Jimmy struggles to adjust after the death of his father and moving from the pueblo to his Grandfather Whitefeather’s house. Strete’s characters are complex and his themes are multi-layered. Most notably, the story incorporates the U.S. government policies that recently led to the unauthorized sterilization of so many Native women. Without romanticizing, he touches on much of the sadness tied to the Indian way of life and explores the strength,
Continue Reading THE WORLD IN GRANDFATHER’S HANDS by Craig Kee Strete (Cherokee) (Clarion, 1995) »
This story features an eleven-year-old Rayona Taylor, a character featured in two of Dorris’s novels for adults, A YELLOW RAFT IN BLUE WATER, and CLOUD CHAMBER. The novel is probably best appreciated by readers of all three works; however, THE WINDOW is a step toward growing into the other two. Ages 8-up.
Continue Reading THE WINDOW by Michael Dorris (Modoc)(Hyperion, 1997) »
Not a novel but a collection of Choctaw stories (contemporary, historical, and traditional). Features black and white, archival photographs. Ages 12-up.
Continue Reading WALKING THE CHOCTAW ROAD by Tim Tingle (Choctaw)(Cinto Puntos Press, 2003) »
Molly’s parents are gone, vanished. She needs to find answers and a way to go on. But Molly has been taught well of her Mohawk traditions. She understands the importance of dreams. She knows to take them seriously. This very scary contemporary Native American novel is a must read and a scary one at that. Ages 10-up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Continue Reading SKELETON MAN by Joseph Bruchac (HarperCollins, 2001) »
Set in the sixteenth century, Walnut grows into his adult name and learns to cope with his limited vision. At its heart, a journey story. My favorite of the three, outstanding children’s novels by Dorris. Ages 8-up.
Continue Reading SEES BEHIND TREES by Michael Dorris (Modoc) (Hyperion, 1996) »
Cassidy Rain Berghoff didn’t know that the very night she decided to get a life would be the night that Galen would lose his. It’s been six months since her best friend died, and up until now, Rain has succeeded in shutting herself off from the world. But when controversy arises around her aunt Georgia’s Indian Camp in their mostly white Kansas community,
Continue Reading RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek)(HarperCollins, 2001) »
A break-through book featuring Navajo life in the middle of the twentieth century and a boy’s relationship with his changing community and his love for a horse. Ages 7-up.
Continue Reading OWL IN THE CEDAR TREE by Natachee Scott Momaday (Cherokee) and illustrated by Don Perceval (University of Nebraska Press, 1965) »
It’s 1492, and Morning Girl and her brother Star Boy are two very different children who are about to encounter whites for the first time. A Native twist on the “discovery” mythology. Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Ages 7-up.
Continue Reading MORNING GIRL by Michael Dorris (Modoc) (Hyperion, 1992) »
Minko Ushi and his family are part of the Choctaw removal, or Trail of Tears, from their ancestral land to Indian Territory. In this story Minko, his father, and a pony actually travel ahead of the rest and have various adventures along their way. Ages 8-up.
Continue Reading THE HEART OF A CHIEF by Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki) (Dial, 1998) »
An exploration of an event analogous to the mythical “Thanksgiving” story, told from the point of view of a Native boy. Ages 7-up.
Continue Reading GUESTS by Michael Dorris (Modoc) (Hyperion, 1994) »
