Friday, November 15, 2024

New Book I Can't Wait to Share: Buffalo Dreamer by Mary Ann Rodman

   


The more I learn about writing, the harder it is for me to "lose"myself in a book. My Inner Editor keeps chattering away... Poor word choice. A ten-year-old would never say that. Hmm...well isn't that a wonderful coincidence for the sake of the plot? Really annoying.

Inner Editor took a break as I read Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan, a finalist for this year's National Book Award for Young People's Literature. (The awards will announced this Wednesday, November 20th.) Duncan handled a disturbing topic--government-sponsored "boarding schools" for indigenous children--in an age-appropriate but serious manner. And...she did it in only 128 pages.

Usually I blitz through 128 pages in a little over an hour. This book took two days. The writing is so lovely, you read a sentence, then let it seep into your soul. My reading pace slowed as page 128 approached. I didn't want to leave these characters and their lives. 

There may be other children's books that deal with this subject, but I haven't read them. (BTW, if you know any, please let me know in the comments.) Residential schools for Native American/First Nation children were established as early as the mid-17th century in both the US and Canada. Their purpose was to assimilate the children into Anglo-American culture. All traces of their native culture were squashed. The students were dressed in Western clothes, their hair cut. Speaking their native language was forbidden. Parents who tried to hide their children were cut off from government assistance or even jailed. Sometimes the children were kidnapped from the reservations and sent miles away to school, never to be seen again. Those who tried to escape were harshly punished. Sometimes they died. Parents were never notified.

All 11-year-old Summer knows is that her beloved Mosom (grandfather) was once a student at one of these schools. A mixed tribe girl from Arizona, Summer, her mom and little brother, are on their way to her grandparent's reservation home in Alberta, Canada. On the long car trip, she falls asleep, dreaming odd dreams. About a girl who is not Summer. A girl who is trapped somewhere dark and cold. She needs to escape.

These troubling dreams unspool even as Summer enjoys her annual vacation with her mom's family. She suspects the dreams are connected to the old residential school at the edge of town. She and her mystery-loving cousin Autumn resolve to find out more about the school, and their grandfather's time there. Their investigation gets a boost when unmarked graves are discovered on the school grounds. Will Mosom at last speak about his past? Do the graves have a connection to Summer's nightmares?

Duncan doesn't pull any punches in her description of how the schools treated children. This could've been a super grim tale if not for the episodes of Summer enjoying her reservation vacation--swimming, riding bareback, picking sweetgrass, in addition to giggly sleepovers with bestie Autumn. Cultural history and customs are woven unobtrusively throughout the story, as Summer learns more about her Cree heritage. 

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

And other news I can't wait to share...

It's been three years last week since my beloved friend, April Pulley Sayre, passed away. I did not realize that six weeks later, her long-time illustrator, Steve Jenkins, also died. In honor of this perfect pairing of author and artist, Beach Lane Books will be re-issuing four of their titles: Vulture ViewEat Like a BearSquirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep and Woodpecker Wham! in 2025. I'm so thrilled these new editions will be available to the next generation of readers. April's unique vision of the world lives on.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

Friday, November 1, 2024

3 New Somethings for My Body, Mind and Spirit

At long last, I’ve set aside two afternoons each week to learn 

T’ai Chi!

Though only a Beginner, thanks to my venerated Chicago 

instructor Hau Kum Kneip, I now see how this low-impact 

exercise lives up to its description as “meditation in motion”

 – as well as – “medication in motion.”

I am besotted with the gentle movements within the short 

forms I’m working hard to learn.

Increased strength, flexibility and balance are the goals, 

for my body, of course, but even better, it turns out, for 

my mind and spirit.

Speaking of my mind,

in September I lost mine when my Lenova Yoga laptop’s cursor and

touch pad froze.

Tech-savvy I am not; in fact, I’m an honest-to-goodness Luddite

who relies on the help of experts.

Enter GOOGLE and You-Tube videos, once I correctly phrased the

question that addressed the issues.

“Who knew?” I heard myself exclaim as I learned about my

keyboard’s Function Keys (Fn) – and –  top row with all sorts of

varied icons dubbed “hot keys.”

I sure didn’t.

And I’ve only been typing on a computer since maybe 1997.

After unfreezing both touchpad and cursor, I celebrated by lighting

my keyboard.

Using GOOGLE and You-Tube videos to solve several of my

computer problems has gifted me with a new independence when

technological challenges arise.

As for matters of the spirit,

alas, an editor (or three) sent me what Richard Jackson called

“an admiring decline.”

In the past, I turned to children’s books for comfort and inspiration.

(Think: I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.)

Fortunately, Amy Gash and Elise Howard gathered nearly 400 wise

and inspiring words from children’s classics old and new in their

lovely new book Believe in the World, Wisdom for Grown-ups from

Children’s Books (Algonquin, 2024).

Several of the categorically-grouped quotes restored my spirit and

had me back on task in no time.

Indeed, writing this post proved the perfect Rx, too, for keepin’ me

keepin’ on.

Believe in the World included Yuyi Morales’ words from Dreamers

(Neal Porter, 2018):

                                    “Someday we will become something we

                                      haven’t even yet imagined.” 

Thanks to Patricia Franz at Reverie for hosting today’s Poetry 

Friday.

Here’s to your New Somethings! Feel free to share them.

Esther Hershenhorn