A PROMISING LIFE Coming of Age with America, A Novel

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was an infant when his mother, Sakakawea, carried him while guiding the Lewis & Clark Expedition across the wilderness. Her faith in America's promise of freedom and opportunity led her to agree to Clark's request to raise this "butifull promising boy." Narrator McLeod Andrews's voice is easy to listen to, although his use of accents is not quite successful. Duke Paul, a German aristocrat who gives Baptiste an opportunity to see the world, sounds more French than German. However, Andrews effectively takes listeners into the mind of Baptiste as he struggles to find his place in the world, balancing his biracial heritage, his awareness of being indebted to an American hero, and his yearning to find his own purpose and path. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2018]