Debbie--have you seen RUN FOR YOUR LIFE by Trevor Kew?

This morning (May 3, 2017) I learned about Run for your Life by Trevor Kew, due out from Lorimer on August 1 of this year. I did a series of tweets about it. I'm pasting them here (I don't know how to remove the gray background from 2-15).

1) Due out sometime this year is a book that's making me go oh-oh. Set in Canada, the story is abt a kid whose dad was a refugee from Iran.

2) The kid is a runner. Rather than help with a fundraiser for First Nations displaced by a fire, he'd rather train for a big race.

3) When he's wiped out, he gains what he needs to keep going by imagining he is being chased by bloodthirsty savage Indians w tomahawks.

4) Training session over, he's catching his breath at a park. Someone asks him if he's ok. That someone is... a First Nations teen.

5) The First Nations teen is named Jason. He asks Chris (the runner) if someone was chasing him.

6) Chris knew it was not ok to imagine being chased by blood thirsty savage Indians. Jason's question, then, is awkward.

7) Chris realizes Jason is one of the FN people who is displaced by a fire. Turns out, Jason is also a runner.

8) The two boys will race against each other, later. And guess what: Chris still imagines himself being chased by savage Indians.

9) I get where the author (Trevor Kew) is going with this story (RUN FOR YOUR LIFE), but did he imagine Native teens as readers of this bk?

10) There were huge fires in Canada recently. So many Native ppl in my networks were fearful for family in danger of the fires.

11) With that in mind, this story might seem relevant and timely to some but I have doubts. And questions.

12) What I shared here is from the "look inside" feature at Amazon. It is due out on August 1, 2017, from Lorimer.

13) When Chris introduces Jason to his friends, there is awkward silence as they look at him. Then, the Korean kid says "You're a real ---"

14) Chris steps in before Yongwon (the Korean kid) says "Indian", saying "hockey player" instead. That's when Jason tells them his nation.

15) If I get RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, I'll be back.

Debbie--have you seen BEAUTY OF THE BROKEN by Tawni Waters?

A reader wrote today, to ask if I've seen Beauty of the Broken by Tawni Waters. It came out in 2014 from Simon Pulse/Simon and Schuster. Here's the description:

In this lyrical, heartwrenching story about a forbidden first love, a teen seeks the courage to care for another girl despite her small town’s bigotry and her father’s violent threats.

Growing up in conservative small-town New Mexico, fifteen-year-old Mara was never given the choice to be different. Her parents—an abusive, close-minded father and a detached alcoholic mother—raised Mara to be like all the other girls in Barnaby: God-fearing, churchgoing, and straight. Mara wants nothing to do with any of it. She feels most at home with her best friend and older brother, Iggy, but Iggy hasn’t been the same since their father beat him and put him in the hospital with a concussion.

As Mara’s mother feeds her denial with bourbon and Iggy struggles with his own demons, Mara finds an escape with her classmate Xylia. A San Francisco transplant, Xylia is everything Mara dreams of being: free-spirited, open, wild. The closer Mara and Xylia become, the more Mara feels for her—even though their growing relationship is very much forbidden in Barnaby. Just as Mara begins to live a life she’s only imagined, the girls’ secret is threatened with exposure and Mara’s world is thrown into chaos.

Mara knows she can't live without Xylia, but can she live with an entire town who believes she is an abomination worse than the gravest sin?

The description doesn't mention Henry, the Native character. Here's what I see in Amazon's "look inside."

We meet Henry at the start of chapter 4:

There's a new freshman named Henry at our school. He's an Indian who moved from the reservation. His father came here to work at the prison, not as a guard, but as a janitor. Henry has no mother. No one knows why for sure. Some people say she drowned herself when he was little, right after his baby brother drowned in the tub. But I don't know if that's true. People talk a lot, and only half of it has any basis in reality.

What I do know is that Henry has long braids, black and shiny like licorice whips. Daddy said Henry's father fought the school for Henry's right to keep his braids and they agreed because they needed his tuition money. That pissed Daddy off so much, he drank all night and punched out a window. "It's a disgrace for a man to have long hair!" he bellowed. "It says right there in the first Corinthians. They call that place a Christian school? The little fucker probably worships rocks and trees and wolves and shit."

Daddy isn't alone in his convictions. All the boys at school hate Henry. Especially Elijah Winchell. I heard that in the bathrooms, they shove him up against the wall and call him gay. Also, people say he wears tighty-whities, which is weird because, apparently, most boys wear boxers these days. Not that I'd know from personal experience, but everyone seems to agree on it.

Mara feels bad for him. By the end of the chapter, she's invited him to her birthday party. He accepts her invitation. The last line in the chapter is this:

And that is how I ended up with a genuine Indian coming to my birthday.

I'll order a copy and will be back once I've read it.

Not Recommended: THE SECRET PROJECT by Jonah Winter and Jeanette Winter

Eds. Note on Oct 19, 2017: For a more in-depth review than the one below, see Still Not Recommended: The Secret Project. 

Eds. Note on 3/27/17: This review (below) was posted on a popular children's literature website but removed. For details, see What Happened to A Second Perspective at All the Wonders?



A reader wrote to ask if I've seen The Secret Project by Jonah Winter and Jeanette Winter. 

It was going into my "Debbie--have you seen series" but when I looked it up, I got a copy right away. Why? Because it has several starred reviews, and because its setting is so close to Nambe Pueblo (my tribal nation, and where I grew up is about 30 miles away).

The Secret Project came out in February of 2017 from Beach Lane Books, which is part of Simon and Schuster. It is a picture book for kids in grades K-3. 

Here's the synopsis:

Mother-son team Jonah and Jeanette Winter bring to life one of the most secretive scientific projects in history—the creation of the atomic bomb—in this powerful and moving picture book.

At a former boy’s school in the remote desert of New Mexico, the world’s greatest scientists have gathered to work on the “Gadget,” an invention so dangerous and classified they cannot even call it by its real name. They work hard, surrounded by top security and sworn to secrecy, until finally they take their creation far out into the desert to test it, and afterward the world will never be the same.

The Secret Project is getting a lot of starred reviews for its content and illustrations. Of course, I'm reading it from a Native point of view. Or, to be more specific, the point of view of a Pueblo Indian woman whose ancestors have been in that "remote desert of New Mexico" for thousands of years. 

The opening pages depict a boys school, all alone in the middle of a "desert mountain landscape":

That school was the Los Alamos Ranch School. The boys shown are definitely not from the communities of northern New Mexico at that time. In the Author's Note, the school is described as being an elite private academy (elsewhere, I read that William Borrough's went there). It was, and its history is interesting, too. What bothers me about those two pages, however, is that they suggest there was nothing there at all. It is like the text in Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. All through that area, there are ancestral homes of Pueblo Indians. Depicting the school that way adds to the idea that the site where the bomb would be developed was isolated, but depicting it that way also erases Native people. 

The government wanted the school and that area to do research, so the boys school had to close. The scientists moved in. We read that "nobody knows they are there." Who is nobody? It was, as the Winter's tell us, a secret project. But people who lived in the area knew it was there. They may not have known what was going on, but they knew it was there. If, by "nobody," we are meant to think "citizens of the world minus those who lived there" then yes, nobody knew (but again, nobody is relevant, even to them). 

We read that in "the faraway nearby" places, people didn't know the scientists were there. 

Artists, specifically, don't know they are there. The first image is meant to represent Georgia O'Keefe who lived in Abiquiu, which is about 50 miles away. It--I guess--is a "nearby" place. 

Then, there's this page:

The text on that page reads "Outside the laboratory, in the faraway nearby, Hopi Indians are carving beautiful dolls out of wood as they have done for centuries."

Hopi? That's over 300 miles away in Arizona. Technically, it could be the "faraway" place the Winter's are talking about, but why go all the way there? San Ildefonso Pueblo is 17 miles away from Los Alamos. Why, I wonder, did the Winter's choose Hopi? I wonder, too, what the take-away is for people who read the word "dolls" on that page? On the next page, one of those dolls is shown hovering over the lodge where scientists are working all night. What will readers make of that? 

On an ensuing page, we see the scientists take a break by going to "the nearby town" on what looks like a dirt road. That town is meant to be Santa Fe, and that particular illustration is meant to depict the plaza where Native artists sell their work (there's a Native woman shown, holding a piece of pottery). It wasn't a dirt road, though. By then, Santa Fe had paved roads. Showing it as a dirt road contributes to the isolated nature of where the scientists were doing their work, but it isn't accurate. 

Like many reviewers, I think the ending is provocative. The Secret Project ends with the test of the atomic bomb, at the Trinity site. As the bomb explodes, the scientists watch from a bunker, far away. The bomb's explosion fills the last page. That's it. No more story. I think some readers will think "AWESOME" and others will think it horrible. The author's note is next. It has information about the radiation that explosion left behind, how long it will be there, and that now, studies of the cancer it caused in citizens near there, are being done. 

I think children should have books about subjects like the development of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but they ought to be inclusive of -- in this case -- Native peoples who lived and live in and around Los Alamos. As is, the book yanks those readers out of the book. And, it misleads readers who don't know the area or its history. 

I suspect that people will defend it, telling me or others that "it is important that kids know about the bomb" and that my concern over its misrepresentations are of less importance than knowing about the bomb. With that defense, however, it will be among the ever-growing pile of books in which this or that topic is more important than Native people. 

The irony, of course, is that this universe of books is one in which books are written and published by people who are occupying Native homelands. 

Published in 2017 by Beach Lane Books/Simon and Schuster, I do not recommend Jonah and Jeanette Winter's The Secret Project. 

Update, March 22 2017, 1:45 PM

Back to insert comments from Dr. Jeff Berglund, a friend and colleague who teaches at Northern Arizona University. He said, in part (read his entire comment below):

"I have another issue with the Hopi panel: the majority of Hopi men during the 19th and through the mid-20th century had cut hair with bangs, quite distinct and different from the carver depicted. This is a simplistic stereotypical rendering of a Native man."

Update, March 22 2017, 3:30 PM

Another colleague--actually, she's more of a member of my family--wrote to tell me about a 2015 Walking Tour document of Los Alamos. Take a look. Here's an enlarged piece of the document, showing item 9:

I looked around a bit and found this photo of it from a running and travel blog, whose post says it is right behind Fuller Lodge:

Update, March 23, 2017

The folks at All the Wonders asked if they could put my review on their page about The Secret Project as a "Second Perspective." That's a terrific idea! Readers there can listen to the podcast review, read interviews with the author and his mother--and read my critical review, too. Here's a peek. Go there and see it, and thanks, All the Wonders for adding it.

Update, March 25, 2017

My review is no longer at the All the Wonders website. For details, see What Happened to "A Second Perspective" at All the Wonders? 

Debbie--have you seen Sara Biren's THE LAST THING YOU SAID?

A reader wrote to ask if I've seen
Sara Biren's The Last Thing You Said. 

Biren's young adult novel is due out on
April 4, 2017 from Amulet Books
(which is part of Abrams Books).

Here's the description:

Last summer, Lucy’s and Ben’s lives changed in an instant. One moment, they were shyly flirting on a lake raft, finally about to admit their feelings to each other after years of yearning. In the next, Trixie—Lucy’s best friend and Ben’s sister—was gone, her heart giving out during a routine swim. And just like that, the idyllic world they knew turned upside down, and the would-be couple drifted apart, swallowed up by their grief. Now it’s a year later in their small lake town, and as the anniversary of Trixie’s death looms, Lucy and Ben’s undeniable connection pulls them back together. They can’t change what happened the day they lost Trixie, but the summer might finally bring them closer to healing—and to each other.

The Last Thing You Said got a starred review from Kirkus, but the reader who wrote to me noted these two lines from School Library Journal's review:

However, the appropriation of an Inuit cultural practice, inuksuk, as a symbol for the two white teens' relationship is a poor choice. VERDICT Cultural appropriation mars an otherwise promising debut that's recommended for libraries with a high demand for romance.

Both Kirkus and SLJ note that the book is set in Minnesota. Inuksuk in Minnesota? Are there inuksuk there? And if so, why? From what I am able to glean online, tourists started making them...  

I'll look for a copy and be back with a review.

Debbie--have you seen Ruby Slipperjack's THE RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL DIARY OF VIOLET PESHEENS?

A reader wrote to ask if I've seen Ruby Slipperjack's The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens. Published by Scholastic in its Dear Canada series, this one is set in Northern Ontario, Canada, 1966.

Here's the synopsis from the Scholastic website:

Violet Pesheens is struggling to adjust to her new life at Residential School. She misses her Grandma; she has run-ins with Cree girls; at her “white” school, everyone just stares; and everything she brought has been taken from her, including her name—she is now just a number. But worst of all, she has a fear. A fear of forgetting the things she treasures most: her Anishnabe language; the names of those she knew before; and her traditional customs. A fear of forgetting who she was.

Her notebook is the one place she can record all of her worries, and heartbreaks, and memories. And maybe, just maybe there will be hope at the end of the tunnel.

Drawing from her own experiences at Residential School, Ruby Slipperjack creates a brave, yet heartbreaking heroine in Violet, and lets young readers glimpse into an all-too important chapter in our nation’s history.

I hope I am able to get a copy! Because this is an #OwnVoices book, I look forward to it.

Debbie--have you seen the SPIRIT ANIMALS series published by Scholastic?

Among the many books I have on the towering to-be-read pile is the Spirit Animals series published by Scholastic. Here's a bit of info about it, from the website:

The series centers on the fantasy world of Erdas where children who come of age go through a ritual to determine if they have a “spirit animal,” a mystical bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. As their world crumbles, four children separated by vast distances discover they each have a spirit animal—a wolf, a leopard, a panda, and a falcon. 

Yesterday on Twitter, Lex Leonov asked me if I'd reviewed them:

She had a series of tweets about the series. With her permission, I am sharing them here:

Wow. Just learned about this "Spirit Animals" book series that includes best selling authors. This is not okay. 

Looks like MG. @debreese, I don't see this on AICL, but I might've missed it. Are you aware of the series?

From the blurb of the first book: "... every child who comes of age must discover if they have a spirit animal, a rare bond between..." -->

"... human and beast that bestows great powers to both."

Also in that blurb: "Part engrossing book series, part action role-playing game -- discover your spirit animal and join the adventure."

There are so many things wrong with this. Many Native people have already explained why in depth. Research those threads, blogs, books, etc.

Kids are going to read these books and think it's okay to "ROLE PLAY" having a spirit animal. It is not. This is not ours to take. -->

For these to be published means the most basic research, the most basic respect, was absent. Do. not. do. this.

In 2016, Julie Murphy, author of the acclaimed Dumplin' wrote, on her Tumblr, about her decision to remove "spirit animal" from future printings of her book. Refinery29 has an article about Kerry Washington using it, and then apologizing for using it. 

I wrote about the spirit animals in Shusterman's Unwind series and in those quizzes that invite you to find out your spirit animal.  This idea is everywhere as a "Native American" thing. It is, in fact, specific to some Native nations, but not all, and it has significance. I know... you might really be touched by Native peoples and Native ways, and you just want to impart that to your readers... 

You may think you'll do some research and find out the right way to use spirit animals in your story, but why use it at all? There are other choices. 

Native ways of being aren't something "cool" for writers to use in their stories, even if their stories are about Native people. If a Native writer, writing from within their own ways, chooses to use it, that's one thing. Others, though? No. It is one of the too-many aspects of Native peoples in the US and Canada that is mis-used, and yes, appropriated. 

Debbie--have you seen REZ RUNAWAY by Melanie Florence?

Yesterday's review of Melanie Florence's Missing Nimama generated a lot of private email and social media from Native people who are uncomfortable with it but didn't want to say anything. I also got two emails asking if I've seen her Rez Runaway. Published in 2016 in Canada, with a 2017 publication year in the US, it is in Lorimer's reluctant reader "Side Streets" series. Here's the synopsis:

Raised on a reserve in northern Ontario, seventeen-year-old Joe Littlechief tries to be like the other guys. But Joe knows he's different -- he's more interested in guys than in any of the girls he knows. One night Joe makes a drunken pass at his best friend Benjy and, by the next morning, everyone on the rez is talking about Joe. His mother, a devout Christian, is horrified, and the kids who are supposed to be his friends make it clear there's no place for him in their circle, or even on the rez. Joe thinks about killing himself, but instead runs away to the city.

Alone and penniless on the streets of Toronto, Joe comes to identify with the Aboriginal idea of having two spirits, or combining both feminine and masculine identities in one person. He also begins to understand more about how his parents have been affected by their own experiences as children in residential schools -- something never discussed on the rez. And he realizes he has to come to terms with his two-spiritedness and find people who accept him for who he is.

I've ordered a copy and will review it when it arrives. There is next to nothing available right now that accurately portrays Native LGBTQ teens. Though emily m. danforth's The Miseducation of Cameron Post is quite popular, the Native parts of it were not well done. That really bothers me! Sometime soon, I'll be back with a review of Rez Runaway. 

Debbie--have you seen THE CRYING ROCKS by Janet Taylor Lisle?

A colleague wrote to ask if I've seen anything about Janet Taylor Lisle's The Crying Rocks. It is due out in May of 2017 from Simon and Schuster.

Here's the description:

From Newbery Honor author Janet Taylor Lisle comes a lyrical story about one girl’s discovery of her startling past—and her search to understand her complicated present.

Joelle’s height and dark skin set her apart from everyone in Marshfield. It’s no secret that she’s adopted, but where is she from? Aunt Mary Louise says she came from Chicago on a freight train, but the story doesn’t sit right with Joelle. There’s something more. She feels it.

Carlos, the quiet boy in Joelle’s Spanish class, sees it. When he tells her that she looks like a girl in the town library’s old mural of Narragansett Indians, Joelle can’t help sneaking a look. She’s surprised by a flicker of recognition. And when Carlos tells her about the Crying Rocks, where the ghosts of Narragansett children are said to cry for their lost mothers, Joelle knows she must visit them.

When they finally set out through the forest, neither she nor Carlos anticipates the power of the ancient place, or the revelations to be found there—about the pasts they’ve both buried, and the discovery of a rare kind of courage that runs deep in Joelle’s family.

As I started some of the background research about the book, I went to Lisle's website and saw that it isn't a new book. It got awards and honors in 2004 and 2006. Here's an excerpt Lisle has on her website:

“What was that?” Carlos asks.
Joelle listens but hears nothing, only the sound of wind kicking branches overhead. "What?”
“A scream. Did you hear it?”
She shakes her head. "No. Nothing."

Carlos listens again. “Somewhere over there is a mass of glacial boulders called the Crying Rocks.” His face, in shadow, has taken on a stern, gaunt look. For the first time, Joelle sees, or imagines she sees, a vague outline of his Indian ancestry—something about his nose and the slope of his forehead. He is gazing intently into the forest.

“The story is that when you pass by these rocks at certain times, you hear children crying,” he says.
“Children! What children?”
Around them, tree shadows flick and twist.
“Ghosts of Indian children,” Carlos says. “They were killed there or something. A long time ago.”
“It's getting so dark,” Joelle murmurs.
In that moment an eerie feeling descends on them both.
“Let's get out of here,” Carlos whispers.

Why is it being republished? Did it get revised? Or is it being reissued with a new cover, with expectations that in this moment of diverse books, it'll do well? It isn't an #OwnVoices story... and what I read of that excerpt... well, let's say I'm not optimistic.

Here's an old cover and the new one:

If I hadn't done this background research, I might have bought the book when I don't need to... my library likely has a copy. If I read it, I'll be back.

Update (same day) -- a quick note: Some of the book is available online. I read that Carlos is "about one sixteenth or something" Sioux from "out West" (p. 15).

Debbie--have you seen STONE MIRRORS: THE SCUPTURE AND SILENCE OF EDMONIA LEWIS, by Jeannine Atkins

A reader asked me if I'd seen Jeannine Atkins Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Jones. It is due out in January from Atheneum Books for Young Readers--which is part of Simon and Schuster. Here's the description, from Amazon:

From critically acclaimed author Jeannine Atkins comes a gorgeous, haunting biographical novel in verse about a half Native American, half African American sculptor working in the years following the Civil War.

A sculptor of historical figures starts with givens but creates her own vision. Edmonia Lewis was just such a sculptor, but she never spoke or wrote much about her past, and the stories that have come down through time are often vague or contradictory. Some facts are known: Edmonia was the daughter of an Ojibwe woman and an African-Haitian man. She had the rare opportunity to study art at Oberlin, one of the first schools to admit women and people of color, but lost her place after being accused of poisoning and theft, despite being acquitted of both. She moved to Boston and eventually Italy, where she became a successful sculptor.

But the historical record is very thin. The open questions about Edmonia’s life seem ideally suited to verse, a form that is comfortable with mysteries. Inspired by both the facts and the gaps in history, author Jeannine Atkins imagines her way into a vision of what might have been.

Kirkus and Booklist gave it starred reviews. As far as I can tell, Atkins doesn't have Ojibwe or African American heritage. In her blog post about Stone Mirrors, she shares a poem she wrote for the jacket flap. Here's the first paragraph:

Edmonia Lewis
studies faces for truth
or lies, checks classrooms
for safety or traps.
She's sixteen, the daughter
of an Ojibwe woman
and a free man of color who crosses
the country's border for safety
before the war between North and South.

I've ordered a copy. Hopefully I'll be back with a "recommended" tag.

Debbie--have you seen Nathan Hale's ALAMO ALL-STARS?

A reader wrote to ask if I've seen Nathan Hale's Alamo All-Stars. New in 2016 from Amulet, it is book six in Hale's "Hazardous Tales" series of graphic novels. Here's the synopsis:

In the early 1800s, Texas was a wild and dangerous land fought over by the Mexican government, Native Americans, and settlers from the United States. Beginning with the expeditions of the so-called “Land Pirates,” through the doomed stand at the Alamo, and ending with the victory over Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, the entire Texas saga is on display. Leading the charge to settle this new frontier is Stephen F. Austin, with a cast of dangerous and colorful characters, including Jim Bowie, William Travis, David Crockett, and others.

I didn't know about this series, but it is quite popular. I'll see if I can get a copy at the library.

Debbie--have you seen CONTINENT by Kiera Drake?

I received a question about The Continent by Kiera Drake. Due out in January from Harlequin Teen, here's the synopsis from Amazon:

"Have we really come so far, when a tour of the Continent is so desirable a thing? We've traded our swords for treaties, our daggers for promises—but our thirst for violence has never been quelled. And that's the crux of it: it can't be quelled. It's human nature." 

For her sixteenth birthday, Vaela Sun receives the most coveted gift in all the Spire—a trip to the Continent. It seems an unlikely destination for a holiday: a cold, desolate land where two "uncivilized" nations remain perpetually locked in combat. Most citizens lucky enough to tour the Continent do so to observe the spectacle and violence of war, a thing long banished in the Spire. For Vaela—a talented apprentice cartographer—the journey is a dream come true: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve upon the maps she's drawn of this vast, frozen land. 

But Vaela's dream all too quickly turns to a nightmare as the journey brings her face-to-face with the brutal reality of a war she's only read about. Observing from the safety of a heli-plane, Vaela is forever changed by the bloody battle waging far beneath her. And when a tragic accident leaves her stranded on the Continent, Vaela finds herself much closer to danger than she'd ever imagined. Starving, alone and lost in the middle of a war zone, Vaela must try to find a way home—but first, she must survive.

Sounds awful, doesn't it? People who live in "the Spire" covet the opportunity to watch people on "the Continent" engage in bloody violence. Those two "uncivilized nations" on "the Continent" can't help it. It is their nature.

There's a lot of people tweeting about it. From what I glean, one of the "uncivilized nations" is described in ways that suggest it is Asian and that the other one is Native. If I get the book, I'll be back.

Updating on Nov 7, 2016 to add the Storify I did on the response to criticism of Drake's book:

by Debbie_Reese

41 minutes ago

A Native Perspective on Response to Kiera Drake's THE CONTINENT

Subtitle

1. I started to see conversations about Kiera Drake's The Continent on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. The next day, I started a thread about what I was seeing.
2. My remarks, as the title for this Storify indicate, are from a Native perspective. For those who don't know who I am, I'm tribally enrolled at Nambe Pueblo. I'm a former schoolteacher and assistant professor in American Indian Studies. I've got a PhD in Education, and a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science. I have research and professional articles in a wide range of books, journals, and magazines. I bring all that to bear on the analyses I do of children's and young adult literature.
3. 

   Debbie Reese@debreese

   If you follow YA twitter, you likely know that people are talking about Kiera Drake's THE CONTINENT. Some use the hashtag #TheContinent.

   2 DAYS AGO
4. By then, I'd gotten some questions about it from readers of my site. Based on those questions, I did one of the "Debbie--have you seen" posts about it:
5. Debbie--have you seen CONTINENT by Kiera Drake?

   Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

   

   AMERICANINDIANSINCHILDRENSLITERATURE
6. 

   Debbie Reese@debreese

   The ways Drake depicts Native and characters of color is why people are talking about her book. My copy of #TheContinent is in the mail.

   2 DAYS AGO

   REPLYRETWEETFAVORITE
7. 

   Debbie Reese@debreese

   Based on what I've seen in screen caps and excerpts, I am likely to agree that the book is a wreck.

   2 DAYS AGO
8. What I saw, specifically, were Justina Ireland's photographs of passages in her ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book.
10. 

    ...I mean, this isn't a great leap of logic here... pic.twitter.com/qJ0fsCaNqa

    JUSTINA IRELAND@JUSTINAIRELAND

    ·

    4 DAYS AGO
11. Justina's "great leap of logic" was about Drake using "Topi" as the name of the Indigenous nation. Change that letter T to an H an you've got Hopi. The Hopi Tribe is a federally recognized sovereign nation in Arizona.
12. 

    Feeling preeeety lucky the one black dude was the groundskeeper right about now. pic.twitter.com/YmOiu06eey

    JUSTINA IRELAND@JUSTINAIRELAND

    ·

    4 DAYS AGO
13. Justina's critique drew a lot of attention, with a lot of people condemning The Continent based on her critique. There were, of course, a lot of responses from people who said those who hadn't read The Continent, or, who hadn't finished reading it, shouldn't say anything at all about it.
14. That response reminded me of work I did on Martina Boone's Compulsion, so I shared links to my review of it and an especially powerful comment.
15. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    This "read the whole book" request is one that is put forth a lot. In summer of 2015, I read Martina Boone's COMPULSION. Did you?

    2 DAYS AGO
16. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    COMPULSION is the 2nd in a 3 book series from Simon Pulse (Simon and Schuster). It has problems, too: … https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2015/06/martina-boones-compulsion.html …

    2 DAYS AGO
17. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    In an interview, Boone said that all of this mess would be resolved in book 3.

    2 DAYS AGO
18. 

    I received an anonymous comment to my review of COMPULSION that applies to Drake's #TheContinent: pic.twitter.com/lLQb0Uzqnp

    DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

    ·

    2 DAYS AGO
19. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    I hope writers reading this thread on #TheContinent will share that anonymous comment with fellow writers.

    2 DAYS AGO
20. The conversation about The Continent is taking place in November, which is designated--by Presidential Proclamation--as Native American Heritage Month. Overall, I think designated months (or days) for this or that are best used to share resources and SHOUT that books by Native writers should be used all year long. So, I shared some terrific books.
21. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    I have a request. If you've been tweeting about #TheContinent, could you take time to also boost Native writers?

    2 DAYS AGO
22. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Or, maybe you're not tweeting about #TheContinent, but are nodding in agreement with criticism of it... can you boost Native writers?

    2 DAYS AGO
23. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    It is #nativeamericanheritagemonth. See #IndigenousReads or #NativeReads or #HonouringIndigenousWriters for some suggestions.

    2 DAYS AGO
24. Here's some: pic.twitter.com/y94uA6hlex

    DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

    ·

    2 DAYS AGO
25. And here's some more: pic.twitter.com/8D5UCwXmCn

    DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

    ·

    2 DAYS AGO
26. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    The last two tweets are bks/stories in science fiction/fantasy, by @CynLeitichSmith, @aaronpaquette, @JosephBruchac, @TheDHTaylor...

    2 DAYS AGO
27. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    ... @ShiningComic, @DaveAlexRoberts, and so many others! Get the books! Know their names! They do write other books, too.

    2 DAYS AGO
28. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    It is crucial that people move away from thinking abt how they can "honor" Native ppl w a story they write abt us, to BUYING BOOKS WE WRITE!

    2 DAYS AGO
29. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Instead of writing a Native character or Native content into your story so you can "help" or "honor" Native ppl, buy bks by Native writers.

    2 DAYS AGO
30. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Instead of honoring us by writing Native characters/content in your stories, buy and read stories by Native writers.

    2 DAYS AGO
31. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    And get some for younger sibs or nieces/nephews! Here's 30:  http://www.firstnations.org/HeritageMonth2016 … #NativeReads

    2 DAYS AGO
32. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    I'm picturing you all, driving to your local bookstore with the list in hand and not finding them on the shelves there...

    2 DAYS AGO
33. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    And given your reaction to #TheContinent, I'm picturing you walking to the order desk with the list in hand and asking for the books.

    2 DAYS AGO
34. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    My guess is you will probably get them online. If so, please consider getting them from @birchbarkbooks.

    2 DAYS AGO
35. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    If you DO go to your local store and look for them, could you please come back to Twitter and this thread and tell us abt your experience?

    2 DAYS AGO
36. Then, I asked people to go read Justina's thread. I'm asking you (who are reading this Storify) to go read her thread, too.
37. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    If you're wondering how you can learn more abt #TheContinent, see @justinaireland's thread here:  https://twitter.com/justinaireland/status/794365973159677952 …

    2 DAYS AGO
38. In response to her critique, some childish and vicious things happened:
39. 

    These are not reviews. They are personal attacks driven by childish motives. Who are you, "Meg"? pic.twitter.com/KrVgf4I9FE

    DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

    ·

    2 DAYS AGO
40. I asked if people had seen those attacks on Justina, and, if they'd read that someone wrote to her editor, Jordan Brown. I linked to his response. Click through and read what he said.
41. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    And that someone wrote to Justina Ireland's editor, anonymously?  https://twitter.com/thisjordanbrown/status/794945632687587332 …

    2 DAYS AGO
42. As I continued to follow all this, I remembered another book from Harlequin Teen:
44. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    But, to return to #TheContinent. The publisher is @HarlequinTEEN. In 2014, they published HOOKED, which was a mess: … https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2014/01/hooked-by-liz-fichera.html …

    2 DAYS AGO
45. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    A colleague, @BishopNaomi reviewed it, too: … https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2014/01/naomi-bishop-native-librarian-reviews.html …@HarlequinTEEN isn't doing well at all w Native representations.

    2 DAYS AGO
46. Lest anyone think these problems are rare, I took time to point to Raina Telgemeier's Ghosts, which is a best seller that misrepresents the missions in California and Dia de Los Muertos.
47. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    I know people love Raina. With good reason. But... she messed up in GHOSTS. See @booktoss review  https://booktoss.wordpress.com/2016/09/18/ghosts-swing-and-a-hard-miss/ … or, see...

    2 DAYS AGO
48. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    ... my review of Telgemeier's GHOSTS:… https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2016/09/not-recommended-ghosts-by-raina.html … or the post that @yuyimorales did:  http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/2016/11/day-of-dead-ghosts-and-work-we-do-as.html …

    2 DAYS AGO
49. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    As far as I can tell, @farre is the first to write a critical rev of GHOSTS:  http://www.teenservicesunderground.com/a-look-at-ghosts/ … That is 4 Native/WOC saying no to it.

    2 DAYS AGO
50. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    If you pay attn to graphic novels, you know Telgemeier is at the very top in terms of sales. GHOSTS first run was 500,000 copies.

    2 DAYS AGO
51. In the conversations about The Continent I began to read that Kiera Drake had sensitivity readers who'd read her manuscript.
52. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Author of Harlequin Teen's HOOKED had sensitivity readers too, but it was also a fail. White saviors.  https://twitter.com/youandyourego/status/795110029598724096 …

    A DAY AGO
53. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    With #TheContinent author ref to sensitivity readers, I am sharing old post abt beta readers. @tinytempest… https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-writers-and-editors-some-cautions.html?m=1 …

    A DAY AGO
54. On Sunday morning, I picked up the thread again. Sometime on Saturday night, Drake posted a statement to her blog.
55. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    5:00 AM, 11/6/17: Adding to the thread I started yesterday, on #TheContinent by Kiera Drake, to add to what others said overnight.

    A DAY AGO
56. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Drake posted a response to conversations about her book:  http://keiradrake.com/response/ . What she says in it make things worse, not better.

    A DAY AGO
57. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    My guess is she had friends look it over, which tells us there's a lot of ignorance out there. Course, some of us know that ignorance.

    A DAY AGO
58. I shared examples of things that I think a lot of people never see, because they're living in bubbles of Whiteness that blind them to what I and a lot of other people see all the time.
59. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Some of us see it ever time we turn to a sports channel (think: Cleveland mascot), or, walk by dairy case (think: Land of Lakes maiden).

    A DAY AGO
60. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Or, when we walked into a Halloween costume store (think: "Indian" costumes). And now, everywhere (think: Pilgrims/Indians narrative).

    A DAY AGO
61. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    My guess is that Drake and those defending her, and those at Harlequin who had eyes on her manuscript, don't see any of that.

    A DAY AGO
62. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    My social media feeds are full of updates from #NoDAPL. I wonder if Drake, her friends, and ppl at Harlequin know what is going on there?

    A DAY AGO
63. On Friday, I'd wondered if Little House on the Prairie was one of Drake's favorites. In her statement, Drake told us that Lord of the Rings is a favorite and that it influenced her work on The Continent:
64. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Anyway, in her response to criticism of #TheContinent, Drake said one of her favorite books is Lord of the Rings. The "Topi" are savage...

    A DAY AGO
65. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    ... like the Uruk-Hai. On Nov 4, I wondered if LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE might be one of her favorite books:  https://twitter.com/debreese/status/794591755760963584 …

    A DAY AGO
66. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    You could read through that thread. I think LITTLE HOUSE is one of the worst books ever, because it is so widely & uncritically, embraced.

    A DAY AGO
67. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    With Drake's disclosure that LORD OF THE RINGS is a fav that she reads once/yr, I think it is the same thing, causing same problems.

    A DAY AGO
68. Native writer @CyborgN8VMari used Justina's photo and two others to create a powerful image that challenges Drake's claim that she wasn't thinking of Native peoples when she created the Indigenous people in The Continent:
70. When you read this passage ask yourself which one you really imagine. pic.twitter.com/2qkPrLeBqi

    MARI∞NAKAWĒ #NODAPL@CYBORGN8VMARI

    ·

    A DAY AGO
71. Here's a screen capture of Drake's post:
72. 

    In her statement, Drake says she and her editors are revisiting the manuscript.  http://keiradrake.com/response/  pic.twitter.com/neVtY6l58G

    DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

    ·

    A DAY AGO
73. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    That suggests to me she thinks they can take out phrases like "painted face" and "reddish-brown" skin and it will all be ok.

    A DAY AGO
74. I do not think it will be ok. Changing phrases will not change the underlying premise of the book.
76. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    If @HarlequinTEEN decides to hold off on their planned Jan release of #TheContinent, it will join @Candlewick re WHEN WE WAS FIERCE.

    A DAY AGO
77. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    . #TheContinent is due out on Jan 3, 2016. If Harlequin releases it & pulls it later, it'll be like A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON.

    A DAY AGO
78. Here's another part of Drake's post about her book:
79. 

    Setting #TheContinent itself aside, I join others who noted that Drake's response included a claim to having Native American heritage. pic.twitter.com/qbZvNc0oo6

    DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

    ·

    A DAY AGO
80. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    She said "nationality and race." Is "race" in there because of the Native American part of who she is? If so, I wonder if she knows that...

    A DAY AGO
81. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    ... we're nations of people.

    A DAY AGO
82. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    And of course, claiming "Native American" rather than a specific nation tells us a lot, too. Does she not know, specifically?

    A DAY AGO
83. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Drake offers up pride in her "Native American" ancestry in the same paragraph where she said the savage Topi in #TheContinent aren't Native.

    A DAY AGO
84. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    I guess she's telling us she wouldn't create savage Natives because she's Native herself.

    A DAY AGO
85. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    That's a fail, too. Read @Kate_Hart's thread on that. She wrote it some time ago and shared it again last night.  https://twitter.com/Kate_Hart/status/795099994260967425 …

    A DAY AGO
86. And, another screen capture. This part is about sensitivity readers:
87. 

    Drake's statement about #TheContinent also says she had sensitivity readers on the manuscript: pic.twitter.com/dNv92rgWoP

    DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

    ·

    A DAY AGO
88. I pointed to a post I wrote about who you (writers/editors) hire to do vetting, or, sensitivity reads. In short: readers take your work seriously. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by getting sensitivity readers who can't, or won't, give you the critical feedback you need.
89. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Who you have, writers/editors, as sensitivity readers, is important. I wrote about that in 2015: … https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-writers-and-editors-some-cautions.html …

    A DAY AGO
90. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    I did vetting for awhile and then quit. It was too exhausting to have the same conversations over and over with writers.

    A DAY AGO
91. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    During the night, @swingingstorm shared her experience. Go read it:  https://twitter.com/swingingstorm/status/795124418481635328 …

    A DAY AGO
92. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    As I noted yesterday, @HarlequinTEEN failed in 2014 with HOOKED: … https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2014/01/hooked-by-liz-fichera.html …

    A DAY AGO
93. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Two years ago, I asked an editor at a major house if the editors of that house ever sit down together & talk abt all this. The answer? No.

    A DAY AGO
94. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    Remember the Lee & Low diversity survey that @readingspark and ppl at @LEEandLOW did?  http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015-diversity-baseline-survey-results/ …

    A DAY AGO
95. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    I think the many levels of fail of #TheContinent can be attributed to lack of diverse staff AND ignorance of staff, at Harlequin.

    A DAY AGO
96. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    To Kiera Drake, I'd say, your educational system failed you. From early childhood to university, people failed to educate you.

    A DAY AGO
97. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    My saying that is not an effort to hold you blameless. Anyone writing a bk like yours MUST read critical writings abt privilege/race/nation.

    A DAY AGO
98. 

    Debbie Reese@debreese

    So should your editors and all those who gave and are giving your manuscript rave reviews at Goodreads.

    A DAY AGO
99. From another of Justina's tweets (this was a photo of the acknowledgements), I read that Natashya Wilson was Drake's editor.
100. 

     Debbie Reese@debreese

     Drake thanks her editor, Natashya Wilson, who is exec editor at @HarlequinTEEN :  http://www.harlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=1403&chapter=0 …

     A DAY AGO
101. Curious, I looked back at Hooked to see if, by any chance, Wilson had been the editor of it, too. Fichera acknowledged Wilson but didn't say she was the editor. Re-reading Fichera's note, however, I decided to share this screen cap of it.
103. 

     I see that Wilson was editor of HOOKED, which had problems. Oh, and this in acknowledgements from its author (Fichera): pic.twitter.com/FfdsctF3Ik

     DEBBIE REESE@DEBREESE

     ·

     A DAY AGO
104. 

     Debbie Reese@debreese

     Which prompts me to ask Native friends/colleagues: just how do YOU share your "enduring spirit" with white people?

     A DAY AGO
105. 

     Debbie Reese@debreese

     And of course, dear Native friends, how do you share your "beautiful cultures and lands" with white people?

     A DAY AGO
106. 

     Debbie Reese@debreese

     Fichera's thank you is sick. It reminds me of picture bks abt Thanksgiving where Pilgrims thank Indians for sharing land, resources, etc.

     A DAY AGO
107. 

     Debbie Reese@debreese

     I'm pretty sure Natashya Wilson at @HarlequinTEEN is following all this abt #TheContinent. I want to hear from her abt it, and HOOKED, too.

     A DAY AGO
108. Later on Sunday, I saw that a petition was circulating:
109. 

     Debbie Reese@debreese

     Newest dev re #TheContinent: petition to @HarlequinTEEN asking it be delayed:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/942/983/744/delay-publication-of-the-continent/ … At 1:38PM on 11/6/16, 106 signed.

     19 HOURS AGO
110. I also saw tweets from another person who was reading The Continent:
111. 

     Tell me again how this isn't a White Savior narrative pic.twitter.com/azfzqkl2m0

     🎄MASON™🎄@AMZNGBOOKSHELF

     ·

     21 HOURS AGO
112. This morning (Monday, Nov 7), I see that @amzngbookshelf has posted a review:
113. REVIEW: The Continent

     For her sixteenth birthday, Vaela Sun receives the most coveted gift in all the Spire—a trip to the Continent. It seems an unlikely destination for a holiday: a cold, desolate land where two “unciv…

     

     THE AMAZING BOOKSHELF
114. When I get my copy, I'll read and review it. As usual, I will focus on the Native content. If the publisher and Drake decide to withdraw the book, my review will still be useful to writers who are doing similar stories--or contemplating doing one.
115.