Trail of Tears

Storytelling takes a back seat to didacticism in Statham's ( The Roswell Women ) grim tale of how, in mid-19th-century Georgia, the Cherokees were robbed, driven from their homes and sent on a forced march westward. A slim story centers on Laurel MacDonald, who--although she is part Scottish--is a member of the Cherokee Nation and teaches in its capital, New Echota. When Georgia's governor confiscates all Cherokee-owned lands, Laurel returns to her old home to search for her parents. But the MacDonald property has become occupied by white settlers who claimed it in a land lottery. As a final insult, the father of the white settler family seizes Laurel's pony: ``If I says it's mine, the law says it's mine.'' Various depressing subplots include the tale of a simple young woman who is raped by white men and subsequently murders her husband. This novel seems calculated to appeal to a YA audience rather than adults. But it is doubtful that there is enough entertainment in Laurel's story to hold the attention of YA readers long enough to get the historical message across. (Feb.)