Indigo's Bookshelf: Voices of Native Youth

We are all doing at-home school or college and not reading a lot for pleasure. Some of us are experiencing major stress and flare ups of existing conditions. Our parents are out of work or in essential jobs. We have a half dozen unfinished kidlit & YA Lit reviews and essays, which we promise we'll get to. In the meantime, we are excited to present interviews by a handful of our mentors and influencers. The first person we talked to is Betsy Bird. You know Bets. She of the literary children's blog, A Fuse #8 Production.   Author and editor of fabulous fiction and nonfiction titles, including FUNNY GIRL, THE GREAT SANTA STAKEOUT, WILD THINGS! ACTS OF MISCHIEF IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, and her upcoming MG debut, LONG ROAD TO THE CIRCUS. I've got to take an online anatomy quiz now! She can tell you the rest.                     ...

Alexis, 20: I used to go yardsaling with my Grandpa Joe. When people asked what he was looking for, he'd always say, "Oh, just some bric-a-brac." We're at home, doing school/college online, playing video games, driving around town in masks and gloves to pick up stuff the growns. But we're still talking about kidlit & Ya Lit. This is our bric-a-brac! Alexis, 20: I can't afford to buy A GIRL CALLED ECHO, VOLUME 3: NORTHWEST RESISTANCE. The first two volumes, written by Katherena Vermette , illustrated by Scott B. Henderson & color by Donovan Yaciuk, may be my fav books in the Indigenous New Wave. Echo is edgy and her day to day life and historical dream travelling are highly compelling. I looked at the Library website for YA graphic novels with female/femme protagonists. I found the excellent ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL: AN ILLUSTRATED MEMOIR by Robin Ha. I picked it randomly and liked the preview, but it seems right to be reading and celebrating a Asian ...