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We still belong

Title :

We still belong / Christine Day.

Title:

We still belong

Author:

Day, Christine, 1993-

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

249 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9780063064560

Production / Publication Information:

New York, NY : Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2023]

Summary:

"Wesley's hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and asking her crush to the dance) go all wrong-until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at the intertribal powwow"--

Target audience note:

Ages 8-12.

Language:

English

Genre:

Social problem fiction.

Subject Term:

Indigenous Peoples' Day -- Juvenile fiction.

Indians of North America -- Juvenile fiction.

Identity (Psychology) -- Juvenile fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Juvenile fiction.

Families -- Juvenile fiction.

Indigenous Peoples' Day -- Fiction.

Indians of North America -- Fiction.

Identity -- Fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Family life -- Fiction.

JUVENILE FICTION / General.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	TWEEN FICTION DAY	31330009373055	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	J FIC DAY	32114002791888	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library Children's Room	J DAY	31330009346382	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	J/DAY	33934004661428	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	YA/DAY	33934004677143	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Boxford Town Library	J DAY	32115002213468	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Burlington Public Library	J DAY	32116003994189	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Carlisle - Gleason Public Library	J DAY	32117002190696	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	J/FIC/DAY	31482003092072	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dunstable Free Public Library	JFIC DAY	32118001114604	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Georgetown Peabody Library	J DAY	32120001455821	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groton Public Library	YA MG DAY	37003701979099	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groveland - Langley-Adams Library	J FIC DAY	32121000909305	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	J DAY	30470002160330	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	J/FIC/DAY	31479007641557	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	J DAY	32122003052382	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	J FIC DAY	31481005732560	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Middleton - Flint Public Library	J DAY	32126001923239	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newbury Town Library	J DAY	32127001375917	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	TWEEN DAY	32128004207354	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	J DAY	31478003828671	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Reading - Flint Memorial Library	J FIC DAY	31550002584586	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rockport Public Library	J FIC DAY	32129002586997	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rowley Public Library	J FIC DAY	32130001077848	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	J FICTION DAY	32132003429464	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... West Newbury - G.A.R. Memorial Library	J DAY	32135001601877	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	MG F DAY	31990005286385	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

A thoughtful and heartfelt middle grade novel by American Indian Youth Literature Honor-winning author Christine Day (Upper Skagit), about a girl whose hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and plans to ask her crush to the school dance) go all wrong--until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at an intertribal powwow.

Wesley is proud of the poem she wrote for Indigenous Peoples' Day--but the reaction from a teacher makes her wonder if expressing herself is important enough. And due to the specific tribal laws of her family's Nation, Wesley is unable to enroll in the Upper Skagit tribe and is left feeling "not Native enough." Through the course of the novel, with the help of her family and friends, she comes to embrace her own place within the Native community.

Christine Day's debut, I Can Make This Promise, was an American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Book, was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, the Chicago Public Library, and NPR, and was also picked as a Charlotte Huck Honor Book. Her sophomore novel, The Sea in Winter, was an American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Book, as well as named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and School Library Journal.

We Still Belong is an accessible, enjoyable, and important novel from an author who always delivers.

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5 Up--Twelve-year-old Wesley, descended from the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, starts Indigenous People's Day with exciting expectations: seeing her commemorative poem published in the school paper; discussing it in English class; and (the main reason for sleep deprivation) asking Ryan to the school dance. By that evening's celebratory powwow, the day's events will have veered far and wide from Wesley's careful planning. Day adds plenty of backstory to ensure Indigenous (Cherokee and Chicasaw) narrator Rich has a memorable cast to channel. Rich is especially empathic voicing Wesley's quick-changing emotions--nervous, disappointed, bewildered, joyful--and switching effortlessly between middle schoolers and adults; she's incisively affecting as Wesley's wise Grandpa and her unpredictable biofather. Day's treatment of Wesley's "blood quantum," further explicated in her author's note, is notably informative. VERDICT "We Still Belong, " the title of Wesley's poem, becomes an essential invitation for children of all backgrounds.

Publisher's Weekly Review

During a "rough patch," 12-year-old Wesley Wilder and her mother move into her maternal grandfather's house in an Indigenous community outside of Seattle, which he shares with Wesley's aunt, uncle, and baby cousin. Seeking a place to fit in at her new school, Wesley joins the Native/Indigenous Student Union and the Gamer's Club, where she meets and crushes hard on white classmate Ryan. But when a teacher harshly criticizes a poem she writes celebrating Indigenous People's Day, and she discovers that Ryan is attending an upcoming school dance with another girl, Wesley struggles with feelings of inadequacy. These emotions amplify when she learns that she can never formally belong to the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe; because her verbally and physically abusive father, who left her mother before she was born, is white, Wesley's "blood quantum is too low to gain citizenship." Upper Skagit author Day (The Sea in Winter) presents Wesley's multilayered emotions, as well as myriad facets of Native life (including citizenship parameters), with crystal-clear prose. Via Wesley's self-aware and astoundingly perceptive first-person voice, Day highlights everyday tween conflicts about fitting in alongside experiential concerns surrounding identifying with one's heritage in this warmhearted approach to searching for--and finding--community and inclusion. Ages 8--12. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (Aug.)

Horn Book Review

Twelve-year-old Wesley Wilder is excited to have her poem, "We Still Belong: An Indigenous People's Day Poem!" published in the school paper. When the time comes, she's unprepared for some of the reactions she receives, for better or worse. The story takes place during one day -- Indigenous People's Day -- with well-timed extended flashbacks and first-person rumination rounding out the characters, setting (Everett, Washington), and main narrative. Wesley lives with her single mother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, and baby cousin; her matrilineal tribal affiliation is Upper Skagit, though she does not qualify for enrollment. She has a supportive best friend, Hanan, and wants to ask a cute fellow gamer to the school dance. Readers learn these details organically as the day unfolds; it's an effective, relaxed way for Day (The Sea in Winter, rev. 3/21) to convey information and endear readers to her protagonist. As Hanan says, when Wesley's poem is discounted by a teacher for not having a "clear thesis statement": "You are enough...You always have been. You have nothing to prove...You're a gamer and a poet and a good friend. You're kind and funny and nerdy and weird." This is a story of quiet determination and triumph, with well-defined characters who push each other and are there for each other, and which culminates in sweet heart-to-heart conversations at a powwow in a high-school gym. An appended author's note provides further detail about the story's setting, tribal citizenship (Day is a tribal citizen of the Upper Skagit Tribe), and names and naming. (c) Copyright 2024. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

A coming-of-age story bringing awareness to Indigenous Peoples' Day, "a holiday no one in this school seems to care about." Seventh grader Wesley Wilder, an Upper Skagit Indian Tribe descendant living just north of Seattle, proudly awaits the publication of her celebratory work, "We Still Belong: An Indigenous Peoples' Day Poem!" But when her English teacher doesn't mention her poem, despite always giving extra credit and class discussion time to students who are published in the school paper, she feels hurt and confused. Later, Wesley's plans to ask the boy she's crushing on to the school dance are derailed, adding to her emotional roller coaster. Day (Upper Skagit) crafts believable, complex characters: Wesley lives in a multigenerational Native family, is an outstanding student, a musician, and a gamer. She is kind and helps others in need. Her grandfather's words--"the things that scare us the most in this world are usually the most worthwhile things in our lives"--help ease her vulnerability and self-doubt. This story, which weaves diversity into the supporting cast, incorporates layers of Native identity throughout, as Wesley connects with a new friend who is a young Native activist, learning more about Christopher Columbus. The triumphant ending shows Wesley raised up by family, friends, and community. A rich, captivating story that will resonate with readers. (author's note, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith of Heartdrum, We Need Diverse Books statement) (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Wesley--seventh-grader, gamer, and member of the Upper Skagit tribe--has two important things in her backpack: the poem she wrote for Indigenous People's Day and a card for Ryan from Gamer Club asking him to the school dance. But the school's reception to her poem is lackluster at best, and her perfect plan to reach Ryan keeps getting interrupted by girls she barely knows. Why can't she celebrate her heritage in the way that feels right, not however other people expect her to? And will she ever get to talk to Ryan? Award-winning author Day (Upper Skagit) writes with compassion and precision in this story that digs into the magnitude of small moments. Readers will root for levelheaded Wesley as she navigates familiar adolescent curveballs: family changes, unexpected allies, and the frustration of not being seen. Cozy descriptions, likable characters, and teachable moments animate this occasionally didactic but ultimately heartwarming story about belonging. Acutely relatable and contemporary, this snapshot of a single day in Wesley's life authentically captures the struggle of being 12 and of finding--and using--your voice.