Where the Broken Heart Still Beats : the story of Cynthia Ann Parker by Carolyn Meyer

Having driven through the town of Quanah in Parker County, Texas on several occasions, I always wondered how and why those particular names ended up in that part of the state. After reading this book, I now have a better understanding of who these places were named for, if not why.
I was never much of a history buff in school, but the older I get, the more I enjoy reading autobiographical and nonfiction tales from the past. I had heard the name of Cynthia Ann Parker before, but wasn't familiar with her whole story. Luckily, I found this book in a nearby second-hand shop and brought it home to read. It's part of a series of historical fiction that I plan to add to our middle school library in the future, because it uses an engaging narrative to relay small bits of our country's history in an entertaining way, one which I think students and teachers will enjoy.
In the mid-19th century, the Parker family compound in north Texas was attacked by a band of marauding Comanches. The Indians killed and scalped the adults in the settlement but took the young children as hostages, later using them to trade for weapons, or as in Cynthia Ann's case, as slaves to the tribe. Twenty-five years pass before Cynthia Ann is rescued by an elderly family member and brought back to live with her blood relatives in east Texas, but by then it was too late as she had already 'turned native'. Looking and acting more like the Indians who raised her than the blue-eyed, 9-year-old white girl that she had been when captured, she finds herself lost and emotionally alone. Despite her celebrity status as a famous Indian kidnapping victim, and recognition from the state legislature, Cynthia Ann is still treated by the adult women relatives as 'possessed' by evil demons. Their only solution to her situation is to continuously read Bible scriptures in her direction. Only her young cousin Lucy Parker seems to understand and care for Cynthia Ann's unique story, which she writes about in her journal. Never able to fit in no matter where she is sent, Cynthia Ann is passed around from relative to relative until she endures a tragedy that even someone as strong as she can't overcome. A sad story, but one that shows the determination and strength of pioneer women, and the power of love.