2024 American Indian Literature Award Medal Acceptance: Christine Day

Editors Note: On January 25, 2025, the American Indian Library Association (AILA) held its Youth Literature Award Ceremony in Phoenix. I am pleased to share the remarks Christine Day delivered when she received the American Indian Youth Literature Award in the middle school category for We Still Belong. 

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AIYLA Medal Acceptance Remarks

Christine Day

Good morning, everyone. It’s a beautiful day to be here, to share space with you all in this incredible venue, and to celebrate the immense talent and diversity of our Native kid lit community.

For those of you who don’t know me: Hi. I’m Christine. I’m a citizen of the Upper Skagit Tribe, which is one of the signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott in western Washington State. My maternal grandmother, Lorraine, was Upper Skagit and Nooksack. She was also a teenager when she carried my mother. Lorraine spent part of her pregnancy in a group home for unwed mothers in Seattle. And while she was there, she wrote letters to her family. Most of her letters recounted ordinary things, such as her math and world history lessons, and she often asked after the wellbeing of her younger siblings. But sometimes, her writings would reveal the way things were in that home. In one letter, postmarked August 29 th , 1960, she wrote: “Hi! I hope all of you are fine, I’m doing okay… I didn’t call because most of this week the girls have got into trouble for using the telephone too much, and some of the girls had their telephone privileges taken away… We have phone monitors to time each girl on the telephone, so all of us girls can talk five minutes. If we take over five minutes, we get called down to the housemother and she gives the girl an hour of work for talking over time on the telephone. I thought if I called you, I would’ve probably talked over five minutes, so I didn’t call…” I had a similar thought when I was writing this speech, actually. Is it possible for me to acknowledge my people in only five-to-seven minutes? Don’t know. We’ll see.

Anyway. Her letter continues: “There are about twenty girls coming here at the end of this month, and it's crowded already. Some of the girls that are new are sleeping on the davenport… The ages that we have here are 13, 14, 15, 16, and all the way up to 33 years old. All the girls are nice to me and I get along with everybody. I still have a good record, haven’t got into trouble at all, and I’m going to keep it that way. Well, I hope everybody’s okay. I hope everybody’s fine. I have to get ready for bed now, and I’ll write sooner if I’m not too busy, tell everybody I said hello. Tell all the kids I said hello. Lots of Love, Lorraine.”

My mother was born in September of 1960. But unfortunately, the Indian Child Welfare Act would not pass in Congress until 1978. Therefore, my mother spent the first six months of her life in an orphanage, despite the fact that she wasn’t technically an orphan. And during those six months, she had no legal name. Someone at some point gave her the nickname “Christy.” But when her adoptive parents came along, her new mother opted for “Susan,” because she already had a cousin named Christy, whom she did not like. Which is fair enough, I suppose.

And that is how I came to be Christine. My parents chose it in honor of my mother’s first nickname. And they gave me Lorraine, as my middle name, in honor of my mom’s young birth mother, whom we never got to meet.

So, all my life, I have carried these women and their stories with me. This is part of the reason why I write the books that I write. It’s also one of the reasons why this award means so much to me. Because the American Indian Youth Literature Award committee isn’t only honoring me: you have chosen to honor them, as well. Lorraine and Sue, their stories are separate yet inseparable from mine, like three strands of the same braid. I would not be here without them. And through my writing, I always strive to pay tribute to them. So I’d like to thank you all, truly, for seeing something worth recognizing in my work.

Additional thanks are due to my team at the Heartdrum imprint. Rosemary Brosnan couldn’t join us today, which makes me sad, because I miss her. But alas. Here is what I’d planned to say to her: Rosemary, seven years ago, you changed my life with your belief in me. Thank you for your enthusiasm, your guidance, your patience, and your profound respect for the creative process. I am so grateful to call you my friend, as well as my trusted editor and mentor. Cynthia Leitich Smith, I am deeply grateful for your kindness and friendship as well, and your dedication to building community and bringing folks together. I am incredibly proud to be a Heartdrum author.

I also need to thank my team at the Philomel imprint. Thank you for granting me the opportunity to share Maria Tallchief’s life story with young readers. I’m grateful to Chelsea Clinton for creating the She Persisted series. Thanks to Jill Santopolo and Talia Benamy for their wonderful editorial work. Thanks to Gillian Flint for her beautiful illustrations. And thanks to the Osage Nation Language Department, for providing some text in their syllabary.

And of course, I need to acknowledge my husband and kids. Every book I write is also a love letter to you. You are the light that brings the dawn. You are my whole world.

Thank you all again for being here. I’ve heard rumors that this will be the last ALA midwinter conference, which I find a bit shocking and sad. But alas. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the book Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. It’s the very first sentence, which says: “History has failed us, but no matter.” What a line. What a revelation, really. And it feels especially true for those of us ensconced in the world of children’s literature. Either in schools and libraries, or as parents and writers.

History has failed us, but no matter. May we stay attuned to our own creativity and curiosity and empathy. May we strive to honor our ancestors, and empower our descendants. May we write and share the books that want to be written. And may we uplift all children, everywhere, by doing so.

Thank you.

AICL'S YEAR IN REVIEW: 2024

 AICL'S YEAR IN REVIEW: 2024

As the last days of 2024 draw near, we are happy to share our annual list of books we read and recommended this year. Here's some photos: 

Photo by Jean

Sample of covers of electronic copies we read

Photo by Debbie

In the opening paragraphs of our annual lists, we usually point to significant moments of the year. If you want to jump to the list, please scroll down.

One topic that we started monitoring a few years ago is challenges to Native-authored books. We maintain a blog post (Banning of Native Voices/Books) of titles and reasons given for a book being challenged or banned. We invite you to take a look at our list and if you know of one that ought to be on our list, let us know. Debbie was invited to write about banned books for School Library Journal in 2023, and to speak about it with NPR's Code Switch in July of 2024. In November, PEN American interviewed her for its Banned Books series: Native American Heritage Now: An Interview with Debbie Reese. 

In October, Debbie, Jonna Paden (Acoma Pueblo, and President of the American Indian Library Association) and Cindy Hohl (Santee Sioux Nation, and President of the American Library Association) were leading voices in the media when a public library in Texas moved the nonfiction book, Colonization and the Wampanoag Story by Linda Coombs (Aquinnah Wampanoag) to the fiction shelves. That move drew national and international attention. In the end, the library reversed their decision. Her book was on our best books list, last year.

In November, Debbie and Jean were in Boston at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference. We were joined by Dr. Natalie Martinez (Laguna Pueblo) and Dr. Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) for a pre-conference clinic at Beacon Press. (Beacon published both An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (not Native) and our adaptation for young people.)* On the first day of the conference, Debbie and Jean went to the exhibit hall to see if we'd find books by Native writers on display. This was our first time going to an NCSS gathering. The exhibit floor was not as large as we've seen at other educator and librarian conferences but we were definitely encouraged by what we saw. The Penguin Random House booth had at least 13 books by Native writers! We were also delighted to see the painting of Maulian Bryant (Penobscot) at the booth for the organization, Americans Who Tell The Truth. She is well known for her activism about mascots. 

More good news! Back in March, Debbie was thrilled to see the announcement in Publisher's Weekly that Trish Moquino's (Cochiti, Ohkay Owingeh, and Kewa) first book, The Land We Live On, will come out in 2028 from Candlewick (we apologize for incorrectly naming Charlesbridge as the publisher). She is from the Tribal Nations of Cochiti Pueblo, Kewa and Ohkay Owingeh. Her book will be a family story about Pueblo people and our relationship to the land. Many (most?) people think that all Native peoples were forced off their homelands and put on reservations. That is true for some tribal nations but not for us. Pueblo peoples are on the lands we've always been on. Gonna be hard to wait three years for her book!

Now, we turn to information about how our list is created. 

Our emphasis is books by Native writers and illustrators whose Nations are on the continent we know as North America. Most are ones that came out in 2024. In some way, they've touched our hearts as parents of Native children or as former school teachers who want children to have accurate and honest books about Native peoples. As the number of books by Native writers grows, we are not able to read every one. If you are wondering about one that you don't see below, let us know. We may have not had a chance to read it. In the US there is a growing awareness of pretendianism (also known as "wannabe"). In short, it refers to a person who -- believing they have an ancestor that is Native -- acts on that belief by speaking and writing as if they are Native. Most people in the US and Canada take that person's word when they claim to be Native but with growing awareness, we are seeing more challenges to such claims. Case in point: In the adult romance genre, Colby Wilkins's claim to being of Choctaw and Cherokee descent was challenged. She subsequently issued a statement saying "until I can prove my ties beyond a shadow of a doubt and in alignment with the Cherokee Nation's statement on Sovereignty and Identity, I will no longer be writing Native stories." At AICL we did not read or write about her books. We encourage you to read two books in our "Crossover" category below that are works of fiction written by Native writers who address the issue of pretendianism.

Pretendianism is about a specific individual who makes a claim to an actual tribal nation, but there is also growing attention to entire groups of people claiming to be a tribal nation. The case most prominent in the news is four groups in Vermont that claim to be Abenaki. In mid-April, the Abenaki of Odanak and of W8linak went to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to speak about the Vermont groups. Later that month, the University of Vermont hosted an event about the issue. There, a personal letter of support from Maulian Bryant (Penobscot; currently serving as Executive Director of the Wabanaki Alliance) was read aloud. We encourage you to read her letter because it provides context that can help you understand why this issue is so important.

We also encourage you to read a letter written by representatives of the Abenaki People of the Odanak First Nation and Wolinak First Nation. Their letter was to educators in Vermont, asking them not to platform or elevate specific individuals who are in the Vermont groups. They named Joseph Bruchac and his son Jesse, both of whom are known within children's literature. As Debbie's post in 2023 stated, we no longer recommend his books. Anthologies that include stories by him (and others who we no longer recommend) are a problem. In 2022, Ancestor Approved came out. It has a story in it by Bruchac. By then we were being cautious about several specific writers, and didn't feel comfortable recommending the book. There are, however, stories in it by writers that we do want you to know about. Look for a post about that in 2025. For now, you'll see "Indian Price" by Eric Gansworth in our list below.

For each book we recommend, we list the Tribal Nation of the author/illustrator and we encourage you to use that information when reading the book. For example, in the picture book category you'll see Stitches of Tradition (Gashkigwaaso Tradition). We encourage you to introduce the book by saying something like:

"Stitches of Tradition is written by Marcie Rendon, an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation. The illustrations are by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, who is a member of Wasauksing First Nation." 

Share that information in whatever way works for you. The main point is that we want you to be tribally specific. That means you specify the author's and illustrator's Tribal Nation(s). If possible, show students the websites of the author/illustrator and of their Tribal Nations. We encourage you to learn how to say personal and tribal names that are new to you. Teaching Books has a huge audio archive of writers telling you how to say their names, as is the case with Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley. Sometimes they tell you how that name came to be, as you'll see with Eric Gansworth (enrolled member of the Onondaga Nation).

And do take care to use present tense verbs when talking about Native people!

In our list you will find an author’s Tribal Nation in parenthesis after their name. We use an author’s identity as they name it (and the spellings/capitalizations of their personal names) on their own website (sometimes we write to them to ask for clarification). If they do not have a website, we use what their publisher uses.  We are happy to make edits as needed! Let us know.

Though our list is organized by age/grade levels (plus a multi-age section for comics/graphic novels), we encourage you to use picture books with readers of any age, and we want every teacher and librarian to read all the books. They are far better than the books about Indigenous people most people read in their childhood. We welcome your questions and comments about these introductory paragraphs, or the books we list, below. Our list is incomplete. We're reading as much as we can. Our list is not a comprehensive. It is to tell you what we read. One example? Debbie is currently reading Richard Van Camp's (Tłı̨chǫ Dene) new young adult novel, Beast, and is waiting for some beautiful board books to arrive. Jean is also waiting for a shipment. These books will likely be on our 2025 list.

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*At AICL we strive to include a person’s identity, relative to being Indigenous, whenever we name a person. For example, we say Debbie Reese (Nambe Owingeh) and Jean Mendoza (not Native). When we note that we have failed to do so, we edit the post to reflect the person’s identity.

We also feel it important to address questions regarding Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s identity. When her book, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States came out, Debbie saw that leading scholars and Native writers had endorsed it. Sometime later, she accepted an invitation to adapt the book for young readers. 

In her book Dunbar-Ortiz said her mother was “part Indian, most likely Cherokee.” During the adaptation work, we began to see concerns about Dunbar-Ortiz’s identity and subsequently asked her about it. Dunbar-Ortiz decided to remove that information from the biographical note for the adaptation. We hoped she would make a public statement but to our knowledge, she has not. 

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Comics and Graphic Novels

Ballantyne, Sonya (Swampy Cree) and Michael Redhead-Champagne (Shamattawa First Nation). Little By Little You Can Change the World, illustrated by Rhael McGregor (Metis heritage) and Toben Racicot (not Native). Highwater Press (2024). Canada.

Crazyboy, Gitz (Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot)). The Rez Doctor, illustrated by Veronika Barinova (not Native), Azby Whitecalf (Plains Cree), and Toben Racicot (not Native). Highwater Press (2024). Canada.

McLeod, Albert (Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation/Metis), Elaine Mordoch (not Native), and Sonya Ballantyne (Swampy Cree). Between the Pipes, illustrated by Alice RL (Ojibwe heritage). Highwater Press (2024). Canada.

Magoon, Kekla (not Native) and Cynthia Leitich Smith (citizen, Muscogee Creek Nation). Blue Stars: Mission One: The Vice-Principal Problem, illustrated by Molly Murakami. Candlewick Press (2024). US.

Spillett, Tasha (Inninewak (Cree and Trinidadian). Surviving the City: Volume 3. We Are the Medicine, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Metis). Highwater Press (2024). Canada.

Starr, Arigon (enrolled member, Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma). Super Indian, Volume Three, illustrated by the author. Wacky Productions (2024). US.

Storm, Jen (Ojibwe). Little Moons, illustrated by Ryan Howe (not Native), Alice RL (Ojibwe), Nicholej Villiger (not Native). Highwater Press (2024). Canada. [Our apologies for the error we made in Jen Storm's tribal affiliation. It is correct now.]

Van Camp, Richard (Tłı̨chǫ Dene). Roth: Wheetago War, illustrated by Christopher Shy. Renegade Arts Entertainment (2024). Canada.

Board Books

Sorell, Traci (citizen, Cherokee Nation). On Powwow Day, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw). Charlesbridge (2024). 

Sorell, Traci (citizen, Cherokee Nation). We Are Grateful: Seasons: Fall - Uligohvsdi; Winter - Gola; Spring - Gogeyi; Summer - Gogi, illustrated by Frané Lessac (not Native).  Charlesbridge (2024). [Note: this is a boxed set of four board books.] 

Picture Books 

Fairbanks, Ashley (White Earth Anishinabee). This Land: The History of the Land We're On, illustrated by Bridge George (Anishinaabe from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation). Crown Books for Young Readers/ imprint of Penguin Random House (2024). US.

Flett, Julie (Cree-Metis). Let's Go! haw ekwa!, illustrated by the author. Greystone Kids (2024). Canada.

Goodluck, Laurel (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara). Too Much: My Great Big Native Family, illustrated by Bridget George (Anishinaabe, from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation). Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (2024). US.

Honyouti, Mavasta (Hopi). Coming Home: A Hopi Resistance Story, illustrated by the author. Levine Querido (2024).

Mills, Billy (Oglala Lakota) and Donna Janell Bowman (not Native). Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2024). US.

Pawis-Steckley, Mangeshig (member of Wasauksing First Nation). Boozhoo! Hello! illustrated by the author, translation by Mary Ann Corbiere (Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory). Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press. Canada.

Rendon, Marcie (enrolled member of the White Earth Nation). Stitches of Tradition (Gashkigwaaso Tradition), illustrated by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Anishinaabe; member of Wasauksing First Nation). Heartdrum/Imprint of HarperCollins (2024). US. 

Rogers, Andrea L. (citizen of the Cherokee Nation). Chooch Helped, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Knuz (citizen of the Cherokee Nation). Levine Querido (2024). US.

Rogers, Andrea L. (citizen of the Cherokee Nation). When We Gather/Ostadahlisiha: A Cherokee Tribal Feast, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation). Heartdrum/Imprint of HarperCollins (2024). US.

Rogers, Kim. (Wichita) I Am Osage: How Clarence Tinker Became the First Native American Major General, illustrated by Bobby Von Martin (Choctaw). Heartdrum/Imprint of HarperCollins (2024). US. 

Sorell, Traci (Cherokee Nation). Being Home, illustrated by Michaela Goade (Enrolled member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, and of the Kiks.adi Clan). 

Thomas, Rebecca (Mi'kmaw). I'm Finding My Talk, illustrated by Pauline Young (not Native). Nimbus Publishing (2019). Canada.

Vandever, Daniel W. (Diné). We Weave, illustrated by Deonoveigh Mithcelle (Diné). South of Sunrise Creations (2024). US.

Early Chapter Books

Burbank, Danielle C. (Diné). Navajo Code Talkers. Dorling Kindersley (2024). US.

Quigley, Dawn (citizen, Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe). Jo Jo Makoons: Rule School, illustrated by Tara Audibert. Heartdrum/Imprint of HarperCollins (2024). US. 

Vandever, Daniel W. (Diné). Behind Every Rug, illustrated by Lynne Hardy (Diné). Scholastic (2024). 

Wells, Stacy (member of the Choctaw Nation). Tana Cooks With Care, illustrated by Maria Gabriela Gama Dos Santos (not Native). Picture Window Books (2024). [Note: we will likely add the other books in the series: Tana Cooks to Say Thanks, Tana Cooks a Valentine Surprise, Tana Cooks for a Special Veterans Day.]

For Middle Grades 

Bruegl, Heather (citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and first-line descendant of Stockbridge Munsee). Boarding Schools: Racial Justice in America, Indigenous Peoples series. Publisher (2024). US. [Note: We will likely recommend additional books by Bruegl in this series, including 

Duncan, Violet (Plains Cree and Taino from Kehewin Cree Nation). Buffalo Dreamer. Nancy Paulsen Books (2024).

Gansworth, Eric (enrolled member of the Onondaga Nation). "Indian Price" in Ancestor Approved. Heartdrum/HarperCollins. [Note: we do not recommend the book in its entirety. Some of the stories in it are by people whose claims to being Native have been challenged.]

Hetxw'ms Gyetxw/Brett D. Huson (Gitxsan), The Bee Mother, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Metis). Highwater Press (2024), Canada. 

Hutchinson, Michael (citizen of the Misipawistik Cree Nation). The Case of Rigged Race. Second Story Press (2022). Canada.

Hutchinson, Michael (citizen of the Misipawistik Cree Nation). The Case of the Pilfered Pin. Second Story Press (2024). Canada.

Robertson, David (Norway House Cree),  The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage. Highwater Press (2024). Canada.

Smith, Cynthia Leitich (citizen, Muscogee Creek Nation). On a Wing and a Tear. Heartdrum/Imprint of Harper Collins (2024). US.

For High School 

Cobell, K. A. (enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation). Looking for Smoke. Heartdrum/HarperCollins. US.

Rogers, Andrea L. (citizen of the Cherokee Nation). The Art Thieves. Levine Querido (2024). US.

Treuer, Anton (Ojibwe). Where Wolves Don't Die. Cover and interiors drawn by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (member of Wasauksing First Nation). Levine Querido (2024). US.

Crossover Books (written for adults; appeal to teens/young adults)

Peters, Amanda (Mi'kmaq). The Berry Pickers. Penguin Random House (2023). US.

Rogers, January (Mohawk/Tuscarora from Six Nations of the Grand River.). Blood Sport. Turtle Back Publishing (2023).

vermette, katherena (tribe). real ones. Hamish Hamilton (2024).

Tips for Teachers: Developing Instructional Materials about American Indians

 Editors Note: This post was created as a one-page document that would fit into a single page. It is also available as a pdf. If you have trouble opening or downloading the pdf, write to us directly (see the "Contact" tab for Debbie's email address). A one-pager was hard to do! We wanted to add resources for each of the ten points. Instead, we'll be adding resources in the comments section. We encourage you to share the link to this post and the pdf with others but do not insert Tips for Teachers in something you are selling! We created this as a free resource. If you see someone selling it, please let us know. 

Tips for Teachers: Developing Instructional Materials about American Indians

Prepared by Debbie Reese (Nambé Owingeh) and Jean Mendoza (White) 

American Indians in Children’s Literature 

As educators develop or adapt lesson plans to teach about Native peoples, we recommend attention to the following:

(1) “American Indian” and “Native American” are broad terms that describe the Native Nations of peoples who have lived on North America for thousands of years. Recently, “Indigenous” has come into use, too (note: always use a capital letter for Indigenous). Many people use the three terms interchangeably but educationally, best practice is to teach about and use the name of a specific Native Nation.

(2) There are over 500 sovereign Native Nations that have treaty or legal agreements with the United States. Like any sovereign nation in the world, they have systems of government with unique ways of selecting leaders, determining who their citizens are (also called tribal members), and exercising jurisdiction over their lands. That political status distinguishes Native peoples from other minority or underrepresented groups in the United States. Native peoples have cultures (this includes unique languages, stories, religions, etc.) specific to who they are, but their most important attribute is sovereignty. Best practice—educationally—is to begin with the sovereignty of Native Nations and then delve into unique cultural attributes (languages, religions, etc.)

(3) There is a tendency to talk, speak, and write about Native peoples in the past tense, as if they no longer exist. You can help change that misconception by using present tense verbs in your lesson plans, and in your verbal instruction when you are teaching about Native peoples. 

(4) Another tendency is to treat Native creation and traditional stories like folklore or as writing prompts, or to use elements within them as the basis for art activities. Those stories are of religious significance to Native peoples and should be respected in the same ways that people respect Bible stories. 

(5) In many school districts, instruction and stories about Native peoples are limited to Columbus Day or November (Native American month) or Thanksgiving. Native peoples are Native all year long and information about them should be included year-round. 

(6) Native peoples of the 500+ sovereign nations have unique languages. A common mistake is to think that “papoose” is the Native word for baby and that “squaw” is the word for woman. In fact, each nation has its own word for baby and woman, and some words—like squaw—are considered derogatory. We also have unique clothing. Some use feathered headdresses; some do not.  

(7) To interrupt common misconceptions, develop instructional materials that focus on a specific nation—ideally—one in the area of the school where you teach. Look for that nation’s website and share it with your students. Teach them to view these websites as primary sources. Instead of starting instruction in the past, start with the present day concerns of that nation.

(8) To gain an understanding of issues that are of importance to Native peoples, read Native news media like Indian Country Today, Indianz, and listen to radio programs like “Native America Calling.”

(9) The National Congress of American Indians has free resources online that can help you become more knowledgeable. An especially helpful one is Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction, available here: http://www.ncai.org/about-tribes.

(10) Share what you learn with your fellow teachers! 

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Prepared on October 1, 2020. May be shared with others.
© American Indians in Children's Literature. 

Not Recommended: CODE WORD COURAGE by Kirby Larson

Code Word Courage
Written by Kirby Larson
Published in 2018
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Reviewer: Debbie Reese
Status: Not Recommended

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In 2018, a reader wrote to ask me about Kirby Larson's Code Word Courage. Here's the description:

Billie has lived with her great-aunt ever since her mom passed away and her dad left. Billie's big brother, Leo, is about to leave, too, for the warfront. But first, she gets one more weekend with him at the ranch.

Billie's surprised when Leo brings home a fellow Marine from boot camp, Denny. She has so much to ask Leo -- about losing her best friend and trying to find their father -- but Denny, who is Navajo, or Diné, comes with something special: a gorgeous, but injured, stray dog. As Billie cares for the dog, whom they name Bear, she and Bear grow deeply attached to each other.

Soon enough, it's time for Leo and Denny, a Navajo Code Talker, to ship out. Billie does her part for the war effort, but she worries whether Leo and Denny will make it home, whether she'll find a new friend, and if her father will ever come back. Can Bear help Billie -- and Denny -- find what's most important?

A powerful tale about unsung heroism on the WWII battlefield and the home front.

In May (of 2019), I saw Code Word Courage on the International Literacy Association's "Teachers' Choices 2019 Reading List" of books. Books on it are described as being "exceptional for curriculum use." That means that teachers are being encouraged to use the book to teach children. What do they learn from Larson's book?

Code Word Courage is a story about a White girl named Billie, a dog named Bear, and a Diné (Navajo) man named Denny Begay (and Denny's friend, Jesse, who is also a Code Talker).

The author, Kirby Larson, is White.

What we have in Code Word Courage is a White woman of the present day (Larson), creating dialogue, thoughts, emotions and actions of Native men who were born on the Navajo reservation in about 1926.

That is a difficult task.

In her Author's note, Larson writes:

Though I had tremendous input from people like Dr. Roy Hawthorne, one of the Navajo Code Talkers, and Michael Smith, son of Code Talker Samuel "Jesse" Smith, Sr., it is possible that I have made some mistakes in relating this story. I beg forgiveness in advance.

She says in that note, that it is possible she has made some mistakes and she begs forgiveness if those mistakes are there. Sounds good, but that disclaimer doesn't work for teachers in a classroom who don't know the mistakes are there. And if those mistakes are there, she's asking teachers--and students--to forgive her for making them. She wants them to feel bad for her--not for the people who are misrepresented by her errors.

In her Acknowledgements, Larson writes that she asked Michael Smith to read the parts about Denny. She said that she's

"so grateful for his guidance, corrections, and encouragement. In honor of his kindness, and with his permission, I have named one of the characters in this book after his father." 

See "corrections" in that first sentence? Michael Smith told her some things she had written were in need of correction. We can assume that she made those corrections, but she didn't say something like 'I made every correction he asked for' -- so, we don't know for sure. Instead, she tells us that she named a character after his father. What is the impact of that naming, on him? Is it something he feels good about? Maybe. But maybe not--and if he doesn't like what she did--is his dad's name in the book causing him to be quiet about problems that didn't get corrected?

I know--that's a lot of speculation on my part but I find it unsettling.

In the story Larson tells, we learn that Denny spent his early years with his family and then went to boarding school when he was eight. In chapter 7, we read his thoughts about "customs" his people did "after the Long Walk."

This is the text on page 49 (the first page of chapter 7):

"His mother had awakened him before dawn since he could remember, sometimes throwing him in winter's first snow to toughen him up, sometimes urging him to run east as far and as fast as he could. His grandmother said these customs started after the Long Walk, when so many People perished. Every Diné mother wanted her children strong enough to survive should such an atrocity ever happen again." 

Through Denny, Larson is telling readers that an event that took place in 1864 led the Navajo people to create two "customs" so they would be able to survive "atrocity" if it happened again. The two "customs", she says, are 1) throwing a child in winter's first snow to toughen them up, and 2) running east as far and as fast as they can.

Fact: tribal nations have cultural ways and traditions going back centuries. We have words--in our languages--for things we do. White writers (especially anthropologists) use "custom" for some of these things. Sometimes, Native scholars and writers use that word, too. So, presumably Larson is using "custom" because that is what she read in her sources.

Larson tells us that one of her sources is Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez, with Judith Schiess Avila. In that book, Nez wrote about his childhood. In that book, Nez writes (Kindle location 969):

Grandma told us about her childhood. My eyes drifted close. It had been a long day. In less than a month, school would resume for me, Coolidge, and Dora. I wished that I could stay home and spend the winter with my family. As I drifted to sleep, I pictured snow, deep around the hogan. When I was very young, sometimes my brothers and I stripped naked in the snow, and Father rolled us in a snowbank. This Navajo tradition toughed us children against winter cold. 

I highlighted those last two sentences. Remember, Larson tells us that children were "thrown" into the snow. Nez says they were rolled in a snowbank. He also says it was done to toughen them against winter cold. No mention of anything to do with the Long Walk. Nez talks about directions (east, especially) several times in his book, but none of those instances have anything to do with the Long Walk.

I think the information Larson presented in chapter 7 is incorrect. It will, however, be the sort of thing that students will "learn" as they read this book--especially given that the International Literacy Association is encouraging use of the book in schools.

There are other problems in the book. I did a Twitter thread on May 11, 2019, as I read Larson's book. I'm pasting it below, for your reference. In short, I do not recommend Code Word Courage.

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Twitter Thread by Debbie Reese

May 11, 2019

Been unable to get to CODE WORD COURAGE by Kirby Larson for too long. It is top of the stack today. 

One of the resources I'll use as I read it is Laura Tohe's CODE TALKER STORIES. Tohe is Diné. (Kirby Larson is not.)

I'm on page 32 of Larson's book. I have many post it notes in the book already but am pausing on page 32 because of the way the Diné (Navajo) character's identity is presented in the book. "Big-Water Clan" and "Red-Cheek-People Clan." It is the hyphens that give me pause.

One reason I'm reading CODE WORD COURAGE today is because it is on the International Literacy Association's "Teachers Choices" book list.

Re Larson's use of hyphens, I don't see them used in Tohe's book or in Jennifer Denetdale's RECLAIMING DINÉ HISTORY, where she writes that she "was born for 'Áshiihí (Salt People).

I wonder why they're in Larson's book? An editor's decision, maybe?

Finished rdg CODE WORD COURAGE by Kirby Larson. Now, adding my notes/thoughts to this thread.

On page 13, we meet Denny Begay, the Diné (Navajo) character. He's been at boot camp with a white guy named Leo. They're on their way to see Leo's aunt and sister.

The book is arranged (mostly) in alternating chapters. Chapter 1 is "Billie" (Leo's sister) and chapter 2 is "Denny" and so on thru the rest of the book.

Leo and Denny are hitchhiking but cars pass them by. Leo is surprised because that hasn't happened to him before. We're reading Denny's thoughts. He's surprised Leo doesn't realize that he (Denny)--an Indian--is the reason people are not picking them up.

He thinks abt being taken to boarding school when when he was 8, where the principal would wash his mouth w soap when he spoke Navajo.

Denny hears a sound that Leo can't hear. "All those years of watching his mother's sheep had trained him to recognize the sound of an injured animal" (p. 14).

CODE WORD COURAGE is one bk in Larson's series of dog stories. The sound Denny hears is a dog.

What we have in these chapters about Denny is Larson imagining his thoughts and feelings. In short: a white woman of the present day is imagining the words, thoughts and feelings of a Diné man of the 1940s.

In her Acknowledgements, Larson writes that Michael Smith, son of Code Talker Samuel Jesse Smith, "read the Denny portions of this book." He gave her "guidance, corrections, and encouragement."

To "honor his kindness, and with his permission," she named a character after his father. That character is with Denny in the chapters where Denny is learning the code and then on a ship and finally, on shore at Iwo Jima.

Jesse and Denny both have corn pollen with them. Jesse uses his and says Diné prayers; Denny does not.

Those parts (use of the corn pollen, words spoken) make me uneasy. Are they accurate? Did Michael Smith say anything about that being in the bk?

My personal and professional preference is that content specific to a Native peoples' spiritual ways NOT be in a bk written by someone who is not of that tribal nation.

Last yr I thought that what Roanhorse had in TRAIL OF LIGHTNING was ok because she had a Diné reader.

And so, I recommended the book. I came to regret that recommendation, as I've written, here. Please follow that link. Many Diné writers feel that Roanhorse appropriated their ways.

And they feel that she mis-used those ways, too. For your convenience, here's a letter they wrote about her and her book: Trail of Lightning is an appropriation of Diné cultural beliefs.

I wonder how they'd feel about what Larson has done? She says Michael Smith guided her. Roanhorse had a Navajo reader, too. It didn't matter. It is an example of disagreements within a specific group.

My position is to protect religious ways from being exploited.

I think Larson is on slippery ground with those parts of her book. Jesse's praying (with corn pollen) could have been included without any of those details.

As noted in tweet 8, Denny finds a dog. In its eyes, Denny sees the "familiar pain of rejection." He thinks they have rejection in common and "In eighteen years, the first time he'd felt accepted was at boot camp" (p. 15) where everyone was treated like crap.

That "eighteen years" is a problem for me. He lived at home until he was eight, remember? So... did he feel rejection when living at home as a child? (Answer is, no.) That "eighteen years" is something an editor should have caught.

Something passes between the dog and Denny as they look at each other. I'm noting that moment because later in the story when Denny is at Iwo Jima, the dog seems to appear to him.

I haven't read Larson's other dog bks. Is that a theme in them (a special relationship between a person and a dog, and then the dog appearing in a spiritual way, later)?

Once they get to Leo's house and are eating dinner, Denny tells Billie that his dad's favorite author was Jules Verne. That's possible but it stuck out to me, especially when later, Denny thinks about a John Wayne movie. To many Native ppl, John Wayne gets a thumbs down.

Denny says that "Uncle Sam put all us Navajos in the Marines" (p. 32). I don't think that is accurate. Thousands of Navajos enlisted. I doubt every one of them was put in the Marines.

How would Denny have that information? He just got out of boot camp.

On page 49, Denny is remembering his mother waking him before dawn, sometimes throwing him in the snow "to toughen him up" and sometimes telling him to run east as fast and as far as he could. His grandmother said they started doing these "customs" after the Long Walk.

Getting up and facing east every morning, and running is something he still does. It is habit.

That feels to me like a consistency error. He probably did that before boarding school but once there, could he have done that running east? Doubtful.

And I'd like to know Larson's source for that "custom." Why run east, fast? To get away from the soldiers who were forcing the Navajos on that Long Walk? Something feels off about "east" and these "customs" after the Long Walk.

On p. 68 Denny reaches into the buckskin bag he wears around his neck (on p. 33 when Billie saw it, he could tell she wondered what was inside; what he kept in it was personal/private but that he could tell her a little--that it has "corn pollen and tokens") and gives her a turquoise stone as a way of thanking her for being so nice to him while he was visiting them.

Billie wonders if it is magic and can grant wishes.

I wonder how kids are interpreting that? There's no check on that idea on the page (or elsewhere).

On p 103, Denny is on duty, in a room where there will be a "little test" of the code, which is in development.

The way he and the other 18 Diné men reply to the Lieutenant reminds him of boarding school where people "could see only skin color."

That's a bit slippery, too. The boarding schools weren't about the color of Native people's skin. They were about their status as tribal members/citizens of sovereign nations. The schools were a govt assimilation program to undermine Native nationhood status.

Denny remembers getting to the school and the matron examining his long hair for lice three times. She didn't find any but cut his hair anyway.

I don't think that's accurate. Hair was cut, no matter what. The way Larson writes that part suggests that if a person had long hair and no lice, they could keep their hair long. That did not happen. Hair was cut, period.

There's a Mexican American family in Larson's bk, too. The father works for Billie's aunt, managing her ranch. The boy, Tito, is in Billie's class at school. They become friends. The bully in the story picks on Tito a lot.

The bully picks on Billie, too, but the taunts at Tito are because of his identity. At Valentines Day the class makes heart cards to send to the hospital at Camp Pendleton. Tito writes a message in Spanish.

The bully tells their teacher that the cards are "going to Americans" and "should be in American." The teacher tells him "you mean English" and then realizes why the bully is asking the question.

It is good that she's not racist like the bully, but her pushback on him is not ok. She talks abt a newsreel that had "white faces, brown faces, black faces. Even the faces of men of Japanese heritage." (p. 162).

She pats her heart and says "It reminded me that, here in America, we may all come from different places" (p. 162).

No. That sounds like the "we are all immigrants" thinking that, in essence, erases Indigenous people.

Several times, Billie refers to things that Tito's family makes, like tamales. The references to food are superficial decorative in nature. And the references to "home made tortillas" are odd. The story is set in 1944. Were there factory-made tortillas then?

Some of the things I'm pointing out might seem picky, but if you're of the people whose ways are being used by Larson in ways that don't jibe with you and what you know, they are not small problems.

On page 168 is a chapter for the dog. Oh! I should have said earlier. His name is Bear. In this chapter, Larson imagines Bear's thinking. It is nighttime and he's uneasy. He feels like he is being called. He paces. "Soon, he must answer that call."

Immediately following that line is a Denny chapter, dated Feb 19, 1945. He's heading to Iwo Jima. Skipping past some Billie chapters, there's another Denny chapter, dated Feb 19 to Feb 22. That's when he imagines Bear is with him.

And Bear, as Larson told us in the Bear chapter, feels that he is being called. Way back in the early part of this thread, I noted that when Bear and Denny first made eye-contact, Larson wrote that some thing passed between them.

I think we're supposed to feel the love of a dog/human relationship. Maybe that's what this whole WWII Dogs series is about, but given Billie's wonderings abt magic (the turquoise stone), how are kid-readers making sense of all this?

CODE WORD COURAGE ends somewhat abruptly. There's some chapters near the end abt Tito getting hurt and rescued, with Bear playing a role in that. But then it leaps ahead about 30 years. Denny is living in a hogan on the reservation. Billie (now a woman in her 40s) visits him.

They sit to have coffee; she pulls a book from her bag: NAVAJO CODE TALKERS. He hadn't talked with the author but some of his friends had. Billie asks if this is his story, too. He says yes.

She says "When you were little, they tried to prevent you from speaking Navajo, and then the language ends up winning the war for us." He says he wouldn't say that. She wants to know what he would say...

Denny pats his pouch. The last words on page 233 are:

"The Diné custom was to tell stories during the winter, when snow blanketed the ground. But Denny decided today he could make an exception. For Billie."

Indigenous people tell stories at certain times of the year. But I think that is certain kinds of stories, not all stories.

In this ending (created by a White woman), a Diné man is going to break his peoples custom to tell a White woman a story that we're supposed to believe should not be told till winter?

I really don't like White people creating stories where their Indigenous characters break traditional teachings.

Conclusion, now that I'm finished reading and thinking about Kirby Larson's CODE WORD COURAGE? When I pull these thoughts into a review on American Indians in Children's Literature, it will have a NOT RECOMMENDED tag.

Personal news: AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES -- FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

On July 13, 2015, I received an invitation to adapt An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States, for young adults. Written by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, I had already spent time with the book and was intrigued with the idea. Originally published by Beacon in 2014, it is packed with information and spans hundreds of years and thousands of miles.

Was it possible, I wondered, to shape it into something that young adults and classroom teachers could use? I responded to the invitation by saying "only if Jean Mendoza can do it with me."

Their answer was yes, and so, we got to work. A little over four years will have lapsed when the book is released on July 23, 2019. We worked several hours almost every day for three years, taking week-long breaks for holidays or vacation, revising the text.

Jean and I are parents but we've also taught schoolchildren, and we taught in teacher education departments at the University of Illinois and elsewhere. We had children, teens, and teachers in mind every step of the way.

"Shall we do a map, here?" and "Maybe we need to add a definition box, right here..." and "Let's add a provocative question box, here!" are some of the things we'd say to each other as we worked.

In a few weeks we'll have finished copies in hand. I can't wait to see the finished book! Right now, we've both got a bound ARC that doesn't have the index and some final revisions in it.

I think we did some really good work. I know we'll be reading it with fresh eyes and groan about something we said or didn't say--that's the nature of writing--and will be keeping track of such things for (we hope) a second or third printing, or an updated version if the book sells well enough.

I've been using Twitter to share some photos I've taken from inside the ARC:

• Navajo Long Walk, map
• Po'pay, photo
• Walt Whitman's racist writings
• Identity, a caution about DNA tests

As of today it has gotten starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist. That's cool, but we want to hear from readers. We are especially interested in hearing from Native readers (students, parents, teachers, scholars), especially about passages that have errors or other problems. Let us know! We look forward to hearing from you.

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Back on July 3 to post reviews! 

On April 22, 2019, the book received a star from Kirkus. Here's an excerpt: 

With an eye to the diversity and number of Indigenous nations in America, the volume untangles the many conquerors and victims of the early colonization era and beyond. From the arrival of the first Europeans through to the 21st century, the work tackles subjects as diverse as the Dakota 38, the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee, the American Indian Movement’s takeover of Alcatraz, and the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance. 

The June 1 issue of Booklist included a starred review. That review appeared online on July 2nd as Booklist's Review of the month. Here's an excerpt:

There is much to commend here: the lack of sugar-coating, the debunking of origin stories, the linking between ideology and actions, the well-placed connections among events past and present, the quotes from British colonizers and American presidents that leave no doubt as to their violent intentions. Built-in prompts call upon readers to reflect and think critically about their own prior knowledge. Terms like “settler” and “civilization” are called into question. Text is broken up by maps, photographs, images by Native artists, propaganda, and primary-source texts that provide more evidence of the depth to which the U.S. economy was—and still is—rooted in the destruction of Indigenous lives. 

The July issue of School Library Journal (if the review is shared online, I'll be back with a link) includes a starred review, too! An excerpt (from the Barnes and Noble website):

Source notes and a recommended list of fiction and nonfiction titles, picture books, and novels by Indigenous authors are in the back matter. VERDICT Dunbar-Ortiz's narrative history is clear, and the adapters give readers ample evidence and perspective to help them to engage with the text. A highly informative book for libraries serving high school students.

Back on July 21 to add that the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Madison named Indigenous Peoples' History as its Book of the Week on July 8, 2018.

Not Recommended: IF YOU LIVED IN COLONIAL TIMES by Ann McGovern

Yesterday (March 2, 2019) I read a post at Social Justice Books about If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern. Social Justice Books is a project at Teaching for Change that I am part of. Here's an except from their post, Whitewashed Colonial History Children's Book Still in Print.

On the last day of Black History Month, children at a predominantly African American elementary school in D.C. were each given a book to keep. 

The title given to the daughter of one of our Teaching for Change staff was If You Lived in Colonial Times (Scholastic, 1992). While this outrageous book all but erases African Americans and demonizes Native Americans, it ironically came along with an “I am Black History” bookmark.

Their review included the book cover. I shared their review on Twitter, but used my own image of the cover. For some books, I'll place a red X on the cover. It is eye-catching and communicates that the book has significant problems.

In their review, they shared some pages from the book. Here's the last page, about who wanted to live in New England. See the last paragraph?

I did a bit of research as I shared their review. They note it first came out in 1964. I found the cover of that first printing:

From what I'm able to see online, the words in the 1964 edition (with pictures by Brinton Turkle) are the same as those found in the 1992 edition, when the illustrations were re-done by June Otani.

What, I wonder, was the conversation that took place in Scholastic offices, in 1990 or 1991 when they discussed updating the illustrations. Obviously they decided they needed to update those illustrations--but what about the words? Did they think those were ok?

Social Justice Books shared part of page 65, about mail delivery:

Sometimes the letter was never delivered. The man you hired might be killed by some Indians.

Regular mail service began in 1672, the text reads, when "post riders" were hired:

The post rider rode with the mail through forests, along narrow Indian trails, and across streams. He kept his gun loaded. There might be a hungry bear or wolf nearby. Or an unfriendly Indian.

In this moment in the US, with so many news stories of Native and People of Color being shot and killed, I find that passage chilling. And it is missing so much. Why, for example, might a Native person be "unfriendly"? Might it be because people had invaded his land and killed his family?

Why, Scholastic, do you keep this book in print?

Part of the work I do with Teaching for Change is its #StepUpScholastic campaign. Many of you reading this post have fond memories of your school days, when your teacher would hand out a flier of books you could get at a reduced rate. Studies have shown that, today, the selection of books offered is lacking in diversity. We created a webpage through which you can write to Scholastic to ask them to make the selections in the book fliers more diverse, but you can use it to write to Scholastic about any book that you see and have concerns about. If You Lived in Colonial Times is definitely one of those books that is generating concern.

Again: why, Scholastic, do you keep this book in print?

Your brand--your profile--is that your books are educational. With this book, you are not educating children. You are, in fact, hurting any child who reads this book.

Once I hit publish on this post, I'm going over to the Teaching for Change page to submit a comment. I hope you (teachers, parents, librarians) do so, too.