In May, 1838, countless Tsalagi people were forced by agents of the U.S. government to leave their land in what is now known as North Carolina and three other Southern states. Men, women and children of all ages and health situations were forced to be relocated to lands set apart for them in the West in what the U.S. government officially called the Cherokee Removal. The journey lasted many months, including a severe winter season. That tragic history unfolds here in a third-person narrative. A plucky nine-year-old girl, Soft Rain, is the main character. She reads and writes English, as well as the language created by Sequoyah and written on talking leaves. Other memorable characters also earmark this historical novel, including Soft Rain's younger brother Hawk Boy, and their parents, grandmother, and courageous Aunt Kee. The author incorporated much dialogue along with cultural details into her story, making her novel fairly easy for young children to read, despite the harsh history she recounts fictionally. The endnote about the Cherokee Nation provides a factual context for the novel. Cornelissen's great-grandfather was about ten when he endured the Trail of Tears. (Ages 9-12)

It all begins when Soft Rain's teacher reads a letter stating that as of May 23, 1838, all Cherokee people are to leave their land and move to what many Cherokees called "the land of darkness". . .the west. Soft Rain is confident that her family will not have to move, because they have just planted corn for the next harvest but soon thereafter, soldiers arrive to take nine-year-old, Soft Rain, and her mother to walk the Trail of Tears, leaving the rest of her family behind. 
 
Because Soft Rain knows some of the white man's language, she soon learns that they must travel across rivers, valleys, and mountains. On the journey, she is forced to eat the white man's food and sees many of her people die. Her courage and hope are restored when she is reunited with her father, a leader on the Trail, chosen to bring her people safely to their new land.
 
Praise for Soft Rain: 
 
"An eye-opening introduction to this painful period of American history."--Publisher's Weekly 
 
"The characters themselves transform a sorrowful story of adversity into a tale of human resilience."--Kirkus Reviews 
 
"This gentle child's-eye view will move readers enormously."--Jane Yolen