AICL's Recommended/Not Recommended reads in 2014

I received a request from a person asking if I could write up a comprehensive list of books I read during 2014, with links to the page on which I wrote about the book. This isn't a list of books published in 2014. It is books I read in that year. Some are old, some are new. I'm bleary eyed from working on the list. I think it is complete but I may have missed some thing!

Some of you may look at the books on the Not Recommended list and say to yourself "Really?! You set a high bar!" or something like that. Keep in mind that I read within a larger context than just one book. John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, for example, has one passage about Native people. We could argue about its merit (as took place in the comments!) but I read such passages within a societal context that continues to publish books and media that misrepresent Native peoples. It isn't just one book. It is lots of little bits in lots of books. It adds up to a whole lot of misrepresentation.

Recommended

• Anderson, Laurie Halse. (2014). The Impossible Knife of Memory. Young adult, published by Viking.
• Angutinngurniq, Jose. (2012). The Giant Bear: An Inuit Folktale. Picture book, published by Inhabit Media. 
• Boney, Roy. (2014). We Speak in Secret. Comic book, published by Indigenous Narratives Collective.
• Bruchac, Joseph. (2014). Killer of Enemies. Young adult, published by Tu Books. Update on Sep 30 2023: I (Debbie Reese) no longer recommend Bruchac's work. For details see Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?
• Charleyboy, Lisa and Mary Leatherdale. (2014). Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. Young adult, published by Annick Press. 
• Christopher, Danny and Mia Pelletier. (2014). A Children's Guide to Arctic Birds. Nonfiction picture book, published by Inhabit Media.
• Flett, Julie. (2014). We All Count. Picture book, published by Native Northwest.
• Flynn, K.V. (2014). On The Move. Middle grade/Young adult, published by Wynnpix Productions.
• Gansworth, Eric. (2014). If I Ever Get Out Of Here. Middle grade, published by Arthur A. Levine.
• Kalluk, Celina. (2014). Sweetest Kulu. Picture book, published by Inhabit Media.
• Leitich Smith, Cynthia. (2014). Feral Curse. Young adult, published by Candlewick.
• Lindstrom, Carole and Kimberly McKay. (2013). Girls Dance Boys Fiddle. Picture book, published by Pemmican Press.
• Minnema, Cheryl. (2014). Hungry Johnny. Picture book, published by Minnesota Historical Society Press.
• Montileaux, Donald F. (2014). Tasunka: A Lakota Horse Legend. Picture book, published by South Dakota State Historical Society.
• Robertson, Sebastian. (2014). Rock & Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story. Picture book, published by Henry Holt.
• Robinson, Gary. (2014). Son Who Returns. Middle grade, published by 7th Generation.
• Rodgers, Greg. (2014). Chukfi Rabbit's Big Bad Bellyache: A Trickster Tale. Picture book, published by Cinco Punto Press. 
• Shuck, Kim. (2013). Rabbit Stories. Young adult, published by Poetic Matrix Press.
• Starr, Arigon. (2012). Super Indian. Graphic novel, published by Wacky Productions Unlimited. 
• Starr, Arigon. (2014). Annumpa Luma: Code Talker. Comic book, published by INC Comics.
• Stroud, Virginia. (1994). Doesn't Fall Off His Horse. Picture book, published by Dial.
• Tingle, Tim. (2014). How I Became A Ghost. Middle grade, published by Roadrunner Press.
• Tingle, Tim. (2014). House of Purple Cedar. (2014). Young adult, published by Cinco Puntos.
• Tingle, Tim. (2014). No Name. (2014). Middle/young adult, published by 7th Generation.
• Treuer, Anton. (2012). Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask. Nonfiction, published by Minnesota Historical Society Press.
• Wurth, Erika. (2014). Crazy Horse's Girlfriend. Young adult, published by Curbside Splendor. (Note from Debbie: Due to questions during 2021 regarding Wurth's claims to being Native, I am no longer recommending anything by Erika Wurth.)

Not Recommended

• Block, Francesca Lia. (2014). Teen Spirit. Young adult, published by HarperCollins.
• Bouwman, H.M. (2008). The Remarkable and Very True Story of Lucy and Snowcap. Middle/young adult, published by Marshall Cavendish.
• Bow, Erin. (2013) Sorrow's Knot. Young adult, published by Arthur A. Levine Books.
• Carter, Forrest. (1987) The Education of Little Tree. Young adult, published by University of New Mexico Press.
• Colfer, Eoin. (2013) The Reluctant Assassin. Young adult, published by Disney Hyperion.
• Fichera, Liz. (2013) Hooked. Young adult, published by Harlequin Teen.
• Fitzgerald, Michael. (2013). Children of the Tipi: Life in the Buffalo Days. Nonfiction picture book, published by Wisdom Tales Press.
• Floca, Brian. (2013) Locomotive. Picture book, published by Atheneum.
• Forman, Gayle. (2009) If I Stay. Young adult, published by Dutton Books.
• Handford, Martin. (1987) Where's Waldo. Picture book, published by Little, Brown.
• Gibson, Julia Mary. (2014) Copper Magic. Young adult, published by Starscape/Macmillan.
• Goble, Paul. (1978). The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. Picture book, published by Bradbury Press.
• Green, John. (2012) The Fault in Our Stars. Young adult, published by Dutton Books.
• Hawke, Jay Jordan. (2014). Pukawiss: The Outcast. Young adult, published by Harmony Ink Press.
• Healey, Karen. (2011). Guardian of the Dead. Young adult, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
• Heller, Rebecca. (2013) Falling Rock. Picture book, published by Amazon Digital Services.
• Kalman, Maira. (2014) Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything. Picture book, published by Penguin Books.
• Kann, Victoria. (2014). Pinkalicious: Thanksgiving Helper. Picture book, published by HarperFestival.
• Karas, G. Brian. (2014) As An Oak Tree Grows. Picture book, published by Penguin.
• King, A. S. (2010) Please Ignore Vera Dietz. Young adult, published by Alfred A. Knopf.
• Kirkpatrick, Katherine. (2014) Between Two Worlds. Young adult, published by Wendy Lamb Books.
• Krensky, Stephen. (1991) Christopher Columbus. Early reader, published by Random House.
• Lake, Nick. (2015) There Will Be Lies. Young adult, published by Bloomsbury USA.
• Limbaugh, Rush. (2013) Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims. Elementary/junior high, published by Threshold Editions.
• Nordgren, Carl. (2014) Anung's Journey: An Ancient Ojibway Legend as told by Steve Fobister. Middle/young adult, published by Light Messages Publishing.
• Osborne, Mary Pope. (2002). Thanksgiving on Thursday. Early reader, published by Random House.
• Parry, Rosanne. (2014). Written in Stone. Middle grade, published by Random House.
• Paulsen, Gary. (1969) Mr. Tucket. Middle grade, published by Funk & Wagnalls.
• Prelutsky, Jack. (2008) It's Thanksgiving. Early reader, published by Harpercollins.
• Sappenfield, Heather. (2015) The View From Who I Was. Young adult, published by Flux.
• Shusterman, Neal and Michelle Knowles. (2012) Unstrung: An Unwind Story. Young adult, published by Simon and Schuster.
• Shusterman, Neal. UnWholly. (2012) Young adult, published by Simon and Schuster.
• Shusterman, Neal. UnSouled. (2014) Young adult, published by Simon and Schuster.
• Sis, Peter. (1991) Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus. Picture book, published by Knopf. 
• White, E.B. (1973) Stuart Little. Middle grade, published by Harper Row.

Published in 2015: Books by/about Native peoples

I will be updating this page whenever I read something published in 2015. What it likely means is that a title will be added to the "Not Reviewed" list at the end, and when it is reviewed, it will be moved into the Recommended or Not Recommended list. 

Recommended (N=15)

• Charleyboy, Lisa. (2015) Urban Tribes: Native Americans in the City. Published by Annick Press.
• Marshall, III, Joseph (2015) In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse. Published by Amulet, an imprint of Abrams. 
• Nicholson, Hope. (2015) Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection. Published by AH Comics.
• Older, Daniel José. (2015) Shadowshaper. Published by Scholastic.
• Poleahla, Anita. (2015) Celebrate My Hopi Corn. Published by Salina Press.
• Poleahla, Anita. (2015) Celebrate My Hopi Toys. Published by Salina Press.
• Robertson, Robbie. (2015) Hiawatha and the Peacemaker. Published by Abrams.
• Smith, Cynthia Leitich. (2015) Feral Pride. Published by Candlewick.
• Starr, Arigon. (2015) Super Indian Volume 2. Published by Wacky Productions. 
• Sulurayok, Matilda. (2015) Kamik's First Sled. Published by Inhabit Media.
• Tharpe-Thee, Sandy. (2015) The Apple Tree. Published by Road Runner Press.
• Van Camp, Richard. (2015) Blue Raven. Published by Pearson.
• Van Camp, Richard. (2015) Whistle. Published by Pearson. 
• Van Camp, Richard. (2015) A Blanket of Butterflies. Published by Portage & Main Press.
• Van Camp, Richard. (2015) Three Feathers. Published by HighWater Press.

Not Recommended (N=26)

• Alko, Selina. (2015) The Case for Loving. Published by Scholastic.
• Arnold, David. (2015) Mosquitoland. Published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin.
• Asch, Frank. (1979/2015) Popcorn. Published by Simon and Schuster.
• Bowman, Erin. (2015) Vengeance Road. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
• Carson, Rae. (2015) Walk on Earth a Stranger. Published by Greenwillow, an imprint of HarperCollins.
• Cromwell, Ellen S. (2015) Talasi: A Story of Tenderness and Love! Published by Halo Publishing International.
• Daniels, Danielle. (2015). Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox. Published by Groundwood Books.
• DeFelice, Cynthia. (2015) Fort. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Ellis, Carson. (2015) Home. Published by Candlewick.
• Hites, Kati. (2015). Winnie and Waldorf. Published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins.
• Hand, Cynthia. (2015) The Last Time We Say Goodbye. Published by HarperTeen.
• Howath, Naomi. (2015) The Crow's Tale: A Lenni Lenape Native American Legend. Published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books, an imprint of Quatro.
• Jenkins, Emily. (2015) A Fine Dessert. Published by Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House.
• Johnston, E. K. (2015) Prairie Fire. Published by Carolrhoda Lab.
• Merriam-Webster Children's Dictionary (2015) Published by Dorling Kindersley.
• Mayer, Mercer. (2015) Just A Special Thanksgiving. Published by HarperFestival, an imprint of HarperCollins.
• Myers, Stephenie. (2015) Life and Death. Published by Little, Brown. 
• Nelson, S.D. (2015) Sitting Bull. Published by Abrams.
• Rex, Adam. (2015) Smek for President. Published by Hyperion Books for Children.
• Rose, Carolyn Starr. (2015) Blue Birds. Published by G.P. Putnam, an imprint of Penguin.
• Schlitz, Laura Amy. (2015) The Hired Girl. Published by 
• Stirling, Tricia. (2015) When My Heart Was Wicked. Published by Scholastic. 
• Strayhorn, Willa (2015) The Way We Bared Our Souls. Published by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. 
• Taylor-Butler, Christine. (2015) The Lost Tribes. Published by Move Books.
• Valente, Catherynne M. (2015) Six Gun Snow White. Published by Subterranean Press.
• Velasquez, Crystal. (2015) Hunters of Chaos. Published by Simon and Schuster.
• White, Tara. (2015). Where I Belong. Published by Tradewind Books.

Not yet reviewed (N=20)

• Bruchac, Joseph. (2015) Walking Two Worlds. Published by 7th Generation.
• Bruchac, Joseph. (2015) Trail of the Dead. Published by Tu Books.
• Burgan, Michael. (2015) Shadow Catcher: How Edgar S. Curtis Documented American Indian Dignity and Beauty. Published by Compass Point, an imprint of Capstone. 
• Coleman, Wim. (2015) Sequoyah and His Talking Leaves. Published by Red Chair Press.
• Cooper, Karen Coody (2015) Woodchuck Visits Algonquian Cousins. Published by Soddenbank Press.
• Florence, Melanie. (2015) Missing Nimama. Published by Clockwise Press. 
• George, Jean Craighead. (2015) Ice Whale. Published by Puffin Books.
• Hicks, Nola Helen. (2015) Hurry Up, Ilua. Published by Inhabit Media. 
• Goble, Paul. (2015) Red Cloud's War. Published by Wisdom Tales.
• Guest, Jacqueline. (2015) Fire Fight. Published by 7th Generation.
• Kristofic, Jim. (2015) The Hero Twins: A Navajo-English Story of the Monster Slayers. Published by UNM Press.
• London, Jonathan. (2015) Desolation Canyon. Published by West Winds Press.
• Lumbard, Alexis York. (2015) Pine and the Winter Sparrow. Published by Wisdom Tales.
• Revelle, Rick. (2015) Algonquin Spring. Published by Dundurn Press.
• Robinson, Gary. (2015) Billy Buckhorn: Paranormal. Published by 7th Generation.
• Schwartz, Simon. (2015) First Man: Reimagining Matthew Hensen. Published by Graphic Universe. 
• Silver, Sarah Dickson. (2015) Dream a Pony, Wake a Spirit: The Story of Buster, a Choctaw Pony Survivor. Published by Luminare Press. 
• Tripp, Analisa. (2015) A Is for Acorn: A California Indian ABC. Published by Heyday Books.
• Williams-Garcia, Rita. (2015) Gone Crazy in Alabama. Published by Harper.
• Zobel, Melissa Tantaquidgeon (2015) Wabanaki Blues. Published by Poisoned Pencil. 

Published in 2016: Books by/about Native peoples

We will be updating this page whenever we read something published in 2016.

If you compare what I have here with the CCBC list, you will notice that AICL received some books that CCBC did not, and vice versa. An asterisk indicates a book that appears here and on the CCBC list.

Recommended (N=16)

• Baker, Darryl. (2016) Kamik Joins the Pack. Inhabit Media, Canada.*
• Bruchac, Joseph. (2016) The Hunter's Promise: An Abenaki Tale. Wisdom Tales, US.  Update on Sep 30 2023: I (Debbie Reese) no longer recommend Bruchac's work. For details see Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?
• Dunn, Anne M. (2016) Fire in the Village. Holy Cow Press, US
• Dupuis, Jenny Kay. (2016) I Am Not A Number. Second Story Press, Canada.*
• Erdrich, Louise. (2016) Makoons. HarperCollins. US*
• Herrington, John B. (2016) Mission to Space. White Dog Press, US
• Highway, Tomson. (2016) Dragonfly Kites. Fifth House, Canada*
• Nelson, Jonathan. (2016) The Wool of Jonesy. Native Realities, US
• Nicholson, Hope (ed.). (2016) Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time, Bedside Press, Canada
• Rendon, Marcie. (2016). "Worry and Wonder" in Sky Blue Water: Great Stories for Young Readers. University of Minnesota Press, US
• Robertson, David. (2016) When We Were Alone, HighWater Press, Canada*
• Smith, Monique Gray. (2016) My Heart Fills with Happiness, Orca Books, Canada*
• Starr, Arigon (ed.). (2016) Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers, Native Realities, US
• Van Camp, Richard. (2016) We Sang You Home, Orca Books, Canada*
• Van Camp, Richard. (2016) The Lesser Blessed (20th Anniversary Edition), Douglas & McIntyre, Canada.
• Van Camp, Richard. (2016) Spirit, South Slave Divisional Education Council, Canada

Not Recommended (N=19)

• Currie, Susan. (2016) The Mask That Sang. Second Story Press, Canada.* 
• Dagg, Carole Estby. (2016). Sweet Home Alaska. Penguin Random House, USA.
• DiPucchio, Kelly and Mary Lundquist. (2016). One Little Two Little Three Little Children. Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins. USA.
• Flood, Nancy Bo. (2016). Soldier Sister, Fly Home. Charlesbridge, USA.* 
• Gemeinhart, Dan. (2016) Some Kind of Courage. Scholastic, USA.
• Grill, William. (2016). The Wolves of Currumpaw. Flying Eye Books, London. 
• Harrison, Margot. (2016). The Killer In Me. Hyperion, USA.
• Hawke, Ethan and Greg Ruth. (2016) Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars. Hachette, USA.
• Henry, Emily. (2016). The Love That Split the World. Razorbill/Penguin, USA. 
• MacColl, Michaela. (2016). The Lost Ones. Calkins Creek/Highlights, USA.*
• Mann, J. Albert. (2016). Scar: A Revolutionary War Tale. Calkins Creek/Highlights, USA. 
• McGovern, Cammie. (2016). Just My Luck. HarperCollins, USA.
• Mullins, G. W. (2016). Native American Story Books. Light of the Moon, USA
• Preller, James. (2016) The Courage Test. Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, USA.
• Smelcer, John. (2016). Stealing Indians. Leapfrog Press, USA.* 
• Smith, Lane. (2016). There Is A Tribe of Kids. Roaring Book Press/Macmillan, USA.
• Telgemeier, Raina. (2016) Ghosts. Scholastic, USA. 
• Wells, Robison. (2016). Dark Energy. HarperCollins, USA.
• Wolf, Joan M. (2016) Runs With Courage. Sleeping Bear Press, USA.

Reviewed but not able to put in recommended or not recommended (N=1):

• Alexie, Sherman. (2016). Thunder Boy Jr. Little Brown. US*

Not Yet Reviewed (N=17)

• Akulukjuk, Roselynn. (2016). The Owl and the Lemming. Inhabit Media. Canada
• Bruchac, Joseph. (2016). The Long Run. 7th Generation, US.*
• Bruchac, Joseph. (2016). Brothers of the Buffalo: A Novel of the Red River Way. Fulcrum Publishing, USA. 
• Bruchac, Joseph. (2016). Talking Leaves. Dial Books for Young Readers, US.*
• Crate, Joan. (2016). Black Apple. Simon and Schuster. US
• Daniel, Tony. (2016). The Dragon Hammer. Baen/Simon and Schuster, US.
• Florence, Melanie. (2016). Rez Runaway. Lerner, Canada.
• Flanagan, John. (2016). The Ghostfaces. Penguin, US.*
• Holt, K. A. (2016). Red Moon Rising. Margaret K. McElderry/Simon and Schuster
• Kwaymullina, Ambelin. (2016). The Disappearance of Ember Crow. 
• London, Jonathan. (2016). Bella Bella. West Winds. US.
• Modesto, Michelle. (2016). Revenge of the Wild. HarperCollins, US.
• Peratrovich, Roy A. (2016). Little Whale. University of Alaska Press.
• Petti, Erin. (2016). The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee. Mighty Media Junior Readers.
• Robinson, Gary. (2016). Lands of Our Ancestors. 7th Generation, US.
• Sammurtok, Nadia. (2016). The Caterpillar Woman. Inhabit Media. Canada.
• Smith, Danna. (2016). Arctic White. Holt/Macmillan

Not Recommended: JULIE OF THE WOLVES by Jean Craighead George

Not Recommended: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Post by Debbie Reese

With COVID19, parents are spending more time with children who are home. I see parents talking about classics they read when they were young and reminiscing about those books. That is a problem! Many are outdated and racist. They cannot be justified as "a product of their time" because that justification assumes that everybody thought alike at that point in time--and that's just not true!

People who are misrepresented in classic or award winning books 

do not think like the white writers who misrepresented them! 

A good example is Julie of the Wolves. Way back in 2006 when I first launched this blog, I did a short post about Julie of the Wolves that linked to a review done by Martha Stackhouse. She is Inupiaq. I'm pasting that post here. It includes a link to Martha's review. Below is that post from 2006.

----------

First published in 1972 by Harper & Row, Julie of the Wolves won the Newbery Medal in 1973. It is included on a wide range of recommended book lists. It is available in audio and video; there is a sequel to it. Numerous teacher's guide and activity books are available for teachers to use when teaching the book. This is the summary of the Julie of the Wolves (from the Library of Congress):

"While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen year old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack."

A few days ago on child_lit (an Internet listserv for discussion of children's books), a subscriber posted a link to a review of the book on the Alaska Native Knowledge Network webpage. The reviewer, Martha Stackhouse, is Inupiaq. She points out misrepresentations and misconceptions of Inupiaq culture, and says

 "I humbly would not recommend the book to be put on school shelves."

Spend some time on the Alaska Native Knowledge Network pages. Read Martha Stackhouse's review of Julie of the Wolves. There is much to learn on their site about this and many other popular children's books set in Alaska (i.e. Gerald McDermott's Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest).

To find the book reviews, go to Honoring Alaska's Indigenous Literature, and click on "Examining Alaska Children's Literature" and "Critiquing Indigenous Literature for Alaska's Children."

----------

Update, May 11, 2020
We've recommended several terrific books you can choose that don't have problem of bias, stereotyping, misrepresentation, or appropriation. Take a look at the Best Books page. It links to lists we do at AICL and to books that the American Indian Library Association selected for its book awards.

2010: Best Books Recommended for Elementary School

Editor's Note: January 18, 2014 - The title of this post has been edited to reflect its year of publication. See also 2013: Top Ten Books Recommended for Elementary School. 

If I was starting a library in an elementary school, these are the first ten books I'd buy. In reading these books, students would be reading stories Native writers create about Native people and places. The books I list here include fiction, historical fiction, traditional story, and poetry.

• Campbell, Nicola. Shi-shi-etko
• Campbell, Nicola. Shin-chi's Canoe
• Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story
• Harjo, Joy. The Good Luck Cat
• Messinger, Carla. When the Shadbush Blooms
• Ortiz, Simon J. The Good Rainbow Road/Rawa 'kashtyaa'tsi hiyaani: A Native American Tale
• Sockabasin, Allen J. Thanks to the Animals
• Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Jingle Dancer
• Tingle, Tim. Crossing Bok Chitto (If you can, also get When Turtle Grew Feathers and Saltypie)
• Waboose, Jan Bourdeau. SkySisters

For annotations, see my article Native Voices in School Library Journal.

See also:
Top Ten Books Recommended for Middle School
Top Ten Books Recommended for High School


Download a pdf titled "Selecting Children's and Young Adult Literature about American Indians that includes an introduction and all three "Top Ten" lists.

Highly Recommended! BOOZHOO! HELLO! by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

 

Boozhoo! Hello! 

Written and illustrated by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (member 

of Wasauksing First Nation)

Translated by Mary Ann Corbiere (Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory)

Published in 2024

Publisher: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

****

As you see, we are giving this book a 'highly recommended' review. But... 

Some books are delightful! 

I could also say 'delightfully recommended' because it is precisely the sort of book I would have used back when I was teaching kindergarten and first grade, and that I would have read to our daughter when she was little. Most elementary school teachers know this style of book. Questions are posed and answers given in the text but we can answer as we please, in the moment! 

Cast your eyes up to the cover, above, and look at that wolf's smile as it looks over its shoulder. See the joy in its face? That's where the delight is. The style of Pawis-Steckley's art is called Woodland. In an author's note he tells us he began drawing this book for his newborn daughter. As she grew, he shared the art he was creating. She would clap and smile. I read that author's note after I read the book. I had felt something special as I read it, and now that I have read the author's note, I get it. His illustrations are infused with his daughter's clap, and her smile. 

The format for Boozhoo! Hello! is this: on the left side of the double-paged spread is a page filled with an illustration. Facing it is a page of text in large font. Those words, as you might guess by the book's title, are in Anishinaabemowin at the top half of the page and English at the bottom half, as shown below.

This marvelous book begins with a rising sun and moves through a day's journey. On that first page, it is morning in the woods. "What" I imagine myself saying enthusiastically to a group of children, "do you see?" The sun! Flowers! Trees! Someone would say 'there's an animal behind the trees.'  It is the wolf! When we turn the page we see this:

One of my favorite pages is the one with a young otter on its back in the water, splashing, smiling, playing. A dear one in my own family loves otters. I think he's gonna like that page. 

See why I'm so delighted? 

As we near the end of the book, we see a page where three "little ones" (children) are asked what they hear. Turn the page and we see these words:

gookookoo debtaagzit

dbaajmat dbikak?

Shhh! Mbe nbaak!

Nahaaw, gookookoo.

Gga-waabmin.

an owl hooting

goodnight?

Shhh! It's time to sleep 

now.

Goodnight, owl. 

Imagining myself again, reading that last page in a quiet voice and pointing out the moon, the stars, the owl's closed eyes...  

Coming up: Native American Month 2012

We're about a week away from the month that the President of the United States designates as Native American Month. Below are suggestions on how you might get your library ready for parents, teachers and students who come into your library looking for materials on American Indians.

In this post, you'll find links to ALA's READ posters that feature Sherman Alexie, author of THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN. You'll also find links to the Indigenous Languages Development Institute, where you can buy a wall clock with numerals in a Native language, and READ posters in Indigenous languages, available from the Tulsa American Indian Resources Center:

Creating a Library Atmosphere that Welcomes American Indians:
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/10/creating-library-atmosphere-that.html

In these posts, you'll find recommended books about American Indians, by age group:

Top Board Books
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-board-books-for-youngest-readers.html
Top Ten Books for Elementary School
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-books-recommended-for.html
Top Ten Books for Middle School
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-books-recommended-for-middle.html
Top Ten Books for High School
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-books-recommended-for-high.html

If you want some guidance on how to help students do research on American Indians, using encyclopedias and websites, see

Resources for Projects on American Indians
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/03/resources-for-american-indian-research.html

If you're looking for books and materials about boarding schools for American Indians, here's some:

Boarding Schools for American Indians
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2008/02/as-more-resources-and-books-are.html

If you want guidelines on how to evaluate the content of a Native site, here's an excellent page about that:

Guidelines for Evaluating American Indian Web Sites
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ecubbins/webcrit.html

And, if you want to develop your understandings of the ways that American Indians are not "multicultural" or "people of color", see:

We Are Not "People of Color"
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/p/we-are-not-people-of-color.html

If you're looking for a Question/Answer book about American Indians, this one by the National Museum of the American Indian is outstanding:

Do All Indians Live In Tipis?
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/10/do-all-indians-live-in-tipis.html

Did you know that "papoose" is not the American Indian word for baby?

Papoose?
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2008/02/papoose.html

Did you order Louise Erdrich's newest book in the Birchbark House series? If not, do it today! Chickadee is terrific!

Louise Erdrich's Chickadee

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/08/louise-erdrichs-chickadee.html

I'll close with this:

Too many people think that American Indians died off, due to warfare and disease. When the emphasis in library displays is American Indians of the past, you inadvertently contribute to that idea. Librarians are a powerful group of people. You can help Americans be less-ignorant about American Indians.  

Research studies show that American Indian students drop out at exceedingly high rates. Scholars attribute this, in part, to their experience with curricular materials in school. Materials set in the past, materials that stereotype American Indians, and materials that are factually incorrect or highly biased against American Indians, cause Native students to disengage from school. Libraries can interrupt that disengagement, or, they can contribute to it...

As human beings, we love to see reflections of ourselves and our hometowns. They can a source of pride or a boost to the self-esteem. But---that is only true if they are accurate. Native people want that, too, but American society has a long way to go to get there. 

Libraries can get us there, but we'll need your help year-round, not just in November. I hope the resources I shared in this post will be ones that you spread out, all year long.

See also Creating a Library Atmosphere that welcomes American Indians

Changes ahead at American Indians in Children's Literature

Changes Ahead at American Indians in Children's Literature

Debbie Reese

When I launched American Indians in Children's Literature in 2006, it was my effort to make my research and thinking available to people who don't have access to professional or academic journals. Among my first posts are two about Lois Duncan's Season of the Two Heart. As I look back at it, I see that I did not use "recommended" or "not recommended" in the title of the post. In recent years, we have been adding our recommendation as part of the title of a post. Sometimes, a friend or colleague wrote something for AICL. I'd publish their post and include their name in the title of the post.

In 2016, Jean Mendoza became co-owner of AICL. Late last year, I realized that the only way that readers could tell who had posted an item was by looking at the tiny auto-generated note at the bottom of a post. Because those letters are so tiny, people were crediting me for work Jean did. That is not acceptable. So, as we move into 2020, we are making some changes!

Signed Headings

As you can see at the top of this post, its title (Changes Ahead...) and its Author (Debbie Reese) are in bold and centered. We'll do that for posts that are not book reviews.

Standardized Book Review Format

We are going to begin each book review with an image of the book cover, the book title, author, publisher... and we're adding "Reviewed by: ___" so that it is clear who is doing the review. Here's how that looks:

See the four asterisks at the bottom of that screen capture? Beneath the asterisks, we'll dive into our review. We've got different styles of writing. Some days our writing is formal. Sometimes it is more conversational. And sometimes I have a brief review that summarizes a series of tweets that I did as I read a book, followed by the tweets.

Our "Best Books" Lists

Over the years, we've had two kinds of year-end lists. I've done ones that are a compilation of Recommended and Not Recommended books in a given year. That allowed me to provide readers with a comprehensive list of every book I reviewed during that year. That included books published in that year, but it also included posts about older books.

In recent years, I switched to doing "Best Of (year)" lists that only included books published in that year. That is in keeping with what book review journals do each year but I find it limiting because older books don't get visibility that I want them to have. Jean and I are going to try out a few options to revamp the annual Best Book lists.

We look forward to figuring out a way to share a page of Best Books that includes books published in 2020, and ones we reviewed during 2020 that might have come out in 2015. And--we want to give visibility to problems in books we do not recommend, and in books we recommend with caution.

One more thing! We do more than book reviews at AICL. Sometimes we do essays about a topic or event of interest to us, personally or professionally. We want to be able to include links to some that we think readers should see.

We don't know what this will look like yet, but as the year progresses, we'll be working on it, behind the scenes. As always, we invite your feedback!

Highly Recommended: FOREVER COUSINS written by Laurel Goodluck; illustrated by Jonathan Nelson

 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Forever Cousins

Written by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Tsimshian member)

Illustrated by Jonathan Nelson (Diné)

Published by Charlesbridge

Publication Year: 2022

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Status: Highly Recommended

****

As I turned the pages of Forever Cousins, I thought back to the early 1990s when we left Nambé's reservation to go to graduate school in Illinois. Our daughter was three years old. She and her cousins were in tears. The always-present playing options were about to change. 

When you start reading Forever Cousins, you'll meet Amanda and Kara and to a lesser degree, Forrest. You'll learn a lot about them. The two girls are together all the time. Sometimes they're doing things most kids in the U.S. do--like make jelly sandwiches--and sometimes they're doing something Native kids do, like dancing at a powwow. On the cover you see both girls have dolls. Those are quite special! They were made for them by their magúu (the author's note tells us that magúu is a Hidatsa word that means grandmother).

We learn that they live in a city and that Kara and her family are moving from the city to the Rez. They'll see each other in a year. A year! In subsequent pages we see the two, both feeling alone while doing the same activity. Amanda is at a powwow in the city (we see tall buildings in the background), holding her doll close as she sits on a folding chair. Kara is at a powwow on the Rez (we see low hills in the background). Her mom offers her some fry bread but she just hugs her doll and shakes her head.  

Throughout, Nelson's illustrations set the story very much in the present day. That's especially evident on the page where the two girls talk to each other using a video platform on their cell phones. Like anyone, we use all the forms of literacy and communication available to us! I like that but I also like the page where Amanda gets a post card from Kara. Finally it is time for Amanda and her family to hit the road! It'll take two days to get to the Rez. Nelson shows us their joy when they cross a state border. That made me smile. When we drove from Illinois to Nambé, we'd cheer just like that when we crossed from Texas into New Mexico! 

Amanda and her family arrive at the reunion, and after some initial shyness, the cousins have a great time and we see the families gathered while a new baby gets his Hidatsa name. It is then time to say their goodbye's. 

The story Goodluck and Nelson share in the pages of Forever Cousins is a joy to read and look at. Like the recent books by Native writers, it has an extensive Author's Note that provides teachers with information that helps them understand why Amanda and Kara and their families aren't on the reservation when the story starts. In her note, Goodluck says that the characters in her book represent her and her cousins growing up in the 1960s and 1970s in the Bay Area suburbs of California. She shares some background about her family and cousins and how the city and the Rez were both home and community. She says:

As a matter of fact, we are dual citizens: first enrolled members of sovereign Tribal Nations and then citizens of the United States. The term "sovereign nation" means a Tribal Nation that governs itself. If it is federally recognized, then it has a governmental relationship with the United States as a nation with a nation.

Those of you who know me probably guess that my heart is soaring as I read those sentences! Teachers: download Affirming Indigenous Sovereignty: A Civics Inquiry by Sarah B. Shear, Leilani Sabsazlian, and Lisa Brown Buchanan. It'll provide you with ideas on how you can incorporate tribal sovereignty into your classroom. 

In the portion of her note titled "From the Reservation to the City" she tells us that her parents moved from their reservation to the city because of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. It was a federal program that was described as a way for Native people to move to cities and get vocational job training--but there was more to it than that. Goodluck writes:

In actuality, the federal government wanted to erase Native culture by moving Native people to cities so they would adapt to the lifestyles of white people. 

I am so glad to see that sentence in this book! This is the honesty that ought to be in every book! 

She goes on to say that her parents were able to get jobs in the city, but that the government promise of a job did not work for most tribal people. They endured discrimination and racism. I have uncles and aunts who moved to cities for jobs. Some got those jobs and stayed in those cities, others came back very soon. I suggest you read Indian No More because it, too, is about this relocation program. 

I'm sharing the final paragraph in the note because it is so very powerful:

The treatment of Native Americans in the United States was and sometimes still is despicable. But as with the family in this story and with my own family, unjust experiences forge tight bonds between us and make us strong. Our resiliency is rooted in our ceremonies and culture. We have a deep love of home. The land reminds us of our ancestors, storytelling helps us make good decisions, and we continue to have love and loyal family connections that are unbreakable.

Forever Cousins is tribally specific. Both, the author and illustrator, are Native. The story is set in the present day. It can--and should be--read year-round (not confined to a heritage month or day). It is getting a 'highly recommended' label from me, but my enthusiasm for the book is much more than a 'highly recommended' label conveys. With this story and the note, Goodluck and Nelson give teachers or parents information that they can carry with them when they close this book and choose another one that features Native people. They see us as people who live in a city or on a reservation. They can see us as people whose identities and lives as Native people are central to who we are, and who share the same sorts of joys and fears that kids of other cultures do, too. 

Forever Cousins is one of the best books I've read. I'm delighted to read it, to write about it, and to recommend it to everyone.