Highly Recommended: Christine Day's WE STILL BELONG

We Still Belong

Written by Christine Day (Upper Skagit)

Cover art by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

Published in 2023

Publisher: Heartdrum

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

Publisher's synopsis:

Wesley is proud of the poem she wrote for Indigenous Peoples’ Day—but the reaction from a teacher makes her wonder if expressing herself is important enough. And due to the specific tribal laws of her family’s Nation, Wesley is unable to enroll in the Upper Skagit tribe and is left feeling “not Native enough.” Through the course of the novel, with the help of her family and friends, she comes to embrace her own place within the Native community.

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What I particularly like about Christine Day's books is that she includes things that I know kids know about. For example, young people are way into video games and gamer culture. More about that later.

Early on in her book, we learn that Wesley and her mom are living with Wesley's grandpa, aunt and uncle and their baby. Across Indian Country, you'll find Native homes where more than one generation is living together. Generally speaking, white families in the US don't live that way but Native ones often do. Whether it is just the way it was from day one or if it is because someone is in need of help, you'll often find more than one generation living together.

Ok--I said "later" about gamer culture but I'm jumping to it right now. It is morning. Wesley and her mom are awake before the rest of the family. Wesley asks if she can watch TV. I was with her, there. "Watch TV." I know what that is, but then Wesley turns the TV on to her favorite streaming channel app and a short list of channels she subscribes to. Here's that passage:

[T]hree gamers are online, including my favorite streamer, gemmakitty01, whose stream title makes me gasp: 

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! 24-Hour Live Charity Stream! Come Watch Me Game and Chat with Native American Guest Stars!

Wesley gasps and her mom comes over. She knows who Gemma is, too! They wonder if Gemma is Native. They sit together and talk about what Gemma usually offers, but this stream is different--and they are psyched! Native guests! Wesley's Grandpa and Uncle wake up and see her and her mom at the TV. Her uncle says they actually played video games instead of watching others play. Her Grandpa says they played them at the arcade. Then Grandpa says: 

"These young people today, with all their options, all their devices." 

I bet that particular passage will resonate with lots of kids--Native, or not! One generation kind of sneering at a younger one... I'm certainly familiar with it. I remember having a similar conversation with my dad when car sound systems went from the kind with two round knobs to those with way more to them! Actually, I'm probably a generation older than Wesley's grandpa! Anyway, I love this story! 

This is a bit of a spoiler: about halfway through the story (the school day is over and Wesley is home), her Grandpa gets home and urgently asks her to put the show back on. She's not sure what he's talking about. He says:

"Gemma, the pink kitty girl, the Klamath gamer girl, that's the one."

Turns out, Grandpa was watching after Wesley had gone to school and learned that Gemma is Klamath. There's banter between the two, and lots of joy, too, as they watch for awhile. 

That gamer part of the story is a delight and I think kids will like it a lot. It is fresh and new, and hot. 

As the book title suggests, there's a lot more going on than that. Belonging in this story has to do with being able to be enrolled or a citizen of a tribal nation. Wesley's mom and grandfather are, but she isn't. I'm not going to say more about that. Instead, I'm going to ask you to get the book and before you read it, flip to the Author's Note. There, Christine Day provides you with the background information you need to understand what Wesley is talking about. It is a growing conversation across Indian Country and I think it vital everybody learn about it, whether you are Native or not. 

I have many passages highlighted in my copy of We Still Belong. Activism is there and it, too, rings so true for Native kids. I highly recommend it! 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: THE SEA IN WINTER

 

The Sea in Winter
By Christine Day (Upper Skagit)

Published by Heartdrum

Published in 2021

Reviewed by Jean Mendoza

Review Status: Highly Recommended

Back in September 2020, Debbie blogged about her positive reaction to reading the ARC of Christine Day's second novel for young people -- The Sea in Winter. Since then, the book has gotten positive critical attention, including a Kirkus starred review and School Library Journal "Best Book". Here, finally, is my "short and sweet" AICL review. 

The publisher, Heartdrum, says this about The Sea in Winter:

It’s been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt her leg and could not keep up with her ballet training and auditions. Her blended family is loving and supportive, but Maisie knows that they just can’t understand how hopeless she feels.... Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up. But soon, Maisie’s anxieties and dark moods start to hurt as much as the pain in her knee. How can she keep pretending to be strong when on the inside she feels as roiling and cold as the ocean?

Reason One to recommend The Sea in Winter: The sense of place. 

The author writes from the heart when she describes the story's setting. It's good to have a book about a contemporary middle schooler, that celebrates geoduck clams and the removal of the Elwha River dam. It's set in much the same part of the continent as a certain popular vampire-and-werewolf series, but Day's storytelling is noticeably more attuned to the landforms, the weather, the animals, the sea. 

Reason Two: Respect for advocacy and activism. 

Advocacy for social and environmental justice, and for Indigenous rights, are natural parts of family life in Maisie's world. For example, readers learn that her family has been directly affected by treaty rights to harvest shellfish, and removal of dams that kept salmon from spawning in local rivers. And conflict around the 1999 Makah whale hunt (the tribe's first effort to hold its traditional hunt in 70 years) forced an important decision for some of Maisie's Makah relatives. 

Reason Three: The protagonist's unique perspective. 

The Sea in Winter offers the young reader a window on the experience of a child with an unusual level of ambition. Most children Maisie's age haven't discovered an activity that inspires the kind of commitment she has to ballet. What is it like, at age 12, to have your entire life, including peer friendships, revolve around ballet, because you love it that much? Who else understands such dedication? And how do you cope, at age 12, when you face the loss of your beautiful dream? Is that what depression feels like?

Reason Four: Maisie's solid, loving Native family. 

Leo Tolstoy famously, or infamously, wrote, "All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Though Maisie's family faces some challenges, including Maisie's depression, they are fundamentally "happy" together -- affectionate, thoughtful, supportive, respectful of boundaries, and knowledgeable about their Native identities. But they're by no means ordinary, stereotypical, or indistinguishable from other fictional families that are doing essentially okay. The author makes them interesting, not merely quirky or weird, as individuals and as a unit. 

In short, I add my voice to the chorus of recommendations: Read and share The Sea in Winter with young people in your life!

Highly Recommended! THE SEA IN WINTER by Christine Day

Jean and I both read Christine Day's The Sea in Winter and are thrilled by what Day has written! A review is forthcoming, but I wanted to give you all a heads-up. Day's book comes out on January 5, 2021. Pre-order it! And check out her website. She's an enrolled citizen of the Upper Skagit tribe. 

Here's the book description, from Day's website:

It’s been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt her leg and could not keep up with her ballet training and auditions.

Her blended family is loving and supportive, but Maisie knows that they just can’t understand how hopeless she feels. With everything she’s dealing with, Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up.

But soon, Maisie’s anxieties and dark moods start to hurt as much as the pain in her knee. How can she keep pretending to be strong when on the inside she feels as roiling and cold as the ocean?

I read an advanced reader's copy in August and tweeted my excitement about it. The Sea In Winter is the first book I saw with the Heartdrum logo on the spine. In that tweet, I said:

Honestly, I'm trembling a bit as I hold an ARC of Christine Day's THE SEA IN WINTER in my hands, and gaze at the Heartdrum logo on the spine, created by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson. Congratulations, and thank you, @CynLeitichSmith and all those who brought this imprint into being.

And I shared a close up photo of the logo:  

I passed my copy of the book over to Jean. She's spent a lot of time in that area and will be doing the review essay. Do order a copy, though, right now! 

Recommended! I CAN MAKE THIS PROMISE by Christine Day

I've read and most definitely recommend I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day. A review is forthcoming. Here's the description:

In her debut middle grade novel—inspired by her family’s history—Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family’s secrets—and finds her own Native American identity.

All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she might be about her Native American heritage, Edie is sure her family doesn’t have any answers.

Until the day when she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic—a box full of letters signed “Love, Edith,” and photos of a woman who looks just like her.

Suddenly, Edie has a flurry of new questions about this woman who shares her name. Could she belong to the Native family that Edie never knew about? But if her mom and dad have kept this secret from her all her life, how can she trust them to tell her the truth now?

The cover art by Michaela Goade is stunning!

Day and Goade are Native. The book comes out on October 1st. Order it today!

RECOMMENDED!

AICL is pleased to recommend
I Can Make This Promise

Highly Recommended! Christine Day's "Unexpected Pursuits: Embracing My Indigeneity & Creativity" in OUR STORIES, OUR VOICES

Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing up Female in America came out in 2018. Published by Simon and Schuster, the editor--Amy Reed--describes it as a love letter from the authors to young people who, after the 2016 election, were hurting or afraid for the future.

It includes Christine Day's "Unexpected Pursuits: Embracing My Indigeneity & Creativity." As I read her essay, I highlighted one passage after another. It reminded me of Cynthia Leitich Smith's Hearts Unbroken. In both, I found truths about life for a Native teen in the US.

Day's essay ranges from her experiences in high school and in college in Washington. In high school, she was uneasy. She gives us a snapshot of her experiences in history, science, and English courses. When Day recounts a teacher who didn't pronounce the name of her grandmother's tribal nation right, she describes a physical reaction. Her cheeks burned and her bones turned to ice. "He wasn't saying it [Nez Perce] right." She knew something that her teacher did not. What to do with that knowledge?

That 'what to do' moment is something Native children and teens have to deal with all the time.

There are exceptions. Day had a high school teacher who taught them about bias. She had a college program that centered Native experiences. Like Day, our daughter had a teacher that stood out for the right reasons. Like Day, our daughter found affirmation in a programs designed to see Native people, as we are.

There's so much in her essay that I want to note! The way she refers to places. The way she reflects on appropriation. The words she uses! The light she sheds on things like the Indian Child Welfare Act!

I highly recommend her essay--not just for young adults--but for everyone. It will affirm the experiences of Native teens, and their parents, too. As I read it, I highlighted parts of it but there were times when I was blinking back tears, too. This is powerfully written.

Here's how she ends:

My name is Christine Day. I’m descendant from four Indigenous nations and an enrolled member of the Upper Skagit. I’m a graduate student, working toward my master’s degree in Indigenous Research and Documentary Film Production. I’m currently filming interviews to accompany my film, my future thesis. And I’m also working on projects in prose. I still haven’t given up on those. 

I’m a work in progress. I’m young, and I’m growing; I always have been. And it’s taken me a long time to understand this. But listen: You are never alone in these in-between places. Your thoughts, your complex feelings, your unknowable questions—they mean something, and they’re important.

Day has a book coming out in 2019: I Can Make This Promise. It will be published by HarperCollins. I'm watching for it and hope you do, too.