This volume chronicles the struggle for control of North American lands between England and France, with Native American allies, prior to American Independence. The readable narrative is accompanied by archival illustrations and numerous sidebars, which are useful but tend to encroach on the main text. Reading list, timeline. Bib., glos., ind.

VANDER HOOK, Sue . Building the Panama Canal . ISBN 978-1-60453-942-4 . LC 2009030373. VANDER HOOK, Sue . Trail of Tears . ISBN 978-1-60453-946-2 . LC 2009031066. ea vol: 112p. (Essential Events Series). maps. photos. reprods. bibliog. chron. further reading. glossary. index. notes. Web sites. CIP. ABDO . 2010. PLB $22.95. Gr 6-9 French and Indian War describes the events that led to the conflict and the decade-long war that pitted dubious European-Indian alliances against once another and ended with the surrender of the French and the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Pedersen follows with the story of Pontiac's unsuccessful rebellion against the British after the war. This volume has handsome illustrations but provides less background information than Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier's The French and Indian War (Marshall Cavendish, 1997). Panama Canal begins with Teddy Roosevelt's injunction to his chief engineer to "let the dirt fly!" then steps back to Balboa's trek across the isthmus and continues chronologically, including alternate plans to build a Nicaraguan canal and the controversies surrounding the construction. This is an easy read, but it has too few technical illustrations to satisfy engineering-minded readers. Trail of Tears briefly discusses Cherokee society and culture in a simplistic fashion and then covers the conflict regarding Native lands, Cherokee efforts to work for their rights within the American judicial system, the discovery of gold in Georgia that brought thousands of white miners to Cherokee land, the forced removal of the tribe during the 1830s, and the Cherokee today, in both Oklahoma and the Southeast. Each book includes black-and-white and color reproductions, and each "Essential Facts" section includes a primary-source quote. The books' format, featuring narrow sidebars on some illustrated pages, is slightly off-putting. Additional purchases. Rebecca Donnelly, Loma Colorado Public Library, Rio Rancho, NM