. We try to fill up our time in minds. What to do with all of our freedom?

I have an overly ambitious stack of reading material, not to mention the free local papers I’ll pick up. My husband is better at just letting the day go where it leads. I want to capitalize on our time, he wants to enjoy it. And we have already begun to do both.

So, with the radio on and a new place to explore….here we go…

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, and although the days in April are coming close to being completed, this does not mean the celebration of the prose should cease. Here is a list of a few websites you might want to browse:

The Poetry Foundation- offers exploration of modern poets and poets of the past; learning tools and in depth look at the meaning of certain poems.

Narrative Magazine- online magazine with poems for each week and an archive of contributors.

Poetry Out Loud- promoting the oral art form of poetry.

Poets boil down thoughts, seasons, experiences, life, with a concentration of words, making the reading experience rewarding and memorable; taking your mind and emotions into descriptions you may not have felt before. Try reading one poem a day. You may find the practice gratifying.

This morning I awoke to the sound of birds, jubilant sounds to a sleepy mind and a body ready for a change in season. When my little boy woke up and walked out of his room, he began to ask me for juice but was stopped. He ran to our glass door and said, “Birds, mommy.”

In the evenings a twosome of Sandhill Cranes has been flying by, their distinctive refrain echoing over the prairie as they fly to their nest close to water.

When we pass by some of the ranches, little black calves lie in rows; some are strong enough to begin playing.

The deer and the pronghorn have begun following their ancient migration routes.

There is still snow, but there is mud, too. Puddles of mud the kids like to jump in.

May flowers will not come to our region of the world, but the rivers are flowing. Transformations are taking place.