A Promising Life: Coming of Age with America: A Novel

Emily Arnold McCully

Jul 2017 · Scholastic Audio

About this audiobook

Award-winning author Emily McCully's most adventurous book to date draws a dramatic portrait of life in nineteenth century America.

For as long as he can remember, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau has been told that a promising future lies ahead of him. After all, his mother is the great Sacagawea, who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition of discovery. And thanks to his mother, Baptiste's life changes forever when Captain Clark offers him an education in the bustling new city of St. Louis. There, his mother charges him to "learn everything" -- reading, writing, languages, mathematics. His life becomes a whirl of new experiences: lessons, duels, dances, elections. He makes friends and undertakes unexpected journeys to far-off places. But he also witnesses the injustices Clark, as a US agent for Indian Affairs, forces upon the Osage, the Arikara, the Mandan, and so many others. He sees the effect of what some call "progress" on the land and on the people who have lived there for generations. And he must choose what path he will take and what place he will have in a rapidly changing society.

About the author

Emily Arnold McCully won the Caldecott Medal for Mirette on the High Wire, and has illustrated over one hundred books for young readers. Her nonfiction work for young adults, Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business -- and Won!, was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. Emily divides her time between New York City and Chatham, New York.