Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal
Traci Sorell and Will Chavez
Charlesbridge
Ages 10+
Available August 25, 2026

Every year, a select group of young people from the Cherokee nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians participate in the Remember the Removal ride — a bicycle journey of nearly 1,000 miles retracing the route many Cherokees took during the period of forced removal often referred to as the Trail of Tears. This book follows the 2020-2021 team (initially selected to ride in 2020, their ride was pushed back due to COVID-19) as they ride the trail, following in the steps of their ancestors and learning about the historic suffering, survival, and resilience of the Cherokee people.

The book begins by covering the historical context of both the removal of the Cherokee people from their homelands and the Remember the Removal ride itself, started by the Cherokee Nation in 1984, giving readers a solid foundational background to understand the ride. The journey of the nine members of the 2020-2021 team is told through narrative prose, photos, and firsthand quotes and accounts from the riders, support staff, and the people they meet along the way. Emphasis is put on the scale of the tragedy being remembered as well as the emotional significance for the riders, all of whom leave the three-week ride changed.

With one foot in the past and one in the present, Riding the Trail works to make real-life connections to historic events. Any reader can benefit from the story inside, but it would make an especially meaningful companion to lessons on 19th century American history.