Featured Book
There There by Tommy Orange
"A work of defiance and recovery" (The Economist) that "begs to be read more than once" (Santa Fe New Mexican), Tommy Orange's groundbreaking novel was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize.
There There is a polyphonic epic told in the voices of 12 Native characters headed to the Big Oakland Powwow. Jacquie Red Feather, a substance abuse counselor in recovery, is attempting to reconnect with her family; Dene Oxendene, a young documentary filmmaker, is gathering stories to honor his uncle's memory; and Tony Loneman, an MF Doom fan born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which he calls "The Drome," has been recruited to help with a powwow robbery.
There is Octavio Gomez, who is grieving the loss of his family; Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, a veteran of the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz who has come to the powwow to watch her nephew, Orvil Red Feather, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos; and Edwin Black, a biracial Native American literature scholar who lands an internship with the powwow committee, where he meets Blue, who has just escaped from her dangerously abusive husband.
The characters' lives intertwine across the city of Oakland, California, and ultimately converge in scenes of heart-stopping violence and loving heroism.
In The Paris Review, Julian Brave NoiseCat writes that Tommy Orange is part of a "new Native Renaissance," saying: "What is perhaps most exciting about Orange and his peers is that they are unafraid to break old molds of theme, style and structure handed down by the earlier generations' greatest Indian hits. Orange's book is set in the city, eliding the reservation dispatches that have dominated Native fiction over the decades. Today, more than seven out of ten Native people live in cities. With There There, Native lit is catching-up to demographic reality."
Companion Books
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth
What do you do when you're Native American, so nobody in your class talks to you; dirt poor, like snow-blowing-through-the-roof poor; small for your age, so bullies like Evan Reiniger make you their punching bag; and a Beatles fan, meaning your favorite band broke up years ago? Well, you make friends like George Haddonfield, a new kid in town; tell lies because what George doesn't know about your house won't hurt him; tell truths, because someone's going to listen to you about Evan, right?; and make your own music, since in the end your friends and family are all you have.
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Book
When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson, illustrated by Julie Flett
When young Nósisim helps tend her grandmother's garden, she begins to notice things that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long, braided hair and beautifully colored clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family? As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is told about life in a residential school a long time ago, where all of these things were taken away. When We Were Alone is a story about a difficult time in history, and, ultimately, one of empowerment and strength. It received the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award and was nominated for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.
