The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

The Heart of Everything That Is:  The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin - 432 pages

The Heart of Everything That Is tells the story of a lesser known, but very important, Native American chief. Red Cloud was a Oglala Sioux chief and warrior leader. In his youth, Red Cloud participated in raids against the Americans. As a middle-aged man, he planned and led full-scale military actions against settlers and army posts, most notably in the Power River Country against Fort Phil Kearney and it's commander. As part of these roles, we see how Red Cloud rose to his position and worked with other chiefs and warriors, including the more famous Crazy Horse. In his later life, Red Cloud sued for peace. As a counterpoint, we see how the Americans responded to Red Cloud's actions. These included building additional forts to protect the Bozeman Trail that ran through the Powder River Valley; sending soldiers inexperienced with Indian fighting Westward; generals who did not fully comprehend the situation and left local commanders with little room to act as situations arose; and settlers who took their changes, often to ill-fated results. 

Overall, I found the book to be well-researched and a good overview of the Native American situation in general in addition to its aim. The first few chapters recount the early United States responses to the situation and their effects, including how the tribes were pushed further west causing conflict inter-tribal conflicts. This is then used to springboard into Red Cloud's life as it was also conflict filled. 

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede, 344 pages

Lan and Eff are twins. Lan is the 7th son of a 7th son making his twin, Eff, the thirteenth child. There are all sorts of rumors that fly about a 13th child and Eff has to live with repercussions -- teasing, cruelty from her relatives and sometimes her siblings. When her parents realize the damage the teasing is doing to their young daughter, they decide to move to the "wild west" where her father, a 7th son and magician, will teach at the university. It's a fresh start for Eff and she begins to learn all there is to magic -- including "prophesies" being nothing more than old superstitions sometimes. Still, for so long she's heard that being a 13th child will make her wicked someday so she squelches the magic within her to the detriment of herself and those around her. Slowly, she learns to accept and embrace who she is, but will it be in time to save the territories? The world around her is quite wild and dangerous ... and ignoring your potential to help is the same as letting evil take hold. There isn't a whole lot of action in the book. Instead, you have a whole lot of world and detail building. (This might bore some readers.) I found the book to be entertaining enough and am interested to see how the Frontier series pans out.