2006_09_06_archive

American Indian Library Association's "American Indian Youth

Literature Award"

For many years, individuals with the American Indian Library

Association have worked toward establishing an award for outstanding

children's books about American Indians. Yesterday (September 5,

2006), they announced the first three recipients of the award.

Here is the portion of their press release with details about the

books:

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"Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story," by the Confederated

Salish and Kootenai Tribes, illustrated by Sam Sandoval, and published

by the University of Nebraska Press is the winner for the picture book

category. Accompanied by rich watercolor illustrations, the text

relates a culturally vital tale from the Salish people of Montana

respected.

Louise Erdrich is the winner of the middle-school award for "The

Birchbark House," published by Hyperion Books for Children. Setting

her book in the middle 19th century, Erdrich paints a detailed

portrait of Ojibwa life through the experiences of 7-year-old Omakayas

who lives on the Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker on Lake

Superior. "The Birchbark House" was Erdrich's first novel for young

readers, and the first book she has illustrated. She is a member of

the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa and lives with her two daughters in

Minnesota.

The young adult award is "Hidden Roots," written by Joseph Bruchac and

published by Scholastic Press. The book is set within the historical

framework of the Vermont Eugenics Program, a Native American

sterilization program in the 1930s, and tells the story of the

haunting effects of this shameful and tragic deed on one of the

Abenaki families victimized by it. Author of more than 70 books for

adults and children, Bruchac is of Abenaki ancestry and is a

nationally recognized professional storyteller living in Greenfield

Center, New York.

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Thank you, AILA, for establishing this award. Awards do a lot for the

longevity of a book. As demonstrated on this blog, and by people

who've done this work for many decades, some pretty awful books get

printed again and again. They're hard to displace, but I am hopeful

that awards like this one will help change that. We must not forget,

though, that the bottom line is sales. All three books are available

from Oyate.