Indigo's Bookshelf: Voices of Native Youth

To write about Native nations or tribes or not? That is the question. If you are a non-Native author writing a US historical novel for kids or teens, there are several challenges. One is that Indigenous people have lived/are living in places you describe and called/call them home. (Notice I'm assuming that you're not writing a Native MC. Unless you are Debbie Dahl Edwardson writing MY NAME IS NOT EASY (and you're not) don't try it.) If you don't acknowledge this basic fact in our colliding, brutal histories, you are practicing erasure and will be called out for it. If you do acknowledge it, you most likely will be criticized for not getting everything right.                                                      ...

Alexis, 19: They say never judge a book by its cover. That's definitely true for Andrea L. Roger's brilliant, surprising MARY AND THE TRAIL OF TEARS, A CHEROKEE REMOVAL SURVIVAL STORY. It's one book in the GIRLS SURVIVE series. We applaud Capstone for having Rogers, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, tell this story. It makes all the difference for authenticity and makes this book essential reading in families and schools. Ashleigh, 13: The beginning of Ms. Andrea's book reminded me of MORNING GIRL, by Michael Dorris. That's one of my favorite books and all schools should teach it for Columbus Day. In MARY, we get to see a happy Cherokee family before their removal. That makes them loving of each other and self-confident. It's also a book about sisters, and Mary and Becky remind me of me and Vi. Alexis, 19: Books about the Trail or Tears focus on the genocide, the worst horrors. That's in here. But the novel also shows exactly ho...