I really enjoyed this story. The weaving of the old tales from Africa & the old Cheyenne( I think) tales with the storyline is well done. I found myself leaning toward as I neared the finish- anticipating the outcome. I could easily recommend it. But the lack of proofing really would distract me as I was reading. It's really disappointing to see so many mistakes in a finished copy. I was turned off from buying my own copy of a book I loved because of one grammatical error I found; this book is riddled with them. It should be fixed.

We see US Cavalry relations with Plains Indians just after the Civil War from both the Native American view and that of a soldier. This seems to have been a time when US policy toward the tribes was in flux, when they were trying to "domesticate" the tribes rather than kill them all. Washington ("Wash") was a former slave who enlists as a way to support his family. Follows the Wolf was a Cheyenne who is trying to find food for his family since the US never provides the promised food for those tribes who come to a reservation, and never meets it promise to keep whites off the reservation lands.
Chapters open with either a brief Native American or African tale.
Just as in his previous book, Bruchac use letter writing as a method for introducing background in his main characters life. It didn't work quite as well here, perhaps because he had 2 main characters to maintain, perhaps because Wash became conflicted about the news he received from home.
I was reading this aloud to a blind young adult, but had some very young listeners as I got toward the end of the book & that was too violent/distressing for them.
I will be looking for more of Bruchac's fictionalized histories, as there isn't much of worth available for this age group. ( )