A critical review of Ann Rinaldi's My Heart Is on the Ground: The diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux girl

Multicultural Education, Fall 1999 by Atleo, Marlene, Caldwell, Naomi, Landis, Barbara, Mendoza, Jean, Et al

Discussions with child readers, teachers, and librarians reveal initial confusion about the fictive nature of this series. The epilogue, especially, continues to confound both professionals and young readers. Are these real diaries? Are these fictional diaries of real people? Are the epilogues, at least, real? Given the format of this series, it's hard to tell, unless one is an expert, a detective, or just naturally suspicious.

"Launched in September 1996, and with over five million books in print," according to Scholastic, "Dear America has become one of the most popular book series in America, charting regularly in the Top Five on Publishers Weekly best-sellers lists." The "Dear America" series clearly has mass appeal, and Scholastic aggressively markets these books to nine- to 12-year-old girls. Marketing strategies and tie-ins include the "Dear America Desk Collection," a "new line of desk accessories for fans of the best-selling book series," and a series of six hour-long "Dear America" movies on HBO.

The "Dear America" Web site, also playing down the fact that this series is fiction, states:

Dear America invites you into the personal experience of girls from different times in American History. The books and television show are inspired by real letters and diaries from girls who lived in extraordinary circumstances. You will experience firsthand what it was like to grow up and live in another time and place.

and

Open Their Diaries.... Make History Your Own! Today's most distinguished authors lend their voices and talents to these moving narratives-presented in an intimate diary format-with each book extensively researched and inspired by real letters and diaries of the time.

My Heart Is On the Ground is described simply as, "A Sioux girl is sent to the Carlisle Indian School to help save her people."

The "Dear America" series continues to receive overwhelming critical acclaim. The Chicago Tribune notes that the "Dear America diaries represent the best of historical fiction for any age," and School Library Journal cites the books as "engaging and accessible."

Like the series, My Heart Is On the Ground has received extremely favorable reviews. School Library Journal says, "Rinaldi depicts widely divergent cultures with clarity and compassion.... The period, the setting, and Nannie herself all come to life. An excellent addition to a popular series."

And Booklist states,

The entries are a poignant mix of past and present-Nannie's life with her family, encounters with other students, the horrific death of a friend, the efforts of both well-meaning and misguided adults. They burst with details of about culture and custom, adding wonderful texture to this thought-provoking book, which raises numerous questions as it depicts the frustration, the joy, and the confusion of one of yesterday's children growing up in two cultures.

The Review

The epilogue to My Heart is on the Ground contains such statements as:

There I found the Indian burial ground, with dozens of white headstones bearing the names of the Native American children from all tribes who died while at the school. The names, with the tribes inscribed underneath, were so lyrical that they leapt out at me and took on instant personalities. Although many of these children attended Carlisle at dates later than that of my story, I used some of their names for classmates of Nannie Little Rose. (p. 195)