Established in 2006 by Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical analysis of Indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books. Dr. Jean Mendoza joined AICL as a co-editor in 2016.
At the end of May, I wrote about Elizabeth Warren (running for US Senate against incumbent Scott Brown) and her family story about how they are part Cherokee.
Last night was the first debate between Warren and Brown. The first thing Scott Brown brought up was Warren's identity. He said "Professor Warren claimed she was a Native American, a person of color. And as you can see, she's not."
Scott Brown's ignorance is showing!
__________
Brown's remark suggests that a blue-eyed blonde could not be American Indian. He is wrong about that.
__________
Being a tribally enrolled member or citizen of a federally recognized tribe is what matters (and yes, there is a lot of debate about federal recognition and state recognition). Is Native identity determined by skin color? Nope. Hair color? Nope. Obviously, his idea of what an American Indian should look like is based on stereotypes!
The Cherokee Nation has several videos about being a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Here's one:
As the video demonstrates, Cherokee's "look" lots of different ways with regard to hair and skin color.
Scott Brown ought to watch that video!
And maybe he should read Cynthia Leitich Smith's short story, "A Real-Live Blond Cherokee and His Equally Annoyed Soul Mate" in Moccasin Thunder, edited by Lori Marie Carlson.
There's a lot of ignorance in America (around the world, in fact) about who American Indians are, but there are a lot of outstanding children's and young adult books that can unseat that ignorance. Moccasin Thunder has short stories by several leading Native writers: Joy Harjo, Sherman Alexie, Richard Van Camp, Linda Hogan, Joseph BruchacUpdate on Sep 30 2023: I (Debbie Reese) no longer recommend Bruchac's work. For details see Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?, Greg Sarris, Lee Francis, and Susan Power. Pick it up today. Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown could learn a lot by reading it.
Did you see the video that started circulating yesterday? The one that shows Scott Brown's staff making war whoops and doing the tomahawk chop at an Elizabeth Warren event? The media is portraying it as a mockery of Warren's Native heritage.
"Outrageous!" the pundits exclaim.
On one hand, I'm glad they're seeing it as outrageous. On the other hand, I'm going to pull on Floyd Red Crow Westerman's song, "Where Were You When":
Did you listen to it?
I wonder where Warren and all the pundits have been all this time? All these years when Native people have been fighting mascots.
At the University of Illinois, countless people came forward to say they were part Native, and that they like these mascots because they honor American Indians. With their "part Native" proclamation, they felt quite emboldened to attack Native people whose identity is part of our daily lives. By that, I mean Native people who are tribally enrolled or tribally connected to a Native Nation. In his excellent report on Brown and Warren in Indian Country Today, Mark Trahant includes a video clip in which Cherokee Nation Chief Baker said that he wishes "every Congressman and Senator in the U.S. had a... felt a kinship to the Cherokee Nation." Presumably, Baker thinks they would be allies of Native Nations and our needs. My experience at Illinois tells me that kinship of that kind works against us more than it does in support of us.
Warren is saying that if her staff had done what Scott Brown's staff did, there would be "serious consequences." She's telling him to DO something.
I'm asking HER to do something. This is a chance for her to regain support from people who have lost faith in her due to the way she is handling the identity issue.
Ms. Warren: Mascots and stereotyping have serious consequences for Native children and their nations. You're seeking a senate seat in a city that has a stereotypical mascot. Issue a statement condemning it.
Here's another suggestion: To help us displace the stereotypes planted in the minds of children, take a minute each day to highlight a book by a Native author who tell stories of our lives as-we-are, rather than the classics that stereotype us. I can help you select books to highlight.
Yesterday (May 2nd, 2012), Latoya Paterson of Racialicious published my post about "Queen Chief Warhorse" at her site. In it I questioned the use of "Queen." Latoya also posted an essay by Gyasi Ross, and one of her own. The three generated many comments. Some people question the import of federal recognition. Some people see the discussion as racist. This is my response to that conversation.
In Part One (below), I return to the remarks made by "Queen Chief Warhorse" that night in New Orleans. Here's the video, and beneath it are her remarks, followed by my thoughts (then and now) about what she said. In Part Two, I address some of the Latoya's questions.
PART ONE
Warhorse:
"All glory go to the Creator. It's an honor to be here today, but I love the theme: America Healing. But first, let's think about something. Where did America come from? Have it always been America? Or was it just created to be America? Who are the real Americans? America keep changing and changing and changing."
Debbie's response:
With her "let's think about something," she asked the audience to hit the pause button and be critical thinkers. That's a good thing for any speaker to do.
I invite you (and her) to think critically about her question "Who are the real Americans?" It is factually incorrect for her to call the Indigenous peoples of this land Americans. When Europeans arrived here, they entered into diplomatic negotiations with leaders of Indigenous nations. The outcome of those negotiations were treaties, just like the treaties the US makes today with nations around the world. They didn't make treaties with "First Americans." They made treaties with hundreds of Indigenous nations. None of them were called "America" and their citizens didn't call themselves "Americans." (If you're interested in treaties, you can read some of them online, but I urge you to get the two-volume set, Documents of American Indian Diplomacy, edited by Vine Deloria, Jr. and Raymond J. DeMallie. It is more comprehensive and it provides context for reading the treaties.)
We were, and are, sovereign nations. Categorizing us beneath the multicultural umbrella obscures our status as sovereign nations and leads people to think that we want to be Americans, just like everybody else. In some ways we do, and some ways we don't. For the most part, that multicultural umbrella is about people of color. We (Indigenous peoples) might be people of color, but we are first-and-foremost, citizens of sovereign nations. Some of us look the way people think Indians should look, but some of us don't. Some of us look like we ought to be called "African American" instead, and some of us look White. What we look like doesn't matter.
Some might think that the "we are not people of color" statement is racist, I hope you see it isn't about race. It is about sovereignty.
Any nation---the U.S., or Canada, or Spain---has the power to decide who its citizens are and what criteria they will use to made such determinations. We might not like the criteria, and we can work to change that criteria, but until it is changed, it is pretty much what we abide by. Indigenous nations in the United States also have that power. Most people in the United States don't know that, because most people in the United States think we vanished, that we came to the end of the trail. We're still here, however, and when we see errors, some of us point them out. If you were in France and someone said something incorrect about the United States, you might speak up and correct that error.
By the way, "Queen Chief Warhorse" isn't the only person to make that error.
President Obama made it, too, in his children's book wherein he writes
about "thirteen groundbreaking Americans." Among those thirteen is
Sitting Bull. One of Sitting Bull's grandson's said emphatically that Sitting Bull did not consider himself "American." That error is made a lot because people don't know enough about who we were, and who we are. Given Racialicious's audience, I'm glad to see the conversation because having it creates the opportunity for knowledge to be gained, and spread.
Warhorse:
"Let's go back in time when the American Indians look like I look..."
Debbie's response:
Does she really think that all Indigenous peoples were phenotypically Black? Or did she misspeak?
Later on (her remarks went far longer than the minute-long video), she said that reservations are "prison camps" and like the "projects". There is a kernel of truth in that statement. There was a time when one had to have permission from a federal agent to leave the reservation, but that isn't the case today. Does her audience know that? Does she? There is poverty and substandard housing on reservations but for some of us, they are far more than that. We (at Nambe) are on a reservation, but we were never moved. We are on the land we've been on for hundreds of years. (Through carbon dating, our current village is dated to 1300, and ones we were in before are far older than that.) Our traditions are strong.
Warhorse:
"...and roamed the southeast part of the United States, freely."
Debbie's response:
Her use of "roam" is another indicator (to me) that she is steeped in stereotypes of American Indians.
Think critically about that word, who uses it, and when it is used. Basically, what she is describing is the movement of a people. That movement may be due to seasonal changes, or to follow herds, or, to go where water or resources are more plentiful at a given time of the year. That movement is different than what the word "roam" means. You can look it up if you wish. It means to move about without purpose or plan, or to wander over or through. See why it doesn't work when applied to the movement of a people?
In 2009, I did some research on the use of the word roam. It is often used to describe the movement of Indigenous peoples. Here's what I found:
On the web---
Search phrase: "Pioneers roamed": 129 hits
Search phrase: "Cowboys roamed": 938 hits
Search phrase: "Indians roamed": 9,910 hits
I repeated the search in Google books---
Pioneers roamed: 23 hits
Cowboys roamed: 135
Indians roamed: 688 hits
Obviously, pioneers and cowboys were doing the same thing Indians were doing (moving from one place to another) but I think the discrepancy in use of the word is worth noting. The Indigenous peoples in the southeast part of the United States weren't roaming. Using that word takes away from their intellect, their agency, and their humanity. It lets us think of them as "primitive" or animal-like.
Warhorse:
"I love what the Mayor said... We have to tell the truth. We cannot heal America till we fix the foundation. Can we start right there?"
Debbie's response:
I agree. We do have to tell the truth and fix the foundation, but given her lack of substantive knowledge about Indigenous peoples, we can't start with her.
PART TWO
Latoya poses the question: Who gets to say if "Queen Chief Warhorse" is Native? She, like anyone in the world, can say anything they want to. My guess is that she (like Elizabeth Warren) learned about a Native ancestor from stories handed down from family members. And with that story, she built a way of "being" Indian that is based on stereotypes. That's too bad. It undermines the work she is trying to do to get recognition.
"Queen Chief Warhorse" has organized a group of people who share that story. They're trying to get recognized but they've got a long way to go. As Gyasi pointed out, it is a difficult process, but an important one. Among other things, it protects all of you (Americans) from being ripped off by someone who claims they're a tribe and then charges you for performances or products that aren't, in fact, accurate or authentic.
Do you know about the Indian Arts and Crafts Act? It is a federal law
that says that items marketed as being American Indian must be supported
by documentation that the maker is a citizen of a federally recognized
tribe. There's a lot of push-back on that law, because a lot of people
who are Native can't get enrolled due to the way that a tribe's criteria
is laid out. It isn't fair, as many point out, but changes can be made
to those criterion, and many tribes are making those changes, and many
have other ways of recognizing individuals who don't fit the criteria
for enrollment.
The thing is, there's a lot of hucksters out there, claiming American Indian identity.
Do you remember when that Sacajawea coin came out? There was a group in the midwest who said they were a tribe, and, they marketed a small bag in which you could store your coin. When they were called out as fake, they had to return the money to people who bought those bags (I didn't bookmark the page. I'll look for it, but in the meantime, if anyone finds it, please let me know).
And do you remember that group that said it was a tribe, and was selling "citizenship" to people in other countries (particularly Mexico)? Those individuals bought that citizenship and came to the U.S., only to find out they'd been the victims of a fraud.
Latoya points to the idea of sovereignty, and how a group decides. "Queen Chief Warhorse" has a group, and, she's Queen and Chief of that group. Apparently, they think that's fine. Therein is the key. Who is "the group" and what are they doing to become recognized? If Latoya has Native ancestry in her family line and she starts researching it, I don't think she would create a tribe and start wearing a headdress at various functions. I don't think "Queen Chief Warhorse" is like the two fraudulent tribes I noted above, but I do think her speech and adoption of stereotypes is undermining her claim and chance of recognition. "Queen Chief Warhorse" says she is Chahta, which is Choctaw. Does she have any contact with the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi? Or the one in Oklahoma ? If she and her group want to learn what Chahta's culture was/is, they could go to either one of those nations and learn from them. Have they done that? If you're trying to recover something you lost, where do you start looking?
Latoya also says that the conversation leaves us "not much further than before" but I think she's wrong about that. She knows a lot more, as do her readers. Prior to this, I think the conversations at her site (regarding identity) were grounded in pop culture, and Gyasi and I are trying to ground them in the politics of Indigenous nations.
If you want to learn more, the Cherokee Nation has an excellent video:
As David Cornsilk (citizen of the Cherokee Nation) said to me, Mayor Landreau's recommendation of her as a speaker isn't without context, too. If she's successful in convincing people of her group's status as a Native nation, the city stands to gain money from those who would give her group funding, based on its claim as a Native nation.
If you read Gyasi's piece and you've read this far on mine, I hope you feel that you know a lot more now than you did before. Carry that information with you, and share it with others. And the next time you could across someone who says she's the queen of an Indian tribe, I think you'll hear that claim in a different way than you did before.
Part of why you accepted the idea of an Indian "Queen" is due in large part to what you learned in school. Most children's books you read were full of errors. The stories might have been page-turners or award-winning, and they might have felt accurate, but they weren't. American Indians in Children's Literature, in publication since 2005, has been providing readers with critical analysis of those books, and, tools to help you spot the problems yourself. If you're reading this essay at another site, please visit American Indians in Children's Literature, and let parents and teachers know about the site, too. In the top right are lists of books that accurately represent American Indians. For your convenience, they are grouped by grade level.
Update: Sunday, May 6, 2012, 4:38 PM
Over the last couple of days, I've watched several videos in
which "Queen Chief Warhorse" talks about her group. To view them, search
Youtube and Google videos using "Chief Warhorse" as your search term.
In watching them, I found some answers to questions I posed above:
When she said "Let's go back in time when the American
Indians look like I look" she means it. By watching the videos, I
understand that she means it just as she said it. She believes that this
continent was first populated by Africans who came here on entrepreneur
ships. The people of federally recognized sovereign Native nations
today, she says, are descendents of her people who came here from Africa
and mixed with people who weren't from Africa. The real Indigenous
people, she says, look like her. To use her words, real Indigenous
people would look "cocoa brown" like her and not "vanilla." We
(federally recognized sovereign nations), she says, are not legitimate
and the federal government is being ripped off by us.
She says she is from a long line of royal chiefs. Hence, she believes it is correct for her to use "Queen" as her title.
Above, I wondered if she has made efforts to visit the Mississippi
Choctaw or Oklahoma Choctaw Nations to reestablish connections with
them. By watching the videos, I understand that she doesn't feel the
need to do so. She says that the Oklahoma Choctaws use of "Choctaw" is
incorrect. She says that the people who moved to Oklahoma started using
"Choctaw" and then went down to Louisiana to observe her people and how
they did things. Then, they went back to Oklahoma and mimicked the ways
of her people.
My thoughts on that? I find it interesting
and when I have time, will look into it. In some ways she seems to be
determined to discredit and even usurp the federally recognized tribes,
putting her people in place as the "First Americans" who have rightful
claim to this continent. On one hand she seems to dismiss us, and on the
other, she adopts stereotypical Plains Indian ways of being, but it is
possible she addresses that in one of the videos and I didn't see it.
(Several people have written to me privately about horses, and how they
weren't in the swampland.)
Why do I bother, some of you might wonder, with any of this?!
Here's
why... In the 1950s, the federal government instituted the
"Termination" program through which it hoped to be rid of federally
recognized tribes. In American Indian Politics and the American Political System, David
Wilkins writes that over 100 tribes were, in fact, terminated. Carrying
out the policy proved disastrous and it ended in the 1960s. Some tribes
have been successful in having their sovereign status restored. In
comments at Racialicious, someone pointed to a news article that reports
that U.S. Department of Interior officials
met with her in Louisiana, and that it is the first time the government
has met with a group that doesn't have federal recognition. I also
found an article
about her success in getting a three-digit code from the U.S. Census by
which to count the members of her group. It seems she is making
in-roads with the federal government, but to what end, and what does the
federal government stand to gain by meeting with her?
Update, Monday, May 7, 6:13 PM
Indian Country Today ran a story today about Elizabeth Warren. Here's an excerpt:
“The mainstream media definitely has added to this controversy due
to their well-known ignorance about tribal citizenship and other tribal
issues,” says Julia Good Fox, a professor at Haskell Indian Nations
University. Good Fox notes that the media has largely failed to explain
tribal citizenry and blood quantum issues to give context to the
situation because these aren’t easy stories to tell. It’s easier to
label the case “convoluted,” blame Warren, and move on to the next
political gotcha story.
“Unfortunately, for the most part, their coverage is just adding to
the confusion and threatens to feed racism or anti-Indianism,” Good Fox
says. To do better, she says the media should start by noting that
tribal nations have a right to determine who their citizens are, rather
than focusing on the misunderstood notion that tribal citizens can only
be determined by U.S.-imposed mathematical fractions.
Chelsea Clinton's picture book, She Persisted, was released on May 30, 2017. Parents and teachers will buy it. So will activists. Published by Philomel Books (an imprint of Penguin), it is already marked as a best seller at Amazon.
The title, as many AICL readers will likely know, is based on Mitch McConnell's remark about Elizabeth Warren, who persisted in trying to read Coretta Scott King's words on the Senate floor in February of 2017. Some of you may recall that I've written about Warren before, when she persisted in making a claim to Cherokee identity. That persistence showed a lot of willful ignorance. I don't want to get sidetracked, though, in this post that focuses on one page in Clinton's She Persisted.
I like the concept: a picture book about women who push back on those who want them to be quiet, to sit down, to go away... that's a great idea. But the execution--with respect to the page about Maria Tallchief--fails to push back on the ways that most people think about Native peoples.
Here's a screen capture of the text about Maria Tallchief. It says:
"After MARIA TALLCHIEF's family moved to California, partly to support Maria's dreams of becoming a dancer, she was teased by students in school for her Native American heritage and later was encouraged to change her last name to something that sounded Russian (since many professional dancers at the time were from Russia). She persisted, ignoring all the taunting and poor advice, to become to first great American prima ballerina."
At first glance, that info about her sounds great, doesn't it? It is based in fact. An Entertainment Weekly interview points to the autobiography Clinton read (Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina). Here's that part from Tallchief's book. This took place in 1933:
Some of the students made fun of my last name, pretending they didn’t understand if it was Tall or Chief. A few made war whoops whenever they saw me, and asked why I didn’t wear feathers or if my father took scalps.
When you hear "Native American" or "American Indian," what image comes to mind? For a lot of people, it will be a large feathered headdress, some war whoops, a tomahawk, a tipi, and maybe a herd of buffalo. In other words, the same things that Tallchief had to deal with in 1933.
It is way cool that Clinton is showing us a Native person as a ballerina. That image counters the other imagery that comes to mind, but calling her a Native American leaves the generic or monolithic "Native American" term itself, intact.
In other words--I wish Clinton had written in there, somewhere in those 60 words, that Maria Tallchief was Osage. It is a missed opportunity for Osage kids to see the name of their nation, in print, in a picture book that millions of children are going to read.
That bit about her name is interesting, all on its own.
Clinton tells us the ballet company wanted Tallchief to change her last name to something so that it sounded Russian. In her autobiography, Tallchief wrote that they wanted her to add an 'a' to Tallchief and swap that 'f' for a 'v' so it would be "Tallchieva." Sheesh! She didn't want to do that, but did agree to use "Maria" rather than her given name, Betty Marie.
If I was teaching She Persisted, I'd substitute "Osage" for "Native American." And of course, I'd talk about the Osage Nation. I've not studied how Clinton writes about the other women in the book. If you have, let me know in the comments.
Book cited:
Tallchief, Maria. Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina. Henry Holt and Co.
Over the last few weeks, people in American Indian, Native American, or Indigenous Studies have been deeply engaged in discussions of identity, trying to help people understand what it means to be a member or citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
This discussion was prompted when the identity of a key person in this area of research and teaching was featured in an article in The Daily Beaston June 30, 2015.The person is Andrea Smith. The identity she claims is Cherokee.
Several years ago, Smith asked David Cornsilk of the Cherokee Nation to help her verify her belief that she was Cherokee. In an Open Letter at Indian Country Today Media Network, David goes into great detail on his findings (bottom line: she's not Cherokee). Many people knew about this and hoped that Smith would 1) stop saying she is Cherokee, and, 2) that she would take steps so that people would stop calling her Cherokee when they introduce her at lectures she is invited to deliver.
She didn't do either one. It was only a matter of time before her misrepresentation of her identity would become more widely known.
The article at The Daily Beast pulled heavily from a Tumblr page that documented a long history of Smith's efforts to get her claims verified. This led to many blog posts and discussions on social media and at Native news sites.
I wrote a post (on July 3, 2015), too, because lack of knowing what it means to be Cherokee results in a lot of problems in children's literature. They range from:
1) claims that are, in fact, empty (when will every copy of "Forrest Carter's" The Education of Little Treebe moved from autobiography to fiction, if not removed entirely from the shelves?).
2) ignorance in portraying Cherokee culture, as seen--for example--in David Arnold's Mosquitoland, or Francesa Lia Block's Weetzie Bat series, or P.C. and Kristin Cast's House of Night series, or Gail Haley's Two Bad Boys, or Martina Boone's Compulsion.
3) mis-identifying people as Cherokee when they say otherwise, as was done in Alko's The Case for Loving.
As I packed for a family trip to North Carolina on Thursday, July 9, 2015, my head was filled with what I'd been reading about Andrea Smith.
Our first stop was in Atlanta. Along the walls in the passageway from Terminal B to Terminal A is an exhibit of Atlanta's history. It includes panels on the Cherokee Nation. I stood there looking at the exhibit and thought about Cherokee people I know, and what their ancestors have been through. Sometimes, my Cherokee friends and colleagues are furious over another instance in which they are misrepresented or when someone on a national level (like Elizabeth Warren) says they're Cherokee. Other times, they are weary.
Like their ancestors, they persevere.
On Saturday morning, David Cornsilk was out and about in Tahlequah, the capitol of the Cherokee Nation. Being out with family and friends in the Cherokee Nation isn't unusual for David. Later that day, he wrote about it on his Facebook page. With his permission, I share some of what he said, here:
Today seemed different though. Every Cherokee I came into contact with gave me a heightened sense of what it means to a part of the Cherokee community. At breakfast I saw cousins and old friends, all Cherokees. When I went to the estate sales I saw and visited with Cherokees. And again, at the theater, the room was filled with the people I and my family associate with, Cherokees. As I looked around the room I saw the faces of Cherokees laughing, joking and socializing. These are spaces that fill my memory from childhood to the present.
As these contacts built in my minds eye on what is just another Saturday, I was suddenly struck by a profound truth in the context of the Andrea Smith controversy. Even if she could prove some smidgen of Cherokee ancestry, of course she can't, but if she could, what I experienced today, in just four short hours, was more Cherokee community and culture than someone like Andrea will experience in a lifetime.
After the movie and the see-Ya-later hugs from my grandchildren, their innocent little Cherokee selves facing a world that wants nothing more than to take everything away from them, I became more resolved to fight harder for their future as citizens of the Cherokee Nation, to defend their tribe's sovereignty from all comers. Because like the saying we hear so often, the land is not ours, it's only borrowed from our children, so too is our sovereignty.
When someone says they are Cherokee without any concern for the rights of the tribe, they erode the sovereignty and self-determination that rightfully belongs to our children and grandchildren. As the current defenders of that sovereignty, our generation must do all we can to defend what is not really ours, but our grandchildren's.
David knows what it is to be Cherokee, what life is like for someone who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
What he shared brings me back to you, Writer Who Thinks You Are Cherokee. Are you an Andrea Smith? Did someone in your family tell you that you're Cherokee? Did you use that story to identify yourself as Cherokee? Does that identity inspire you to create stories to "honor" Cherokees? Or some other Native Nation?
If the answer to those questions is yes, hit the pause button. If you're not living life as a Cherokee, you're likely to add to the pile of misrepresentations Cherokee people contend with, day in, and day out. Do you really want to do that?
But returning to Andrea Smith, and speaking now, to my friends and colleagues in activist circles: please reconsider inviting Andrea Smith to deliver a keynote lecture at your conference or workshop. My request may sound mean-spirited or unfair to her, but consider the Cherokee Nation itself. Consider the Cherokee children David speaks of. Do you want to, as Smith is doing, thumb your nose at their sovereignty? Their rights to say who their citizens are? Do you really want to do that?
Editors note: Among the email I receive are ones from teachers who found a review on AICL helpful to their work with students. In this case, the teacher wrote to me about David Arnold's Mosquitoland. The email I received from "K" was interesting enough that I invited them to write it up for AICL's readers. Here's what K submitted.
__________
“White people!” I think to myself, about myself, channelling one
of my student’s (head-shaking) refrains. I can see his friendly-mocking face
and his shaking head as I read Dr. Debbie Reese’s post about her analysis of
David Arnold’s Mosquitoland and her subsequent exchange with the author
via Twitter. Sigh.
As a white woman from an upper-middle class upbringing, I try to
be very conscious of my white and socioeconomic privilege. I spend countless
hours trying to choose books that provide both reflections and windows to my
diverse students. Looking back on how much of my own studies were focused on
white, European male authors, I know that that impacted me as a woman and
regardless of how great these great works are, I know that they are not they only
examples of greatness and many include dubious content.
And yet, despite my own attempted awareness, I fell into my own
trap of privilege, into a reading that I had the luxury of experiencing because
I am “white people.” Having read and admittedly enjoyed Mosquitoland a
few years ago, I recently found myself needing a book to start a conversation
with my students about mental health struggles. I had been somewhat bothered by
the protagonist’s casual dismissal of pharmacological treatments but thought
that that, in and of itself (which problematic), could be a good conversation
starter as non-examples often are. Many of my students have very entrenched
views on certain medications and I thought that the book could give us a
framework for those valuable discussions.
While I found Mim’s flippant and self-serving treatment of her
heritage less than ideal, I did see it as being characteristic of a teenager. I
did not initially tie the “war paint” to that heritage but rather while reading
too quickly thought about it as a female putting on makeup to face the (male)
world (again demonstrating the privilege of my lens). Nor did it occur to me to
factcheck the various references to cultural sayings and proverbs--I thought
that was why authors had editors...and Google. When the starter curriculum I
purchased turned me on to Dr. Reese’s article about the book and the
controversy, I was appalled at my errors in judgement. I clearly owed all of my
students, Native American or otherwise, an apology, but more than that, I owed
them the truth.
They got to see me make a mistake and own up to it. We discussed
the importance of this in and of itself. As we continued reading, I pointed to
these and other problematic points, which in turn seemed to give them
permission to call out the author on other things:
“Walt seems more Autistic than Down Syndrome.”
“Is Caleb really schizophrenic or does he have multiple
personalities?”
“Yeah, if you meet a white person who says they’re Native, they're
probably Cherokee.”
My Native students are primarily Paiute and Shoshone. The
ones who made this last comment explained that what they meant was not white
people claiming (à la Mim) to be Native American, but rather Native people who
have more Caucasian features (i.e. blue eyes and/or blond hair). But none of
them being Cherokee they’d had no clue about the misappropriated proverbs
either. Thankfully, I was able to share Dr. Reese’s article “David Arnold’s
Cherokee protagonist in MOSQUITOLAND” (March 07, 2015) with them, then we
progressed to the Twitter exchange, compared Dr. Reese’s resume with that of
David Arnold, discussed credibility and citing your sources, spent a period
troubleshooting Arnold’s repeated fall-back to Mim’s “Cherokee” heritage and
what alternatives he could have used (like, why not make her heritage Celtic?).
We read an article about Elizabeth Warren’s similar claim to Cherokee heritage
and the controversy it caused during her bid for Senate. We read about
“Americans,” the current exhibit at the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
dealing with the troubled history of the prominent use of Native American
imagery in the U.S. since its inception. My students questioned and
engaged with the problems of the story and the real life application but they
did reflect that if they had been Cherokee, they would have felt hurt and
offended by the misrepresentations in the novel. Where, we wondered, does an
author’s responsibility to be accurate lie? Largely, my Native American
students shrugged off the white author’s use of a character’s “Nativeness” as a
plot tool. I worry that this is what they are used to seeing in literature.
Thanks to Dr. Reese, what could have been an ignorant passing on
of ignorance was instead a lesson for the whole class, myself included. We all
got more out of the unit for the non-example Mosquitoland provided. All
of my students learned about not only the complicated struggles surrounding
mental illness, but also about how the Cherokee tribes determine enrollment and
why; the history of using Native American imagery to represent “America” while
the government disenfranchises those same indigenous populations; the problem
of using another culture in one’s writing, especially when the history between
those cultures is so fraught; and to question authority, whether it be an
author, a teacher, or anyone who says something wrong or problematic,
especially if you know better.
Editors Note on Feb 25, 2018: Please see my apology about promoting Alexie's work and the articles in the Timeline about Alexie's sexual harassment.--Debbie
~~~~
Back in February, I pre-ordered a copy of Sherman Alexie's picture book, Thunder Boy Jr. It arrived on Tuesday (May 10, 2016). The illustrations are by Yuyi Morales.
Alexie is doing a significant promotional campaign for the book. He was on The Daily Show two nights ago. Forbes had a story about the book. So did Bustle, Entertainment Weekly... you can do a search and find many others.
That's cool. I am happy that a Native writer is getting that level of exposure. In some of these stories, Alexie speaks about invisibility, representation, and similar issues of concern to Native people. Bringing these topics to a broader audience is very important. Because he is much loved by the American public, Alexie is a person who can influence how someone thinks about an issue.
In a nutshell, Thunder Boy Jr. is about a little boy whose father, Thunder Boy, named him Thunder Boy Jr. at birth. But, Thunder Boy Jr. wants his own name and identity. This is definitely a universal theme. Lot of kids and adults wish they had a different name.
Alexie's much-loved humor is front and center of this story. Because Thunder Boy's dad is a big man, his nickname is Big Thunder. The words "Big Thunder" are extra large and bold on the page, inviting readers to boom it out as they read it. That makes it all the more inviting as a read aloud. If his dad is Big Thunder, that means Thunder Boy's nickname is Little Thunder, and that is not ok with Little Thunder:
That nickname makes me sound like a burp or a fart.
Some will love seeing the word fart; others will not. Here's that page. See Thunder Boy's little sister? I look at the illustration of the two kids and my heart goes right to my sister's grandchildren and memories of them playing and dancing together at my niece's wedding last week. I think they'll like this book very much.
Here's Jayden and Ellie on the dance floor. When her sandal slipped off, she sat down right there on the floor. He kneeled beside her and tried to get it back on, but those straps slide all over and he couldn't figure it out. It was endearing to see them together trying to puzzle through it. He'd look at her other shoe to see if he could see how to make it all right again. I stopped filming when he started looking around for help, and of course, I helped her so they could pick up where they'd left off.
Jayden and Ellie
In Thunder Boy Jr. we see a warm and loving Native family. I like that, a lot. I see that warmth in Jayden and Ellie's relationship with each other and their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents.
****
Moving back to Alexie's book: Thunder Boy Jr. tells us that his name is not a normal name. His mother, whose name is Agnes, and his sister, whose name is Lilian, have normal names. He hates his name. He wants a name that sounds like him, that celebrates something cool that he has done. He climbed a tall mountain, so maybe his name could be Touch the Clouds. He loves playing in the dirt, so maybe his name could be Mud In His Ears, and so on.
That's where the story, for me, goes into a place that makes me wonder how to read it. Let me explain.
If I read it as a Native kid whose community, friends, and family engage in banter about naming and give each other nicknames, cool. It is delightful.
And if I imagine it being read by a reader who likes and respects Native peoples, I can see why they would like it, too. For that reader, though...
What Alexie has given us is a pan Indian story.
By not being tribally specific, his story obscures the diversity that Native writers, scholars, activists, parents, teachers, librarians, lawyers... have been bringing forth forever. We aren't monolithic. We're very different in our histories, religions, material cultures, and yes, the ways that we give names. Moving into that name play collapses significant distinctions across our nations.
I noted above that I got the book on May 10th. Do you know what was going on then?
We were in the midst of a horrible "TrumpIndianNames" hashtag. Last week, Donald Trump took a swipe at Elizabeth Warren's claims to Native identity (her claim is a problem, too, that I've written about elsewhere). The response to him was the TrumpIndianNames hashtag where Democrats, progressives, independents--a wide swath of people, in other words--had a grand time coming up with "Indian names" for Trump. All of that, however, was at our expense. People thought they were very clever. Native people, on the other hand, were quick to object to Native ways of naming being used in this way.
So, that is the context from which I read Thunder Boy Jr. If I stand within a Native community, the book is delightful. If I stand outside of it, in a well-meaning but ignorant mainstream US society, the book takes on a different cast.
Is that fair to Alexie or to his book? I'm thinking about that question and don't have an answer. I know for sure that if a white writer had done a book that played with Native names, I'd be very critical. Indeed, I was very critical when Jon Scieszka did it in Me Oh Mayaand I was very critical when Russell Hoban did it in Soonchild.
Is it ok for Alexie to do it because he is Native? Does the book represent inside-humor that marks it as ok? I don't know.
In an interview with Brian Lehrer, Alexie said that Thunder Boy doesn't like the name because it was assigned to him, and wasn't a name he had given himself. He wants a name that measures something he has done. Alexie said:
This calls back to ancient tribal traditions of many peoples, Native Americans included, where the transition to adulthood involves getting a new name that measures something that you've done, or is predictive, something that your elders hope you become.
None of that information is inside the book. What he said on Lehrer's show is lacking in specificity, too. In the interview he said "many peoples, Native Americans included" but given the existing ignorance about Native peoples, I think that his interviews and the book would be much improved by an author's note that provides parents, teachers, and librarians with information about naming.
Last thing I want to note is the page where Thunder Boy says that he loves powwow dancing and that he is a grass dancer. I love the illustration, from above, of him dancing.
But the drums in the top right? From what I know about powwow drums, that's not quite accurate. Usually, there's a single drum with several drummers, and the drum is on a stand. It doesn't sit on the ground or floor.
In sum? A mixed review. That's where I am right now. I really do think that my concerns with the pan Indian character of Thunder Boy Jr. could be addressed with an author's note. Perhaps there will be one in the next printing.
_______________
Note (May 12, 12:30 PM): Please see the comments below for further discussion of the book, naming, and audience, and the comments on the Facebook post, too.
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People is among the hundreds of books that have been challenged and banned in schools in the United States. Today (March 19th, 2022), a letter was submitted to the US Congress. I and several Native writers, including Andrea L. Rogers, Traci Sorell, Brian Young, Kevin Maillard, Tim Tingle, Dawn Quigley, Denise K. Lajimodiere, Kim Rogers, and Cynthia Leitich Smith, signed the letter.
Signed by 1,300 children's and young adult authors, the letter was drafted by Christina Soontornvat. In his opening remarks of the US House Committee hearing on "Students, Parents & Others Testify on Curriculum Censorship," Representative Jamie Raskin read the entire letter. Children's and young adult books expand what is available in curriculum materials and textbooks. Censoring them is a harm to all children.
I offer a special kú'daa (thank you) to Arigon Starr, for including her tribal nation--Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma--in her signature (I highlighted it and did a screen capture):
Who we are, as citizens of tribal nations, matters and the books we create for young people matter. They provide our children with mirrors of our experiences as Native people, and they provide non-Native children with windows that accurately bring Native life to them in ways that help them understand the entirety of who we are.
Here is a copy of the letter:
May 17, 2022
We, the undersigned, authors and illustrators of books for children and teens, condemn the efforts by organized groups to purge books from our nation’s schools. Our concern is not for the books themselves, but for the children, families, and communities who are caught in the crosshairs of these campaigns.
This current wave of book suppression follows hard-won gains made by authors whose voices have long been underrepresented in publishing. Just ten years ago, less than seven percent of children’s books featured characters who were Black, Indigenous, or people of color (source: Cooperative Children’s Book Center). Representation is finally increasing thanks to the work of groups like We Need Diverse Books. The current banning efforts are part of a strong and purposeful backlash against books written by BIPOC authors. Books with characters who are LGBTQIA+ have been vehemently targeted and frequently misrepresented.
When books are removed or flagged as inappropriate, it sends the message that the people in them are somehow inappropriate. It is a dehumanizing form of erasure. Every reader deserves to see themselves and their families positively represented in the books in their schools. These books are important for all children. Reading stories that reflect the diversity of our world builds empathy and respect for everyone’s humanity. At a time when our country is experiencing an alarming rise in hate crimes, we should be searching for ways to increase empathy and compassion at every turn.
A particularly insidious feature of the current attacks is the flood of accusations that anyone who seeks to give readers access to diverse books is a “groomer,” “radical,” or “pedophile.” These charges are abhorrent and without merit, and they have been leveled against not only authors, but against teachers and librarians. We strongly condemn this slander against our colleagues and our nation’s educators.
A book may not be for every student, but—as we know from the many letters we receive from young readers—a single book can matter deeply to an individual student. Nearly all campuses have an existing system to handle a parent’s concern with their own child’s reading material. Pro-censorship groups seek to overwhelm these systems by pressuring schools to pull entire lists of books from shelves “for review.” Some extremists have intimidated authors, educators, and school board members online and even threatened them with violence. This has created an atmosphere of fear that has led to “soft censorship” in many districts. Books are quietly removed or never purchased at all. Authors are never invited to speak, for fear of drawing the wrath of these groups.
Libraries are bastions of the First Amendment. They provide equal access to a wealth of knowledge and ideas for all public school students. When individuals and organizations seek to advance their own political agendas or personal beliefs by censoring books, they infringe upon students’ constitutional rights.
We call upon Congress, statehouses, and school boards to reject the political manipulation of our schools, to uphold the values of freedom and equality promised in the Constitution, and to protect the rights of all young people to access the books they need and deserve.
Signed,
Judy Blume Lois Lowry Christina Soontornvat Ellen Oh Phil Bildner Alex London Dhonielle Clayton Gordon Korman Karina Yan Glaser James Ponti Minh Lê Linda Sue Park Nic Stone Hena Khan Katherine Paterson Sarah Mlynowski Meg Medina Gregory Maguire Stuart Gibbs Julie Buxbaum KA Holt Juana Martinez-Neal Nikki Grimes Max Brallier Samira Ahmed Jim Averbeck Louise Hawes Rose Brock Mary Brigid Barrett Kyle Lukoff Erika T. Wurth Kate Hart Andrea L. Rogers Traci Sorell Brian Young
Erin Entrada Kelly Kathi Appelt LeUyen Pham Nisha Sharma Debbie Reese Kevin Maillard Rick Riordan Jacqueline Woodson Cynthia Leitich Smith Mo Willems Jason Reynolds Jeff Kinney John Green Raina Telgemeier Tiffany D. Jackson Mayra Cuevas Rebecca Stead Molly Idle Bill Konigsberg Joy McCullough Liz Garton Scanlon Elizabeth Eulberg Adele Griffin Laurel Snyder Susan Campbell Bartoletti Debbie Ridpath Ohi Matt de la Peña Cynthia Levinson Bethany Hegedus Elana K. Arnold Audrey Vernick Jason June Tim Tingle Jo Whittemore ilene Wong Gregorio
Dawn Quigley Supriya Kelkar Jen Calonita Jasmine Warga Ronald L Smith Victoria Aveyard Rajani LaRocca Jennifer Ziegler Nidhi Chanani Kami Garcia Jeff Zentner Gale Galligan Angie Thomas Dave Pilkey Kate DiCamillo Kwame Alexander Avi Jerry Craft Dan Santat Hope Larson Varian Johnson Romina Garber Marianna Baer Padma Venkatraman Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich Julie Murphy Denise K. Lajimodiere Laurie Devore Soman Chainani Jamie Lee Curtis Mac Barnett Megan Frazer Blakemore Malinda Lo Alex Segura
Kelly Yang Naomi Milliner Tracey Baptiste Jon Scieszka Veronica Roth Shing Yin Khor Supriya Kelkar Shaenon K. Garrity Alex Gino Malayna Evans Marie Lu Laurel Goodluck Randy Ribay Courtney Summers Jennifer Bertman Libba Bray Maulik Pancholy Lin Oliver Sarah Albee Anne Wynter Jessica Patrick Kayla Cagan Sara Ryan Amy Spalding Jordan Sonnenblick Alexandria Giardino Cory Putman Oakes K-Fai Steele Amy Novesky Sayantani DasGupta Erin Soderberg Downing Donna Barba Higuera David Bowles Sarah Darer Littman Nate Powell Heidi E.Y. Stemple Thyra Heder Trung Le Nguyen Mike Curato Angeline Boulley Barbara McClintock Hannah Barnaby Jeanne Birdsall Steve Light Maggie Rudy Brian Floca Malinda Lo Jarrett J. Krosoczka Sherri L. Smith
Nicole Maggi Gideon Sterer Ginger Johnson Kara Thomas Debbi Michiko Florence Maryrose Wood Kristin Cashore Carolyn Mackler Lauren Castillo Margo Rabb Beth McMullen Mary Winn Heider Natalie Standiford John Rocco Judy Blundell/Jude Watson Brian Selznick Laura Ruby Jessica Lee Anderson Susan Kralovansky Amitha Jagannath Knight Jenn Reese Mariah Fredericks Oge Mora Farrah Rochon Jason Chin Lisa Fipps Greg van Eekhout Catherine Linka Lisa McMann David Hyde Costello Kristin Cast Janae Marks Kip Wilson Meredith Davis Bethanie Murguia Aisha Saeed Cecil Castellucci Fran Manushkin Raphael Simon (aka Pseudonymous Bosch) Carrie Jones Pat Miller Katie Bayerl Misa Saburi Matt McMann Maurene Goo Brendan Reichs Kaitlin Ward Andrew Farago
Chris Grabenstein Edward Underhill Tracy López William Alexander P. C. Cast Preeti Chhibber Gayle Forman Priyanka Taslim Lyn Miller-Lachmann Kate Messner Robin Stevenson Stephanie S. Tolan Margarita Engle Mike Jung Casey W. Robinson Deva Fagan Adam Gidwitz Jenna Miller ER Frank Natasha Donovan Heather Murphy Capps Isi Hendrix Evan Turk Jacquetta Nammar Feldman Megan Reyes Kim Rogers Traci Chee John August Aron Nels Steinke Sylvia Liu Lauren Myracle MaryBeth Timothy Emily Skrutskie Brandy Colbert Arigon Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma) Melissa Stewart Laura Shovan Heidi R Kling Laura Parnum Susie Ghahremani Alyson Gerber Ruth Chan Tui T. Sutherland Jimmy Gownley Andrea Wang Kiersten White Tara Dairman Jen Ferguson
Fran Wilde Dahlia Adler Marc Tyler Nobleman Steve Orlando Melissa Walker Mark Oshiro Joe Cepeda Trisha Moquino Lamar Giles Robert Liu-Trujillo Mary McCoy Amanda Foody Alex R Kahler Laekan Zea Kemp Mike Maihack Samantha Berger Claribel A. Ortega Terry Catasús Jennings Tirzah Price Lois Sepahban Maria Gianferrari Alexis Larkin Olivia Chadha Kalena Miller Leslie Stall Widener Z Brewer Shane Pangburn Pat Zietlow Miller Violet Lumani Terry Widener Rosiee Thor Pamela Ehrenberg Sara Ackerman Lev Rosen Margaret Stohl Alysa Wishingrad Gia Gordon Liselle Sambury Tom Angleberger Eliza Kinkz M.T. Anderson e.E. Charlton-Trujillo Jessica Lewis Victor Pineiro Rebecca Balcárcel Judd Winick A.S. King Anne Broyles Lisa Robinson
Miranda Paul Baptiste Paul Kristy Boyce Payal Doshi Holly Black Paul O. Zelinsky Joseph Bruchac Caroline Gertler Alexandra Alessandri Staci L. Drouillard Carter Higgins Kiku Hughes Lisa Stringfellow Elaine Vickers Amy Noelle Parks Andrea M. Page Melissa Dassori Wendy Mass Sarah Hovorka Lisa Varchol Perron Esme Symes-Smith Precious McKenzie Greg Neri Haley Neil Marie Rutkoski Ibi Zoboi Amy Reed HM Bouwman Renee Ahdieh Colleen Paeff Sarah Kapit Karuna Riazi Anne Ursu Lillie Lainoff Jake Burt Tina Connolly Susan Cooper Raakhee Mirchandani Conrad Wesselhoeft Samantha M Clark Trisha Speed Shaskan Amy Tintera Mónica Mancillas NoNieqa Ramos Stephen Shaskan Nicole D. Collier Amy Ignatow Tara Platt Nina Hamza
Shawn Peters Emily X.R. Pan Jessixa Bagley Lea Foushee Deborah Heiligman Betsy Bird Anne Nesbet Leslie Connor Sue Macy Veera Hiranandani Miranda Sun Cece Bell Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic Susan Kuklin Jennifer Wilson Martha Brockenbrough Kim Turrisi S.K. Ali Patricia Morris Buckley Elizabeth Blake Lori R Snyder Kirsten W. Larson Jaime Formato Saira Mir Thomas Lennon Judy I. Lin April Jones Prince Susan Azim Boyer Jenny Han Joana Pastro Lindsay H. Metcalf Gloria Amescua Tamika Burgess Lindsey Lane M.O. Yuksel Ingrid Law Swati Avasthi Will Taylor Elisa Stone Leahy Darshana Khiani Abi Cushman Andrea Menotti Rochelle Hassan Catherine Arguelles Naz Kutub Kara LaReau Sarah Park Dahlen Carol Kim Nadia Salomon Amanda Rawson Hill Justine Pucella Winans Lori Nichols Laura Rueckert Joanna Ho Caroline Kusin Pritchard Cylin Busby Thi Bui Sarah Street Innosanto Nagara Gigi Griffis Ruta Sepetys Adam Sass Jen Wang M.T. Khan Katherine Applegate Sheela Chari Angela Burke Kunkel Stephanie Burgis Loree Griffin Burns Jarrett Lerner Jacob Sager Weinstein Courtney Pippin-Mathur Eliot Schrefer Carole Lindstrom Linda Urban Jyoti Rajan Gopal Jessica Young Claire Bobrow Andrew Maraniss Steven Weinberg Susan Eaddy Trang Thanh Tran Ann Braden Jessica Vitalis Lesléa Newman Mika Song Brendan Kiely Brian D. Kennedy Mónica Brown Sean Petrie Jo Knowles Adib Khorram Robert Broder Karen Strong Steve Sheinkin Kathy Halsey Breanna J. McDaniel Kelly Starling Lyons
Sheri Dillard Varsha Bajaj Zoraida Córdova Ryan T Higgins Tameka Fryer Brown Matt Tavares Sarah Ahiers Jamar Nicholas Joanne Rossmassler Fritz Meg Cannistra Andrea Beatriz Arango Peggy Thomas Saraciea J. Fennell Wendell Minor Don Tate Alicia D. Williams E. Lockhart Jane Yolen Christine Heppermann Anita Kharbanda Linda Zajac Brittany J. Thurman Eric Smith Charles Beyl Charnaie Gordon Renée Watson Mari Mancusi Molly B. Burnham Alan Gratz Kekla Magoon Emma Carlson Berne Gayatri Sethi Debra Shumaker Cynthia Platt Vivian Vande Velde Lisa Connors Kate Klise Reese Eschmann Elizabeth Falk Siman Nuurali Valerie Bolling Beth Ferry James Riley Nancy Ohlin Jan Carr Isabella Kung Andrew Eliopulos Elizabeth Acevedo Grace Lin
Ellen Leventhal Sheba Karim David Small Chris Tebbetts Joyce Wan Bree Paulsen Corlette Douglas Laurie Morrison Sarah Warren Abby Cooper Daphne Kalmar Sara Zarr Jeanette Bradley Javier Gimenez Ratti Erin Petti Stephanie Watson Shadra Strickland David Arnold April Daniels Leda Schubert Gail Carson Levine Kass Morgan Eric Bell Adam Rex Julie Falatko Sandra Nickel Alliah L. Agostini Alexandra Villasante Olivia Abtahi Rilla Alexander Jennifer Gennari Rachael Allen Brad McLelland Laura Gehl Lisa J La Banca Rogers Chantel Acevedo Christina Díaz Gonzalez Jenn Bishop Laurie Halse Anderson Crystal Allen Dara Sharif Anica Mrose Rissi Marla Frazee Matthew J. Kirby Renee Kurilla Becky Albertalli John Claude Bemis Brenda Seabrooke Barney Saltzberg
Shanna Miles Cristina Oxtra Zoey Abbott Heather Kamins Ann Jacobus Maria Scrivan Loriel Ryon Maria José Fitzgerald Zack Loran Clark S. Isabelle Miriam Glassman Gretchen McNeil Matt Phelan Kim Johnson Jarrett Pumphrey Kao Kalia Yang Alechia Dow Shannon Gibney Margaret Peterson Haddix Neal Shusterman Ismée Williams, MD Angela Quezada Padron James Burks Tanya Lee Stone Sarah Klise Laura Sibson Lynne Kelly Tamara Ireland Stone Amber McBride Ally Malinenko Tracy Subisak Deborah Underwood Robin Yardi Tashia Hart Micah Player Janet Sumner Johnson Laurie Keller Kalynn Bayron Anne Greenwood Brown Elisa Chavarri Linsey Miller Virginia Euwer Wolff Cathy Ann Johnson-Conforto Alli Brydon Gene Barretta Meg Fleming Amy Lukavics Julissa Mora Kari Lavelle
Jacqueline Woodson Mia García Manju B. Howard J.F. Fox Tracy Barrett Leigh Bardugo Adriana Hernández Bergstrom Catherine Alene Maria van Lieshout Sarah Meade Janee Trasler Bridget Hodder Jenny Whitehead Sue Fliess Erzsi Deak Gilly Segal Kristen Simmons Alexandra Monir Jieting Janet Fox Kimberly Latrice Jones Aminah Mae Safi Laura H. Beith Yamile Saied Mendez Rocky Callen Elisa Ludwig Demetra Brodsky Alison Pearce Stevens Chrystal D. Giles Michelle Nott Amy Young Michelle Coles Kathryn Thurman Josh Allen E. Katherine Kottaras Karen Cushman Lauren Morrill Marissa Meyer Holly M McGhee Laurie Wallmark Amy Gilez Kelly McWilliams Katie McGarry Abigail Marble M.K. Farr Elly Swartz Margaret Owen Mike Chen Nancy Castaldo
Sheila McGraw Laura Taylor Namey Christy Mihaly Tessa Gratton Huy Voun Lee Hayley Barrett Melanie Ellsworth Nikki Katz Halli Gomez Daria Peoples Kirsten Miller Kim Ventrella Pam Munoz Ryan Emmy Kastner Jessica Verdi Stephanie Greene Kate Berube John Coy Rose Garcia Moriarty Karen Yin Vera Brosgol Kim Holt R.L. Toalson Teresa Robeson Sage Blackwood Gennifer Choldenko Mylisa Larsen Priscilla Alpaugh Amy Huntington Aditi Khorana Adrienne Maria Vrettos David Goodner Chris Barton Rebecca Petruck Rebecca G. Aguilar TeMika Grooms Tiffany Gholar Lissette Norman Amy Ewing Kate Barsotti Shannon Hale Rachel Gozhansky Julien Chung Michelle Cusolito Margaret Chiu Greanias Kit Rosewater Sarah Aronson Allen R. Wells Jodi McKay
Ellen Booraem Christine Evans Constance Lombardo Suzanne Morgan Williams Ann E.. Burg Joan F. Smith Anne AC Gaughen Andrea J. Loney Mary Bowman-Kruhm Judith L. Roth E. B. Goodale Laurenne sala Lisa Katzenberger Sophie Cameron Jessie Sima Melanie Conklin Diana Sudyka Maxine Kaplan Gina Rosati Sarah Tomp Cátia Chien Karen Romano Young Tonya Duncan Ellis Ashley Hope Pérez PJ McIlvaine Tiffany Schmidt Beth Revis Marsha Hayles Allan Wolf Jewell Parker Rhodes Fleur Bradley Karen Jialu Bao Venessa Vida Kelley Cinda Williams Chima Becky Scharnhorst Jason Gots Angie Isaacs Hayley Rocco Keely Parrack Mackenzie Joy Gareth Hinds Lori Degman Katie Slivensky Lindsay Moore Joanie Stone Eric Fan Gracey Zhang Madelyn Rosenberg Michael Leali
Charise Mericle Harper Mary Crockett Audrey Helen Weber Pamela S. Turner Peter Brown Shirley Ng-Benitez Elizabeth Shreeve Hope Lim Sally J. Pla Marcie Wessels Kimberly Gee Cynthia Harmony Henry Herz Jennifer Wolfe/Bosworth Cynthia Cotten Alison Goldberg Aamna Qureshi Anna Kopp Rita Williams-Garcia Elisa A. Bonnin Brooke Boynton-Hughes Leslie Bulion Farrah Penn Heather Lang Travis Jonker Deborah Freedman Holly Jahangiri Stef Wade Diane Magras Sarah Jung Caela Carter Anne Ylvisaker Nikki Barthelmess Carson Ellis Jen White Dan Richards Nicola Yoon Jodi Meadows Marcie Colleen Mary Reaves Uhles Susan Johnston Taylor Laura Gao Dori Hillestad Butler Melanie Sumrow Carol Joy Munro Pam Fong Julia DeVillers Jolene Gutierrez Carmen Rodrigues
Darin Shuler Tanisia Tee Moore Uma Krishnaswami Chris Eboch Arree Chung Malia Maunakea Laura Silverman Richard Michelson Ellen Hopkins Robb Pearlman Andrea Zimmerman Faith Pray Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Jennifer E. Smith J. Anderson Coats Elise Gravel Amanda Hosch Ransom Riggs Julia Kuo Karen S. Chow Dianne White Corinna Luyken Ty Chapman Christine Taylor-Butler Divya Srinivasan A.J. Irving David Wiesner Lisa Moore Ramee Gina Perry Chuck Gonzales Kelly DiPucchio Jonathan Stutzman bryan collier Cheryl Keely Kristin O’Donnell Tubb Tamara Ellis Smith Nancy Bo Flood Dana J. Sullivan Sharon Darrow Amber Benson Erika L. Jones Chris Baron Kelly Light Dana Swift Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh Jennifer K Mann Lynda Mullaly Hunt Anna Meriano Juliana Brandt
David Yoon Corey Ann Haydu Michelle Houts Randi Pink Jess Townes Nicholas Solis Kimberly Derting Caroline Carlson Ana Siqueira Wendy Shang Antwan Eady Debbie Zapata Tara Altebrando Karen Rostoker-Gruber Elizabeth Lim Lisa Anchin Alessandra Narváez Varela Henry Neff Megan Hoyt Jia Liu Cynthia Reeg Cherie Colyer Jessica Spotswood Ben Clanton Nina Crews Aida Salazar Laura Renauld Lisa L. Owens Skylaar Amann Tracy Nishimura Bishop Miriam Busch Mae Respicio Meera Sriram Eric Velasqquez A.M. Wild Jacqueline Jules Rachel M. Wilson Marcy Campbell Nancy Armo Jennifer Fosberry Jessica Pennington Rosanne Parry Nanci Turner Steveson Toni Yuly Lisa Thiesing Joya Goffney Shannon Hitchcock Donna Gephart Kendare Blake
Denise Lewis Patrick Fiona Cook Erica S. Perl Sara Raasch Scott Schumaker Paige McKenzie Julia Alvarez Sana Rafi Chris Garcia-Halenar Diana López Katie Mazeika Jacqueline West Helaine Becker Blythe Russo Fahmida Azim Jody Feldman Monica Wesolowska Gordon C. James Tracy Deonn Mariana Llanos Megan Whalen Turner Mark Holtzen Tatjana Mai-Wyss Lily Williams Barb Rosenstock Janie Bynum Cathy Camper Selina Alko Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow Kari Allen Molly Beth Griffin Heather Fox Rita Lorraine Hubbard Barbara Dee Anne Hunter Lola M. Schaefer Katie Davis Yuyi Morales Kristen Schroeder Carolyn Crimi Karen Schneemann Ena Jones Tara Lazar Alyson Greene Saundra Mitchell Laura Murray Stan Yan Freeman Ng Carmen Oliver
Jess Redman Nicole Chen Tahereh Mafi Dow Phumiruk Jessica Lanan Jessica Petersen L. E. Carmichael Laura Purdie Salas Lindsay Currie Ann Bonwill Carrie Finison Mary Lou Peacock Viviane Elbee Anna Sortino Ellen Hagan Sabina Hahn Carolyn Marsden Joanna Cooke M. K. England Shannon Messenger Lisbeth Checo Curtis Manley Elizabeth Brown Carrie Firestone Victoria Ying Lucy Morris Jon-Erik Lappano Melissa Iwai Kurtis Scaletta Sonya Sones Tricia Elam Walker Marissa Moss Korey Watari Kaija Langley Sarah Kurpiel Alyssa Colman Natasha Anastasia Tarpley Patricia Wiles Charles R. Smith Jr. Mike Wu Eric Elfman Shelley Pearsall Katey Howes Jacci Turner Victoria M. Sanchez Maya Prasad Benson Shum Lisze Bechtold Zara González Hoang
Jess Brallier Denis Markell Zetta Elliott Dinah Johnson Lenore Appelhans Pete Hautman Erika R. Medina Marti Dumas Kaz Windness Meredith Steiner Laura Freeman Guadalupe García McCall Aram Kim Shelly Anand Fiona Halliday Lenny Wen Margery Cuyler Rachael Lippincott Betty C Tang Anne O’Brien Carelli Cindy L. Rodriguez Susan Kusel Tricia Springstubb Julie Hampton Cheryl Willis Hudson Patricia Toht Lisa Fields Gene Luen Yang Pat Cummings Anitra Rowe Schulte Leslie Kimmelman Tony Piedra Kathryn Otoshi Rahele Jomepour Bell Megan Paasch Karen Gray Ruelle Gaby D’Alessandro Annie Silvestro Pat Mora Jasminne Mendez Megan Bannen Lauren Abbey Greenberg Jamie Sumner Veronica Rossi Becky Herzog Peter Pearson Reggie Brown Jennie Palmer Victoria J Coe
She Ganz-Schmitt Wade Hudson Lilliam Rivera Kim Smejkal Nina Victor Crittenden Tim McCanna Joan Broerman Sarah Plotzker Kati Gardner Sarah Henning Jaime Berry Lisa Schmid Susan Muaddi Darraj Aya Khalil Lauren Paige Conrad Anne Key Zeena M. Pliska Maleeha Siddiqui Heather Brockman Lee Peter Arenstam Nicole Lesperance Salima Alikhan Tammi Sauer Shirin Shamsi Norene Paulson Addie Tsai Melissa Sarno Sara K Joiner Jennifer J. Stewart Elissa Haden Guest Cindy Derby Shawn Harris Alison Hawkins Amy Wachspress Brizida Magro Sarah Raughley Sarah & Ian Hoffman Morgan Matson Kristen Balouch Sheetal Sheth Janice Chiang Kristy Acevedo Sara Pennypacker Julie Hedlund Lindsay Leslie Melissa de la Cruz Nancy Werlin Bonny Becker Aimee Lucido
Deborah Halverson Icy Smith Haydee Zayas-Ramos Nazareth Hidalgo Lobo Esmeralda Santiago Angelica Shirley Carpenter Patricia Newman Paula Yoo Christina Francine kevan atteberry Jean Reagan Ellen Wittlinger Laya Steinberg Francisco Jiménez Bruce Coville Theo Baker Sarah Dessen Krystal Quiles Nelly Buchet Mike Grosso David Levithan Julian Winters Liza Wiemer Isabelle Adams Diane Telgen Ann Brashares Matthew Gollub Karen B. Winnick Kendall Kulper Jeannine Atkins Anika Aldamuy Denise Cecilia Bernard Alison McGhee Dianne K. Salerni Deborah Lakritz Laura Rivera Patti Sherlock Peter Lerangis Lynn Fulton Christy Webster James McGowan Jon Klassen Jesse Klausmeier Genevieve Godbout Christopher Weyant Stephen Bramucci Alison Green Myers Michal Babay Chana Stiefel
Anna Shinoda Matthew Forsythe Nicole Kronzer Marc Colagiovanni Tae Keller Anika Fajardo Jennifer Swender Martha Seif Simpson Helen Wu Jandy Nelson Natalie C. Parker Candy Wellins Cory Silverberg Anna Kang Timothy Young Candace Fleming Darlene Beck Jacobson Helen Frost Maria E. Andreu Kristen Tracy Kimberly J Sabatini Wayne Anthony Still Andrew Smith Dan Gutman Megan McCafferty Arnée Flores Flora Beach Burlingame Julie Segal Walters LL McKinney R. J. Palacio Kim Baker Jasper Sanchez Jilanne Hoffmann Marnie Galloway Pascal Lemaître David Neilsen Lian Cho Lillian Pluta Honee Jang Isabel Roxas Paul Jacobs Karina Nicole González Sandy King Carpenter Tracy Badua Alexis O’Neill Jackie Azúa Kramer J.J. Austrian Jarrett Dapier Gita Varadarajan
Meeg Pincus April Halprin Wayland Stephen Chbosky Crystal Maldonado Carrie Ryan J. Kasper Kramer Kay Moore Gary Nilsen Sara Levine Camille Andros Emily Wibberley Amina Luqman-Dawson Stephanie Graegin Jeffry W. Johnston Mitali Perkins Ronique Ellis Rob Sayegh Jr. Scott Westerfeld Jenin Mohammed Lish McBride Ellen Mayer Emily Neilson Nik Henderson Rachel Dukes Robert Paul Jr. Emily Lloyd-Jones Rae Carson Chad W. Beckerman Denene Millner Michaela Goade Susan Kaplan Carlton Sun Yung Shin Patricia Hruby Powell Tara Sim Barbara CarrollRoberts Mary Beth Miller Bennett Madison Colleen AF Venable Dave Szalay Aislinn Brophy Kim Smith Kah Yangni Gabby Zapata Shelley Couvillion Junauda Petrus Gina Bellisario Katy Rose Pool Monica Roe Jamie Krakover
George Ella Lyon Julie E. Frankel David Macinnis Gill Gordon Jack Paul Fleischman Bethany C Morrow Mike Lawrence Robin Herrera Shiho Pate Rori Shay Alec Longstreth Mark Siegel Jef Kaminsky Phil Falco Caroline Arnold Dave Roman Matt Rockefeller Patricia McCormick Archaa Shrivastav Emi Cohen Melissa Crowton Bryan B. Bliss Alexandra Thompson Alexis Castellanos Neo Edmund Robin Preiss Glasser Sheryl Murray Will Hobbs Jody Casella Brianna McCarthy Ken Daley Rebecca Barnhouse Andre R. Frattino Maia Kobabe David Elliott Laila Sabreen Kathleen Ahrens Landra Jennings Abby Hanlon Cozbi A Cabrera Kianny N. Antigua Olivia de Castro Marcia Argueta Mickelson Josh Funk Liz Starin DeAndra Hodge Nneka Myers Ted Enik Ariel Bernstein
Rachel Cohn Sili Recio Boya Sun Gabi Snyder Pat Redding Scanlon Naomi Danis Bruce Hale James Serafino Holly Schindler Rachelle Burk Court Stevens Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman Lizz Brady Kell Andrews Tad Hills Ari Tison Sabrina Kleckner Emma Bland Smith Danielle Davis Andie Powers Mark Rogalski Leila Sales Karah Sutton Darla Okada Aldo Pourchet Dian Curtis Regan Lynn Brunelle Qin Leng Isabel Quintero Jama Kim Rattigan Keri Claiborne Boyle Lorien Lawrence Melanie Crowder Danica Novgorodoff Margie Longoria Lia Brown Roni Schotter Leah Henderson Jacquie Hann Colter Jackson Marissa Valdez Deborah Sosin Jessie Hartland Sophie Escabasse Jane Park Sue Heavenrich Raul the Third Cheryl Blackford
Rhonda McCormack Cheryl Walsh Bellville Daphne Benedis-Grab Sallie G. Randolph Stacia Deutsch Lee Wardlaw Gary D. Schmidt Savannah Allen Sherry Shahan Elizabeth Rose Stanton Doreen Cronin Dominique Ramsey Eva Petersen Michelle Cuevas Cordelia Jensen Megan E. Freeman Rashmi Bismark Anuradha D. Rajurkar Melisa Fernández Nitsche Dan-ah Kim Kate Albus Andrew Sharmat
