Dreaming In Indian

October 6, 2014
Charleyboy and Leatherdale assemble a wide-ranging and emotionally potent collection of poems, photography, interviews, and artwork featuring dozens of indigenous artists and writers from across North America. The graphics-intensive format gives the project the feel of a magazine or yearbook as the contributors tackle stereotypes (three girls offer perspectives growing up with Disney’s Pocahontas); discuss their careers in the arts, activism, and other areas; and reflect on their place in the culture at large, despite ongoing discrimination and other challenges. In the final poem, Patricia Stein writes, “ ‘Broken hoop.’/ Oh, but I see it whole./ Every bend breaks a barrier that’s held us below.” Ages 12–up.

Starred review from November 1, 2014

Gr 6 Up-This dynamic, creative work is an interactive portal that introduces readers to the lives of 64 indigenous Native American young people. The writers include an award-winning throat singer, a fashion model, a hip-hop dancer, a tribal leader, an activist, a graphic designer, a comic book creator, a chef, a dancer, a musician, a makeup artist, and a rapper, and the contributors communicate powerfully who they are in their own words and images. The visuals are a blend of bold, contemporary digital graffiti and indigenous art at its best, and the end result is a collage of profound, sometimes gritty photos and digital images. The text is a combination of awe-inspiring poetry, prose, and poignant captions. No topic is left untouched-identity, racism, gender, bullying, abuse at boarding schools, adoption, mixed heritage, runaways, suicide, drug, poverty, coming of age, death, and sex, though the tone is positive and success stories are emphasized. This slim book effectively presents honest portrayals of strong, hopeful, and courageous indigenous youth living nonstereotypical lives. Not to be missed.-Naomi Caldwell, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2014
Who are North American Indians today? For answers, meet the poets, fashion models, chefs, scientists, Olympians, YouTube stars, graphic artists, activists, athletes and many others featured in this vibrant, kaleidoscopic anthology. Contributors, many young adults from first nations across Canada and the United States, portray their experiences in short works that range from flash fiction, essays, songs and poetry to paintings, cartoons and photo collages. Innovative design by Inti Amaterasu pairs words and art, echoing and amplifying themes of departure and return, integration and discovery. Writers recount tough, crooked journeys that led to rewarding outcomes, incorporating a complex, difficult, rich heritage in cutting-edge careers. Not all stories are happy, but most move from pain toward hope, even triumph. Twelve years of residential school couldn't erase her cultural identity from Isabelle Knockwood, Mi'kmaq, whose mother's early teachings gave her a course to follow. Throat singer Tanya Tagaq Gillis, Inuk, thanks school bullies who tormented her-surviving them gave her the determination and resilience to pursue her dreams. Self-styled "Salish geek" Jeffrey Veregge draws on a mixed heritage to create his inventive prints. Children of Alberta's Horse Lake First Nation share what gives them strength. Tired stereotypes are demolished with sly humor. Cree model Ashley Callingbull satirizes fashion's appropriation of native dress. But stereotypes aren't always disempowering, as Kelli Clifton, Tsimshian, points out in her exploration of Disney's Pocahontas. Original and accessible, both an exuberant work of art and a uniquely valuable resource. (Anthology. 12-18)

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February 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 The voices and lived experiences of young contemporary Native Americans are brought to the fore in this much-needed collection of art, prose, poetry, song, and memoir. These are poignant voices indeed, redolent with not only the pain of racism and the isolation of stereotyping but also the sheer raw confidence of youthful expression. The talent of these young artists is as impressive as the range of ways in which they explore it. Louie Gong reinvents popular shoe brands with traditional Northwest Salish designs, Aja Sy's poem asks us to imagine a world without gender norms, Nadya Kwandibens' photographs capture the Indian urban experience, and Joseph Boyden recounts the feelings of teenage worthlessness that he shed like the skin of his pet python. These and 42 other stories are as far removed as can be from the usual stereotypes of generic Indians in children's and YA literature, and they are well served by a large trim size and a glossy but gritty photo-heavy design. It's hard to imagine a middle- or high-school classroom that wouldn't benefit from having this.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
"If your imagination isn't working -- and, of course, in oppressed people that's the first thing that goes -- you can't imagine anything better. Once you can imagine something different, something better, then you're on your way." So begins the foreword to this dizzyingly eclectic anthology of contemporary Native American voices from Canada and the United States. Forty-six contributors, clearly identified by tribe or background on the pages and in the endnotes, present poems, paintings, drawings, photographs, interviews, and remembrances that reveal glimpses of what it means to be Indian (or First Nation, Metis, Inuit...) today. Some entries explicitly reflect on this theme as it relates to boarding school, or bullying, or spirituality; others simply depict Indian people following a variety of pursuits, including music, sports, fashion, comics, and cooking. Visually, the book also works to break down stereotypes: while there are some depictions of traditional Native American dress (some of them ironic), there are many photographs showing people in modern, everyday clothing. The book lacks a coherent design, with myriad competing graphic elements, but perhaps that is the point: that Native Americans are "tremendously diverse peoples with tremendously diverse life experiences...not frozen in the past, nor are we automatically just like everybody else." jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)