Sweetgrass, a 15-year-old Blackfoot girl, longs to be married like the other girls her age, and she has a young warrior in mind, Eagle-Sun. Her father feels she is too young for marriage, but over a difficult year for their tribe, which include natural disasters, encounters with white settlers, fights with other tribes, and a smallpox epidemic, she proves her courage, intelligence, and maturity. "Vivid characters bring the culture of the Dakota Indians in the 1830s to life through this richly patterned historical novel?An unusually fine first novel. "? Booklist (starred review)"A masterpiece combining elements of an historical novel, a native American, a survival, and a coming-of-age novel?. Will invite re-reading. " ? School Library Journal (starred review)