LibraryAware 080220AP Native American Author Ed.

• Adult Programming Newsletter •

August 2-8

Native American Author Edition

Idaho and the Inland Northwest are home to many Native American tribes, including the Kootenai and Shoshone for which our counties are named and the Spokane to the west. In the spirit of the #OwnVoices movement, this week we're highlighting works written by indigenous authors across the U.S. Find your next read in our online catalog and, as always, remember to log your Read 20 in 20 reading and activities in Beanstack. Happy reading!

Read 20 in 20: Native American Author

You don't have to say you love me : a memoir
by Sherman Alexie

The National Book Award-winning author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian presents a literary memoir of poems, essays and intimate family photos that reflect his complicated feelings about his disadvantaged childhood on a Native American reservation with his siblings and alcoholic parents.

Pro tip: You can alternatively count this as a book by a local author. Alexie's collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, also counts as a book made into a movie (Smoke Signals).

The night watchman : a novel
by Louise Erdrich

A historical novel based on the life of the National Book Award-winning author’s grandfather traces the experiences of a Chippewa Council night watchman in mid-19th-century rural North Dakota who fights Congress to enforce Native American treaty rights.

Pro tip: This is a brand-new release! You can alternatively count this as a book published in 2020.

There there
by Tommy Orange

A novel—which grapples with the complex history of Native Americans; with an inheritance of profound spirituality; and with a plague of addiction, abuse and suicide—follows 12 characters, each of whom has private reasons for traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow.

Winner: 2019 American Book Award

Finalist: 2019 Pulitzer Prize

Dewey Series

Dewey Want To Know: History

Our libraries' nonfiction sections are organized by Dewey Decimal Classification, which groups books with similar subject matter together by number. For instance, historical works are housed in the 900s. To find books about Native American culture, you'd head to the 970s. Just beyond that, you might find a section reserved for the history of... extraterrestrial worlds?! Sydney and Tyler have the scoop on the great and sometimes baffling classification system that is Dewey Decimal.

Weekly Dose of Happiness

Virtual Museums

The Smithsonian might be closed, but you can bring their exhibits alive in your own home through the magic of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian website and through their partnership with Google Arts and Culture. Don't miss the "Americans" exhibit and "Adrift, but Not Without Hope," which features art by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Need More?

World Book

World Book is your portal to thousands of articles, images, videos, and sound clips about Native American culture.

Catalog Lists

If a suggested book from the newsletter strikes your fancy, add it to your TBR (To Be Read) List! To create your own TBR list, head over to the online catalog. From the "Lists" button at the top of the page, create a "New List" and start adding the titles you're excited about!