Controversy

I go to this website a lot, put together by Dr. Debbie Reese.  It is a wonderful resource, especially for someone like me who doesn't know a lot, but tries to do the right thing.  When I read about Race to the Sun, a part of the Rick Riodran Presents imprint, I thought I would not read RTTS, because I really respect Dr. Reese and recommendations.   But after I dug a little deeper, I found that there might be more to RTTS than what Dr. Reese recommends.  I still deeply value her insight.  I do.  But I wanted to read this first.  That is because I had posed the question of what to do about it to the women with whom I work. 
I am posting an email I got from one of my brilliant co-workers.  She is also a published author, but I won't include her name until I okay it with her.  I think what she says makes a lot of sense.

And then I read RTTS and I really, really enjoyed it.  And I also thought that the author's note at the end was heartfelt, informed and important. 

Huh, I hadn't seen all of this, I guess it was buried under all of the American Dirt controversy on my timeline --

We do own this book (standing order probably) but I see that CLP and branches have chosen to to purchase it.

Oh, no I ordered it back in October; I've been ordering all of the Rick Riordan Presents titles.

What do you think?  Withdraw?  Or keep?

Personally I think we keep it?

I mean, it does get tricky with fiction, and fiction for children makes it more complicated. But...

There are a ton of books on our shelves that have iffy representation or outright racist depictions. We keep Little House ("the only good Indian is a dead Indian," the father participating in minstrel shows), Scott O'Dell books (award-winning historical fiction that has since been called out for a ton of cultural appropriation and misrepresentation of indigenous cultures), Harry Potter books (Jewish stereotypes, bad Asian representation, fat shaming of villains, and JKR is saying transphobic things all over twitter).To name just a few -- but the above are all white authors. (Wonder has also been called out for bad disability representation and using a disabled character's story to inspire able-bodied people)

So it doesn't sit right with me that the only one we're looking at pulling from our shelves is by a black & Pueblo author. And one who, while she did recently hit the NYT list, is not famous enough to cause much notice or complaint if we didn't carry her books. It's the "easy" pull, basically.

(I also see this as a bit different to the issue of, say, Thanksgiving books -- which are pretending to give facts about the past but sweep aside actual genocide for a fake happy story and inaccurate caricatures that inspire teachers to dress children up in appropriative costumes)

And things I read while looking this up:

Debbie Reese commenting: https://twitter.com/debreese/status/1217966469960687617

Rebecca Roanhorse commenting (part of her comments are about how there's a lot of anti-blackness in the NDN communities, which I don't know enough to comment on -- but I used to know someone who is half Cherokee and was cut off from the Cherokee side of the family because their mom is white and they and their sibling both looked too white; it's a complicated problem, so while I don't want to dismiss people's critiques, I also don't want to dismiss people's experiences of racism among their communities): https://twitter.com/RoanhorseBex/status/1220751798711046144

https://www.tor.com/2018/07/20/rebecca-roanhorse-reddit-ama-trail-of-lightning-dine-culture/

Skeleton Stories

I am trying very hard to find out if the spooky story that Bruchac tells in Skeleton Man and The Return of Skeleton Man.  It is such a good, spooky story!   Both of these books are!  Good, good, good! 

Interresting

The Hunger was a really interesting horror novel.  An historical one!  I don't read too-too much horror, so I can't make a good comparison, but as far as scare factor, it wasn't very high.  It's based on the historical Donner Party.  There were a lot of characters, and I really liked some and really didn't like others and I did get a little confused but not enough to take away my enjoyment of the book and I kept wanting to read more. 

My Only Regret

is that I wish I would have read If I Ever Get Out of Here BEFORE I read Give Me Some Truth.  I NEED to read everything by this man.  Shoe's poverty helped me to understand the way in which my mother grew up.  She was much luckier though, as there was no racial prejudice that she had to face.  But the description of the house and the lack of so much was right on target otherwise.  Again, so celebrating of Thanksgiving for me.  Incredible story.  Much to cry over and celebrate and inspire here. 

Just so well done

Rain is Not My Indian Name is a book I can highly, highly recommend for so many reasons.  It made me wonder why I have not read more from Cynthia Leitich Smith. One of places I always check when I read about with Native American characters is this site.  I was so pleased to see that this book is

How Appropriate

to be reading Give Me Some Truth on the Fourth of July.   As you know, I do spend most of my life under a rock and so Eric Gansworth is a new author for me.  After having read this, I immediately purchased If I Ever Get Out of Here and that will be my next book after the one I am listening to currently.  GMST was excellent.   Ganswoth is a man of many talents and he has written a must-read.  He is a citizen of the Onondaga Nation and grew up in the Turscarora Nation, as he is the descendant of two Onondaga woman who were there when the Onondaga Nation was founded. 
This book is an eye-opener for people who don't understand what the colonists did to the Native Peoples.  And what they continue to do.  For me, it wasn't as powerful as The Absolutely True Diary, because that was the first book to really open my eyes.  I suggest reading them both.  For sure.  Required reading for everyone. 

Searing

Searing is defined, by that online dictionary thing as "marked by extreme intensity, harshness, or emotional power."
And BOY does that fit You Don't Have to Say You Love Me:  A Memoir by Sherman Alexie.  Wow.  What a book.  My most-all-time-favorite-book and the one that changed so much in my life is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, so I was just so wanting to read this.  The audio is read by the author.  What a book.  What a man.

The Great Sequoyah

Talking Leaves is a masterful story about Sequoyah, who invented  the Cherokee Syllabary   I must be honest, I didn't know that syllabary was a word.  But anyway, this is a fascinating and beautifully written book by Joseph Bruchac.  Wow.  It is told from the POV of Sequoyah's son from his first marriage, Uwohali.  So it is about the development of the syllabary, but it is also a story of father and son.  And it also a story of self-discovery and it is also just a really, really, really wonderful story.  Highly, highly recommended.

I Guess I Tried to Repress It SPOILERS

Stone Fox was one of the worst, worst books I have ever read. Ever.  The dog dies very suddenly at the end.  His heart explodes. Terrible.  Terrible.  Terrible.  I read this last year but never wrote about it, or even marked it read on goodreads.  But it is set in Wyoming, which I needed for my Reading Road Trip.

Peacemakers

Eagle Song is by Joseph Bruchac who wrote the Navajo Code Talkers book which I really enjoyed.  He is an incredibly talented writer and if you want to learn more about REALLY life as a Native American (or at least one POV) then read a Bruchac book instead of one of these.

Paulsen. What can I say?

Once again I was wowed by Gary Paulsen.  The Night the White Deer Died is one of those books that adults should read and will be blown away by the simplicity and power of his words.

A short book, that packs a punch about a young Anglo girl falling in love with an old Native American man.

Complex and simple at the same time.  Like poetry.  Pure Paulsen.

Talk to Me

This was a good song.  I used to have such a crush on Mickey Gilley.  Navajo Code Talker:  a novel about the Navajo Marines of WW2 was a very good book.  Again, very important to read for those who are still thinking that we treat Native Americans just swell.  It made me angry and guilt-ridden.  Amazing, incredible story of brilliance and bravery.

It Was a Short Book

By an author I've enjoyed a ton in the past. Helen Frost wrote Keesha's Place and Hidden and I loved them. But Diamond Willow just didn't do it for me. Though I am sure it would be popular with the right kind of reader. Maybe a girl who likes Gary Paulsen's survival stuff?  Diamond Willow just wasn't my kinda story.  But!  It was set in Alaska!

Those Covers!

I need to change my ways and/or publishers really need to think more about the covers of their books sometimes! For years I turned up my nose at Walk Two Moons, but man, I do love Sharon Creech. After Unfinished Angel I just had to try Two Moons. And there it was, available to check out as an eaudio from the library! And man, the narration by Hope Davis was awesome. What a great book. I never saw the end coming. And I enjoyed so much the trip that Sal takes with her wacky grandparents from Ohio to Idaho. Just read the book or listen to it and don't look at the cover. Even though this book won the Newbery, it is awesome!!!

Never Tire of this Book

I have a feeling that the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian will be one of those books that I will want to read every year.  I have a few of those, The Outsiders is one and Ramona the Pest is another, and the other is  Tex.  Not too many and so, obviously, it isn't often that I add a book to this short list.  True Diary is an amazing book.  If it were a place it would be a place where you experience all of the seasons.  If it were a restaurant it would be an all-encompassing buffet filled with the best of the best delicacies.  The themes in this book are at the same time personal and broad.  It is hilarious and heartbreaking.  Arnold "Junior" Spirit is a young man torn between his reservation and heritage and the "white world" and hope for a future different from his family.  The first story in which Arnold talks about the worst thing about being poor is just breaks my heart every time I read it or hear it, even though I know it's coming.  The last tragedy just takes my breath away with pain.  But it isn't all a sob story.  It is full of hope and promise and good, no, great humor.  Arnold's coming of age story is unique, as it is told from the perspective a young Spokane, but yet universal, as he falls in love and worries about being beaten up and accepted.  Everyone should read this book, for sure.