From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen The Roots of Ticasuk contains the stories Ticasuk learned from her elders that tell the history of six generations of her family. After a battle of her early Unalakleet ancestors with the Indians of Interior Alaska， Masu， the childless sister of the Unalakleet chief， discovers a male child survivor. This story describes how she smuggles him into her camp and how， because he is a special gift， he is adopted and trained to become the tribal chief. "Malquay" tells about the baby Malquay， great-granddaughter of Masu， whose mother dies when she is an infant. The tale of "Chalavaluk" recounts the legend of how a brave new mother forces the Unalakleets to stop female infanticide in times of famine by placing her baby girl on her parents' doorstep and disappearing into the night. The history of Chalavaluk's daughter， Chikuk， follows: how her people save her life to honor her mother's courage， her introduction to white culture， her marriage to a Russian trader， the birth of their only child Stephan， her untimely death. In the final set of stories， we learn how Stephan and Malquay meet， marry and bear Ticasuk: "I am Ticasuk， the last child of Stephan and Malquay of the lineage of Alluyagnak of Unalakleet. I have three children..." With loving and beautiful descriptions of the great Alaskan landscape as a background， Ticasuk's depictions of the particulars of everyday Eskimo life fill this collection with the warmth， strength， and pride of a long and strong tradition. -- For great reviews of books for girls， check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. Book Description Ticasuk， a 20th-century Inupiat Eskimo woman， writes a true and compelling account of generations of an Alaskan Native Family.