Genre 4 Review
Shannon Hicks
Talking Leaves
Talking Leaves
Bibliography
Bruchac,
Joseph. Talking Leaves. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2016. ISBN 978-0-8037-3508-8
Plot Summary
Talking
Leaves is the story of
one family in the Cherokee Nation. Uwohali is thirteen years old when his
father returns from Arkansas. It has been years since Uwohali has seen or
spoken to his father and now that he has returned, rumors flood the community
about Sequoyah’s strange ways and suspicion that he is dabbling in witchcraft.
As Uwohali decides to visit his father and hopes to learn the trade of
blacksmithing, he soon discovers his father’s true quest; to develop a written
language for the Tsalagi people. Sequoyah puts himself and his family at risk
as he spends time creating the syllabary, while others plan to put a stop to
his “crazy ways,” even if it means murdering Sequoyah.
Critical
Analysis
Joseph Bruchac
is the highly acclaimed children’s author whose work in novels, poems and short
stories revolve around the Native American people, and in Talking Leaves
he focuses on the Cherokee. Readers are immersed in the Tsalagi culture from
the beginning pages. Uwohali explains that a Tsalagi child belongs to the
mother’s clan and “…it is the women who are the heads of our households. They
are the owners of the house” (p.190). The women also have to agree to the chosen
leaders before they are able to take office.
Descriptions of
hunting and food are also rich in cultural details. We first meet Uwohali as he
hunts a squirrel with a long blowgun, and after killing it, he gives thanks for
his capture so as to appease Awi Usdi, the Little White Deer, the guardian of
the game animals. Later, Uwohali’s mother prepares succotash for dinner. “My
mother’s blend of corn and beans—cooked with fresh churned butter, seasoned
with just the right amount of black pepper—is nothing less than perfect” (p.
100). He continues to describe the tasty corn pones and sassafras tea he also
enjoys. Through these descriptions, readers experience the sights and tastes of
the time.
Sequoyah was
away at war for over three years and has not spoken of his time fighting. Eventually
he sits with Uwohali and recalls when he joined his friend Turtle Fields to
fight with Sharp Knife Jackson. He openly tells Uwohali his reasons for going, one
being he wanted to help his friends, and the other was to further his quest in
developing a written language. The recount of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend is
full of the terrors of war but also infused with funny commentary on the white
man, Big Drunk, Sequoyah’s friend.
Review
Excerpts
Publisher’s Weekly: “Wrenching descriptions of the 1814 Battle of
Horseshoe Bend help transform an ostensibly simple story into a profound
cautionary tale of what can happen without a language of one’s own. “
“Talking Leaves.” Publisher’s Weekly, May 2016. Novelist,
EBSCOhost (accessed October 24, 2020).
Kirkus Reviews: “Bruchac gives readers a vivid look into the life
of a Cherokee boy in 1821. His extensive research is evidenced by details such
as Tsalagi women's prominent social status and a survivor's retelling of the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend.”
“Talking Leaves.” Kirkus Reviews, May 2016. Novelist,
EBSCOhost (accessed October 24, 2020).
Awards
·
Notable
Books for a Global Society – selection 2017
·
Junior
Library Guild Selections – middle selection 2016
Connections
·
Read
How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story by
Tim Tingle.
·
Read
the picture book Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing by
James Rumford. Compare the information in this book to Talking Leaves.
·
In
the novel Talking Trees, the boys play marbles and explain how they make
them from clay. Watch the short video on Cherokee marbles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ox960M1034. Ask a member of the Cherokee tribe
teach students how to play.
Chickadee
Erdrich,
Louise. Chickadee. HarperCollins Children, 2012. ISBN 978-0-06-057790-2
Plot Summary
This endearing
story centers around a family of the Objibwe tribe. Chickadee and his twin
brother Makoons are the best of friends and spend all their time together doing
chores for their family. After playing a trick on a mean old man, his sons take
revenge by kidnapping Chickadee in the middle of the night. As Chickadee
struggles to break free and try to find his way home, his family starts a
massive search for him, including his aunt Two Strike, known for carrying two
“knives between her teeth, two knives in her hands, a knife in her hat and
knives in her socks.” The longer the brothers are separated, the weaker Makoons
falls, waiting for his brother’s return.
Critical
Analysis
Chickadee takes place throughout the Great Plains
but begins in the family wigwam that was “crowded and noisy, and everyone ate
and told stories late into the night” while the boys slept warmly under a
fluffy rabbit-skin blanket. Erdrich paints a warm and rich mental picture of
the family home and does so through cultural accuracy and without fanfare. Food
is also discussed in different parts of the story, adding to the reality of the
time period. “…picked through some manoomin, wild rice…She boiled the last of
their meat over a small fire” p. 3 and as the family settles into a new log
cabin home, Makoons and his cousin whittle fishhooks from wood and fished so
they could bake them in a fire, “seasoned with maple sugar.” p. 111 These
descriptions give enough detail to be interesting and yet not overwhelming the
reader with superfluous information.
Chickadee
ponders his namesake and wonders why he was named after a small bird. After his
grandmother reminds him that small things have great power and illustrates all
the ways the chickadee survives and cares for others, Chickadee finds honor in
his namesake. Erdrich takes great care in incorporating the Ojibwe culture
without preaching it.
The Sisters and
priest found in Chickadee are portrayed as “white saviors” bent on
saving the souls of Chickadee and members of the Ojibwe tribe. When the nuns
stumble upon Chickadee, they even view their timing as a blessing to find the
poor and filthy savage in order to save him even if “he could kill us in our
sleep” p. 87. Chickadee and his family need help reuniting with one another but
have their own customs that do not involve Christianity. In fact, Mother
Anthony is cruel and treats Chickadee roughly and without compassion.
Many words in the
Anishinabeg language are used during the story and their meanings can be
interpreted from context clues and also through the use of the glossary at the
end of the book. The author’s note states that Ojijbwemowin was a spoken
language so the spelling in the story are done phonetically. Bizindaan,
Nashke, gaawiin mashi and miigwech are all terms of the Ojibwe people that
readers encounter in just the first twelve pages of Chickadee. Incorporating
these terms gives the reader the ability to see and hear authentic language
while drawing the reader in.
Review
Excerpts
School
Library Journal: “Erdrich's
storytelling is masterful. All of the characters, even minor ones, are
believable and well developed, and small pencil drawings add to the story's
charm. The northern Minnesota setting is vividly described, and information
about Ojibwe life and culture is seamlessly woven into every page.”
“Chickadee.” School
Library Journal 58.9 (2012): 143. Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed
October 16, 2020).
Booklist: “In 1866, when Omakayas’ son, Chickadee,
eight, is kidnapped, his twin, Makoons, and his family take off across the
cold, snowy Great Plains to find Chickadee, who escapes his captors and then
encounters white English settlers, including a kind priest who wants to save
Chickadee’s soul, and racist Christians, who view Indians as pagan “filthy
savages.”
“Chickadee.” Booklist
108.22 (2012): 76. Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed October 16, 2020).
Awards
·
Scott
O’Dell Award – winner 2013
·
Junior
Library Guild Selection – elementary selection 2013
·
CCBC
Choices – selection 2013
Connections
·
Chickadee is the fourth book in the Birchbark
House series and readers follow the family though several generations. Discuss genealogy
research methods and then create a family tree for Chickadee’s family.
·
Create
a missing persons poster for Chickadee. What physical and personality traits
would you list?
·
The
illustrations in Chickadee help the reader to better understand the
story. Create your own pencil illustration for one event in the book.
House
of Purple Cedar
Bibliography
Tingle,
Tim. House of Purple Cedar. Cinco Puntos Press, 2014. ISBN 978-1-935955-24-5
Plot Summary
House of
Purple Cedar revolves
around a Choctaw family and their live in Skullyville. Rose, a young Native
American, discovers racism at a young age as her Choctaw boarding school is purposefully
burned down and twenty lives are lost. A trip into town with her grandfather,
Amafo, turns violent when he is attacked by the white town marshal. Amafo makes
the decision to not fight violence with violence but takes a stand against the
marshal and exposes his evil ways that have been ignored for far too long by
the townspeople. Amafo seeks help from Maggie, a one-legged store clerk who has
her own problems with a demanding boss and a love affair with a felon.
Spirituality and religion intertwine with mystical elements of protection,
especially in the form of a panther that seems to be the spirit of Rose’s
grandmother, Pokoni.
Critical
Analysis
House of
Purple Cedar offers a
balanced look into the Choctaw culture by displaying a variety of social
attributes. After Amafo is hit with a board by the marshal, many of the other
Choctaws want to take punitive revenge on Marshal Hardwicke and yet, because of
Amafo’s kind demeanor and thoughtfulness over the situation, he decides to employ
a different tactic. He wishes to expose the evil within the Nahullo man by
following the path of forgiveness and approaching the situation with patience.
Humor also
plays a small role in this work of literary fiction. The pastor’s children
often run wild. and at one point. steal a baby Jesus from the Nativity. They
bury it so they can see if He truly rises from the dead! In another scene, one
of the pastor’s sons is sprayed in the face by a skunk. These comedic acts
lighten the sometimes-heavier mood of social injustices that occur against the
Choctaw people.
Rose’s family
attends church each week and the church families rely on one another. While
Bible verses are quoted and hymnal songs are sung, there are also mystical
elements that appear. After the death of Rose’s grandmother, Pokoni, a wild
panther is spotted during various times of danger. When Marshal Hardwicke is
determined to show the Choctaws who is in charge, and mistakes the pastor’s
daughter for Rose, he ties Berta Jean to a tree while he goes to find something
with which to kill her. Upon his return, Hardwicke is attacked by a panther and
yet Berta Jean is unharmed. On a different night, Rose is traveling with her
mother and younger brother when they are seemingly stalked by a panther on
their way home. After gaining safety inside their home, they realize that the
panther was offering protection after they were followed by Hardwicke, who
wished them harm. Rose understands that she gained “the sight” from Pokoni and
can see spirits who still surround them.
As Hardwicke’s
domestic violence toward his wife becomes obvious, the Choctaw people surround
Ona Mae, offering her protection, and eventually an alibi. It is clear that the
Choctaw people look after one another and are a tight-knit group, as seen when
they lend help to Amafo and later, Ona Mae.
Review
Excerpts
Kirkus Review:
“Tingle writes of cultures clashing, certainly, but hatred from Nahullos
(whites) like Hardwicke is counterbalanced by the goodwill of others like John
Burleson, railroad stationmaster, and one-legged store clerk Maggie Johnston.
Despite assimilating elements of white culture, including Christianity,
Tingle's Choctaws maintain mystical connections to the land and its creatures.”
“House of
Purple Cedar.” Kirkus
Reviews, November 2013. Novelist, EBSCOhost (accessed October
24, 2020).
“Tall tales
and fabulous characters intersperse with a story that unfolds, highlighting the
racial tension and violence that festers in the Marshall. Told in retrospect by
Rose, this tale will transport readers back to the dusty plains where life is
hard, and where racism allows acts that can scar a town, even as it brings it
closer together.”
“House of
Purple Cedar.” School Library Journal 60.10 (2014): 127. Novelist,
EBSCOhost, (accessed October 24, 2020).
Awards
·
American
Youth Indian Literature Award – winner 2016
·
CCBC
Choices – selection 2015
·
Notable
Books for a Global Society – selection 2015
Connections
·
Plan
a field trip to the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C. in tandem
with the social studies department.
·
In
groups, visit https://www.choctawnation.com/history-culture and choose one aspect of Choctaw life
to give a brief synopsis on for the class. Include important facts, people and
two interesting facts.
·
Hymnal
lyrics were often used in the House of Purple Cedar. Choose one passage
that includes a hymnal and research the history of it including an analysis of
why you believe the author chose that hymnal and its significance in the novel.
