Book of the Week: Indian No More

by Charlene Willing McManis and Traci Sorell

Tu Books / Lee & Low, 2019

211 pages

ISBN: 9781620148396

Ages 9-12

When the government strips the Grand Ronde in Oregon, comprised of multiple Northwest Native nations, of their federally recognized Indian status, Regina Petit and her Umpqua family move to Los Angeles. Regina, 10, and her little sister, Peewee, are soon playing with kids in the neighborhood but find even their closest new friends, African American siblings Keith and Addie, think the Hollywood version of Indians is real. Regina’s frustration sometimes has her wishing she could just go along—Why not dress up as Tonto for Halloween? (No, says her Portuguese mother.) Regina’s optimistic dad has gotten a good job and they are transforming their rundown house into a cozy home, but his positive outlook begins to unravel in the face of discrimination. Traditional tales and family history shared by her grandmother, Chich, help Regina feel comforted. So, too, does realizing that her Indian identity has been shaped by her family and Native community; it doesn’t come from outsiders. Regina’s compelling, engaging voice is honest and childlike in a novel based on author McManis’s family history. Set in the mid-1950s, Regina’s story speaks of resilience, even as the racism faced by Native children and children of color it reveals still resonates today. Endmatter includes McManis’s childhood photos, and information about government termination of tribes from the 1940s to 1960s (the Grand Ronde were reinstated in 1983), and the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Book of the Week: The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets

by Sarah Miller

Published by Schwartz & Wade, 2019
309 pages
ISBN: 9781524713812

Age 11 and older

The birth of Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie Dionne on May 28, 1934, in a small Ontario village shocked their unsuspecting parents and quickly captivated the world. With initial focus on the tiny babies’ survival, the village doctor and a rotating schedule of nurses were soon managing their care. Eventually, the government built a compound across the road from their home where the girls lived until age 9, given ample attention but little open affection from the adults who managed their regimented routine. Put on display daily for tourists who came from across Canada and the U.S., visits with their poor, rural, French-speaking parents—offered little sympathy from the government or media-shaped public opinion—were increasingly controlled. There was money to be made through product endorsements, appearances, tourism and souvenirs, and many benefitted from the exploitation. By the time the government returned custody to their parents, they were essential strangers to their family, as their family was to them. Through continuing challenges and fear, they relied, as always, on one another, still smiling for the camera on demand. Laying out facts, complexities and contradictions, Miller allows readers to draw their own conclusions about the motivations and actions of individuals and institutions that shaped the quintuplets’ lives. Ample black-and-white photographs accompany this meticulously researched, riveting work that follows them into adulthood. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Book of the Week: Beverly, Right Here

by Kate DiCamillo

Candlewick Press, 2019
256 pages
ISBN: 978-07636-9464-7

Ages 10-13

After her beloved dog Buddy dies, Beverly Tapinski, 14, can’t think of a reason to stick around home with her neglectful mother. Beverly hitches a ride to another small Florida town and gets a job bussing tables in a greasy spoon diner. Iola, who lives in a nearby trailer, owns a car but no longer drives and offers Beverly a room in exchange for a ride to her weekly Bingo game. Beverly meets gangly, kind, awkward, art-obsessed Elmer at the convenience store, where he works. He’s unlike anyone Beverly’s ever met. They all are, from her beleaguered boss at the restaurant to the ambitious and self-involved waitress to the steady, hardworking kitchen crew, who go on strike for better wages. Iola, meanwhile, clearly recognizes in Beverly a loneliness akin to her own. A story that mines difficult experiences and feelings with grace and humor illuminates goodness and connection through characters that find one another in ways that feel fated but work as happenstance. For Beverly, friend of the main characters in the earlier Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana’s Way, this summer of the mid 1970s is one in which she discovers—and perhaps remembers—that friendship is a gift to be received as well as given. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Book of the Week: Love from A to Z

by S. K.  Ali

Published by Salaam Reads, 2019

342 pages

ISBN: 978-1-5344-4272-6

Age 13 and older

Suspended from school for challenging a teacher’s Islamophobia, West Indian/Pakistani American Zayneb spends an extended break in Doha, Qatar, with her aunt. Adam (Chinese/White) has returned to Doha for spring break from college in London. When they meet, Adam is immediately drawn to Zayneb. Not only are they both Muslim, they also both keep “Marvels and Oddities” journals, named for the same piece of Islamic art that inspired them, in which they record the ups and downs of their days. As they spend time together, the two slowly share their current struggles. Zayneb and her friends back home are trying to build a case against their teacher for his Islamophobic online activity. She’s also learning to embrace her identity as an activist, dealing with almost daily Islamophobia due to her hijab, and grieving her daadi, who was killed during a U.S/ drone strike in Pakistan. Adam, recently diagnosed with MS, has dropped out of college without telling his father, wanting to focus on his art instead. Although they’re falling in love, Adam and Zayneb also struggle realistically to communicate and to support one another’s choices and reactions to events in their lives. This empowering novel offers a refreshing portrayal of two distinct teens whose approach to romance and dating is shaped by their strongly held Muslim beliefs. (MCT) ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center