By: Powell's Staff,
on 9/11/2013
In an age when everyone and their niece has written a tell-all book, when even fictional characters like Ron Burgundy are penning the stories of their lives, how does a memoir stand out among its peers? What qualities make it like nothing we've seen before? Sometimes truly extraordinary experiences can launch a memoir into uncharted [...]
By: Ashleigh,
on 9/9/2013
In Marbles, Ellen Forney explores the relationship between mental illness and creativity. A working cartoonist in Seattle, she is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and must decide whether to accept treatment (and risk sacrificing her art) or continue self-medicating and hope for the best. Marbles is a satisfying read, both as a personal memoir and as [...]
By: Aline Pereira,
on 5/12/2010
We welcome Nancy Bo Flood to PaperTigers for this, her second Guest Post for PaperTigers (you can read her first one here):
Wanted: Books written by or about contemporary Native Americans.
Needed: Books that include contemporary Native American children presented without stereotypes or clichés.
Every child needs to see their own people and their own experiences in the books they read: yet in the United States less that 5% of children’s books published are written by or about Native Americans.
All young people need books that describe contemporary children who are Native American, not just historical accounts as though Indian children lived “past tense”, only a long time ago. The following books have “real” characters and engaging stories that include traditional celebrations continued in contemporary ways – with food, family, dance.
Picture books:
Secret of the Dance by Alfred Scow and Andrea Spalding (Orca, 2006);
Whale Snow by Debby Dahl Edwardson, illustrated by Annie Patterson (Charlesbridge, 2003);
Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu (HarperCollins, 2000);
The Butterfly Dance by Gerald Dawavendewa (Abbeville, 2001);
Powwow’s Coming by Linda Boyden (University of New Mexico 
Press, 2007);
Little Coyote Runs Away by Craig Kee Strete (Putnam, 1997);
When the Shadbush Blooms by Carla Messinger with Susan Katz, illustrated by David Kanietakeron (Tricycle Press, 2007).
With each of these books, if one asks, “Is this how an American Indian child would want to be perceived?” I think the answer is, “Yes.”
For Older Readers:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie,
illustrated by Ellen Forney (Little Brown, 2007);
Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith (HarperCollins, 2001);
Bowman’s Store: A Journey to Myself by Joseph Bruchac (Lee & Low, 1997);
Eagle
