This book is about York, William Clark's personal slave. York was with Clark on his expedition and helped him a great deal. The two boys grew up together, journeyed together, and struggled together. York's story is heart wrenching and triumphant.

This picture book was an informative way to learn more about a lesser-known individual on the Corps of Discovery- otherwise known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. York, the slave of William Clark, accompanied him on the expedition. He was an invaluable member of the team and regarded as "big medicine" by the Indians, which meant something unexplainable and awe-inspiring. His strength-both physical and mental-were a great asset at all times. The author incorporated primary source documents into his story, and acknowledges that little is known about parts of York's life, so the word "probably" was written to show that conjecture was used to fill in those gaps. He writes the story with York as the main character and focuses on his contributions to the life of Clark and eventually the Corps of Discovery. Most pages contain a large amount of text, so the book does not seem babyish. The illustrations are detailed and complement the text. The story follows the entire life of York, including a sometimes fractuous relationship with his master, Clark. Treated as a biography, this book would supply a good deal of information about its subject, York. High school appropriate.

This book was about a personal slave named York to William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Both were born during the 1710’s on a Virginia plantation. The author Laurence Pringle gives an accurate account of York’s life before, during and after the expedition. Using quoptation from the journals of this expedition. The watercolor paintings of York were pretty good. I did not relate to this book because it was a slave book. You can use this book to teach the traits of ideas and sentence fluency as students write their own accounts of the Lewis and Clark story using the diaries found on the internet.
Extension Activities
Publishing a book: Have the students write, illustrate, and publish a book that details important school events that have occurred or will be occurring during each month or season of the school year. Each student will keep a journal to record the events that they will write about. Each student can contribute a page in the book. Once the book is published, let each student take the book home to share with his or her family.
Story writing: Have each student write a story using their own accounts of the Lewis and Clark story using diaries found online. When a story is complete, have the student illustrate it.
Shared Writing: After the writing is completed, let the students share their writing with one another. Let each student explain what he or she wrote about and why. Allow the group to critique the author’s work in a positive and supportive manner. Feedback from peers becomes an important part of this sharing experience.

This book was interesting because it was an important time in history the Lewis and Clark Expedition. During the expedition thier was and important man named York who was a black slave and somewhat a lifelong partner to Clark. He grew up with him and became a friend and a confident. It is interesting because there are probably a lot of stories from the past that involve blacks and whites being closer than what they appear to be. This was interesting because I love history. ( )

This book is a perfect read for older children. It teaches about,friendship, loyality and trust. In this book the illustrations tells the story about the unrecognizable contribution that one black slave made in American history.

Our contribtions to society may not always be gratified by others even if it will change the lives of ourselves and people around us. Even if we give ourselves unselfishly, in the end it is worth while. ( )