ISBN: 1-58939-950-1, $14.95, softcover; 1-58939-954-4, hardcover, $21.95, 260 pages
"Soldier Girl" is the story of Lindy Harrison who at the age of five along with her mother leaves the McLeod family farm in Osawatomie, Kansas to join her father who is a white officer with the Buffalo Soldiers of the Tenth Cavalry Regiment. The story follows the character development of Lindy as she learns about fort life as the daughter of a white officer serving with Buffalo Soldiers in Kansas and Oklahoma at the beginning of the Indian Wars (1867-1875). Many of the officers including Colonel Benjamin Grierson founded the Ninth and Tenth regiments to prove African Americans were good soldiers in peacetime after the War Between the States. Lindy's support as she adjusts to becoming a soldier is her Grandpa McLeod who corresponds regularly with her and Sergeant Pick, a Buffalo Soldier assigned to the Tenth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The author, Dr. Jackie Lakin, works for the Kansas State Department of Education as an Information Management Consultant. Since 1992, she has served as a member of the William Allen White Book Selection Committee and as a commissioner for the Kansas NEA Reading Circle.
