Sing Down the Moon

by Scott O'Dell  |  Grades 3-5

The Navajo tribe's forced march from their homeland to Fort Sumner by white soldiers and settlers is dramatically and courageously told by young Bright Morning. The Spanish Slavers were an ever-present threat to the Navaho way of life. One lovely spring day, fourteen-year-old Bright Morning and her friend Running Bird took their sheep to pasture. The sky was clear blue against the red buttes of the Canyon de Chelly, and the fields and orchards of the Navahos promised a rich harvest. Bright Morning was happy as she gazed across the beautiful valley that was the home of her tribe. She turned when Black Dog barked, and it was then that she saw the Spanish slavers riding straight toward her.

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