Talking Leaves

A fantastic and moving portrait of a son's acceptance of his father's vision. Seeing Sequoyah through the eyes of his estranged son, experiencing the Tsalagi's dawning understanding of what the visionary man's strange symbols can do...I got goosebumps. Great book for middle-grade readers and anyone......more

Glad to see the story of Sequoyah is available in another form and features his syllabary. At times this book got a bit too caught up for me in explaining various cultural facets and practices instead of telling stories, but this amazing invention is such an important thing for students to read abou......more

Something about the tone, tempo, or pacing of the writing took me instantly to another place and time. The author expertly weaves in elements of the culture, like folklore, games, and food, so that when you’ve finished, you almost feel you’ve read a nonfiction. Very candid depiction of historical ev......more

Very interesting story of Sequoyah and his development of the Cherokee written language. Told from the point of view of his son who hasn't seen him since he was young, it allows the father to tell his story to the boy, so we learn of his quest & the historical events that moved him along his path. I......more

Told from the perspective of Uwohali, son of Sequoyah, this is a story about language. Sequoyah created a system of writing to record the Tsalagi (Cherokee) language, but Sequoyah was thought to be crazy as the Cherokee did not understand the significance of his syllabary. This book tells how they......more