Book picks similar to
Sacred Fire by Nancy Wood


poetry
native
native-american-lit
read-in-the-00s

Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong


Paul Chaat Smith - 2009
    Afterward he lived in New York, the city of choice for political exiles, and eventually arrived in Washington, D.C., at the newly minted National Museum of the American Indian (“a bad idea whose time has come”) as a curator. In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee, Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience, and even the best of intentions sometimes ends in catastrophe. Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong is a highly entertaining and, at times, searing critique of the deeply disputed role of American Indians in the United States. In “A Place Called Irony,” Smith whizzes through his early life, showing us the ironic pop culture signposts that marked this Native American’s coming of age in suburbia: “We would order Chinese food and slap a favorite video into the machine—the Grammy Awards or a Reagan press conference—and argue about Cyndi Lauper or who should coach the Knicks.” In “Lost in Translation,” Smith explores why American Indians are so often misunderstood and misrepresented in today’s media: “We’re lousy television.” In “Every Picture Tells a Story,” Smith remembers his Comanche grandfather as he muses on the images of American Indians as “a half-remembered presence, both comforting and dangerous, lurking just below the surface.” Smith walks this tightrope between comforting and dangerous, offering unrepentant skepticism and, ultimately, empathy. “This book is called Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong, but it’s a book title, folks, not to be taken literally. Of course I don’t mean everything, just most things. And ‘you’ really means we, as in all of us.”

Equality's Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America


Deborah Diesen - 2020
    But for many years, only white men of means were allowed to vote. This history of voting rights looks back at the activists who answered equality’s call, working tirelessly to secure the right for all to vote, and it also looks forward to the future and the work that still needs to be done.

A Dinosaur Named Ruth: How Ruth Mason Discovered Fossils in Her Own Backyard


Julia Lyon - 2021
    Fauci comes the incredible true story of a girl who discovered dinosaur bones in her own backyard and, after years of persistence, helped uncover one of the most exciting paleontological discoveries of our time.There’s an extraordinary secret hidden just beneath Ruth Mason’s feet. The year is 1905, and Ruth is a prairie girl living in South Dakota. She has no way of knowing that millions of years ago, her family farm was once home to scores of dinosaurs. Until one day, when Ruth starts finding clues to the past: strange rocks and rubble scattered all across her land. They’re dinosaur fossils—but she doesn’t know that yet, either. It will take many years of collecting these clues, and many, many questions, but Ruth’s curiosity will one day help uncover thousands of fossils all across her land. New York Times bestselling illustrator Alexandra Bye’s vibrant illustrations bring to life this inspiring and exciting debut picture book from award-winning journalist Julia Lyon.

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Casebook


Cheryl A. Wall - 2000
    Its popularity owes much to the lyricism of the prose, thepitch-perfect rendition of black vernacular English, and the memorable characters--most notably, Janie Crawford. Collecting the most widely cited and influential essays published on Hurston's classic novel over the last quarter century, this Casebook presents contesting viewpoints by Hazel Carby, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Barbara Johnson, Carla Kaplan, Daphne Lamothe, Mary Helen Washington, and Sherley Anne Williams. The volume also includes a statement Hurston submitted to a reference book on twentieth-century authors in 1942. As it records the major debates the novel has sparked on issues oflanguage and identity, feminism and racial politics, A Casebook charts new directions for future critics and affirms the classic status of the novel.

Whoever Heard of a Flying Bird?: A Children's Book About Not Giving Up


David Cunliffe - 2020
    

Humans of New York


Brandon Stanton - 2013
    With four hundred color photos, including exclusive portraits and all-new stories, Humans of New York is a stunning collection of images that showcases the outsized personalities of New York.Surprising and moving, Humans of New York is a celebration of individuality and a tribute to the spirit of the city.

Way of the Horse: Equine Archetypes for Self-Discovery - A Book of Exploration and 40 Cards


Linda Kohanov - 2007
    Useful as both a divination deck and as a book for straight reading, "Way of the Horse" offers profound insight into the powerful relationship between horses and humans. The book consists of 40 chapters,... Full description

A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers


Nancy Willard - 1981
    Inspired by William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, this delightful collection of poetry for children brings to life Blake’s imaginary inn and its unusual guests.

Crossing Into Medicine Country: A Journey In Native American Healing


David Carson - 2005
    Through her teachings and his own mind-bending experiences, he gives us a glimpse into an alternate reality.

The Dam


David Almond - 2018
    Years ago, before a great dam was built to fill the valley with water, there were farms and homesteads in that valley and musicians who livened their rooms with song. After the village was abandoned and before the waters rushed in, a father and daughter returned there. The girl began to play her fiddle, bringing her tune to one empty house after another -- for this was the last time that music would be heard in that place. With exquisite artwork by Levi Pinfold, David Almond's lyrical narrative -- inspired by a true tale -- pays homage to his friends Mike and Kathryn Tickell and all the musicians of Northumberland, to show that music is ancient and unstoppable, and that dams and lakes cannot overwhelm it.

Widow Basquiat: A Love Story


Jennifer Clement - 2000
    A hotbed for hip hop, underground culture, and unmatched creative energy, it spawned some of the most significant art of the 20th century. It was where Jean-Michel Basquiat became an avant-garde street artist and painter, swiftly achieving worldwide fame. During the years before his death at the age of 27, he shared his life with his lover and muse, Suzanne Mallouk. A runaway from an unhappy home in Canada, Suzanne first met Jean-Michel in a bar on the Lower East Side in 1980. Thus began a tumultuous and passionate relationship that deeply influenced one of the most exceptional artists of our time. In emotionally resonant prose, award-winning author Jennifer Clement tells the story of the passion that swept Suzanne and Jean-Michel into a short-lived, unforgettable affair. A poetic interpretation like no other, Widow Basquiat is an expression of the unrelenting power of addiction, obsession and love.

The Magical Garden of Claude Monet


Laurence Anholt - 2003
    Julie is pleased when her mother decides to take her to visit the most wonderful garden in the world, owned by a great friend of the family. They arrive at their destination, and for this little girl it is like walking in a dreamy world where twisting plants grow as tall as trees. When Julie's dog runs away, she asks the gardener to help find her pet, and soon she and the gardener are friends. But this amiable, bearded old man is a very unusual gardener, for not only does he cultivate his many plants, he also paints beautiful pictures of them. Julie has made a friend of the great impressionist painter, Claude Monet. Based on a true story about the daughter of another fine artist, Berthe Morisot, this charmingly illustrated picture book includes reproductions by author-illustrator Laurance Anholt of a famous waterlilies painting, which Monet completed in his garden at Giverny, a few miles from Paris.

Down a Sunny Dirt Road


Stan Berenstain - 2002
    Sweeney's first year drawing class at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art, a "lantern-jawed exotic" named Stan admired the drawing of a brown-haired, blue-eyed girl named Janice . . . and it was kismet! It also heralded the birth of one of the great collaborations in all of children's literature: Stan and Jan Berenstain, creators of the Berenstain Bears. This enormously readable account tells of the early years before they met, their courtship (briefly interrupted by World War II), married life, and their first fateful meeting with Theodor Seuss Geisel-the editor-in-chief and president of Beginner Books. It was this fateful meeting that led to the publication of "The Big Honey Hunt"-the book that launched their careers as children's book artists and introduced to the world what would quickly become America's first family of bears: the Berenstain Bears.

Real Men Don't Rehearse


Justin Locke - 2005
    It is filled with dozens of humorous tales of musician antics and concert meltdowns. Outsiders are rarely allowed such access, but at last you can have your own personal tour of the mystical and magical realm of professional orchestras and the people who play in them. "Real Men Don't Rehearse" was written by Justin Locke, who spent 18 seasons as a professional freelance double bassist in Boston. He played with the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops, as well as for ballets, operas, and Broadway shows. He is also well known in the symphonic world as the author of "Peter VS. the Wolf" and "The Phantom of the Orchestra," which are internationally acclaimed programs for orchestra family concerts. This is the perfect gift for your favorite music lover! This is a book no musical library should be without!

Prairie Days


Patricia MacLachlan - 2013
    There are wagon rides, farm dogs, trips into town, and games of kick the can. These are prairie days.Patricia MacLachlan applies her lyrical, sparse voice and vibrant, tender art from Micha Archer to transport readers to the prairie of her youth in this stunning celebration of the beauty in the world.