Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
Three Indigenous authors have won honors from the American Library Association this year for children’s and young adult literature.
Tlingit & Haida author-illustrator Michaela Goade — a previous winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal — received a Caldecott Honor Book citation for her children’s book, “Berry Song,” a sentimental celebration of the land she knows and the powerful wisdom of elders.
She joins two other Indigenous authors who received honor book citations for the library association’s Stonewall Awards: author Jen Ferguson, Métis, for her debut young adult novel, “The Summer of Bitter and Sweet,” and Native Hawaiian author Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, who co-authored “Kapaemahu.”
SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY.
Goade told ICT she wants to share her joy of her southeast Alaska homeland, Lingít Aaní.
“I love to illustrate the land and how this place makes me feel, and hopefully communicate that awe to others,” Goade told ICT. “I don’t necessarily set out with the intention of making things feel dreamlike. It’s just how I’ve always viewed Lingít Aaní, southeast Alaska … It has always inspired in me a child’s sense of wonder.”
The American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards recognize the top books, digital media, video and audio books for children and young adults with special recognition that includes the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards.
The awards were announced at the association’s LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, held Jan. 27-30 in New Orleans.
‘Berry Song’
“Berry Song,” is Goade’s first book as author and illustrator.
Goade has illustrated other books as well, including “I Sang You Down from the Stars,” written by Tasha Spillett-Sumner; “Encounter,” by Brittany Luby; and “Shanyaak’utlaax: Salmon Boy,” written by Johnny Marks, Hans Chester, David Katzeek, Nora Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer.
Over the last several years, Goade’s work has focused on Indigenous KidLit.
A member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, her Tlingit name is Sheit.een and she is of the Kiks.ádi Clan (Raven/Frog) from Sheet’ká. She was raised on the beaches and in the rainforest of southeast Alaska, on traditional Tlingit lands.
Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade’s first self-authored and illustrated picture book Berry Song is a sentimental celebration of the land she knows and the powerful wisdom of elders
The book tells of a young girl and her grandmother gathering gifts from the earth. There is salmon from the stream, herring eggs from the ocean, and in the forest, a world of berries – salmonberries, cloudberries, blueberries, nagoonberries, huckleberries, snowberries, strawberries and crowberries.
Through the seasons, she and her grandmother sing to the land as the land sings to them, forging a deep kinship with the earth and generations that came before them.
“I try to put those feelings of gratitude, connection, and respect into the art, in the hopes that it encourages similar feelings in readers young and old,” Goade told ICT. “I also find inspiration from traditional Lingít storytelling, where you’ll find blurred lines between what we today call reality and the supernatural.”
Goade said the story went through many changes.
“‘Berry Song’ went through so many iterations and changed dramatically along the way,” she said. “It wasn’t even about berries in the beginning! At first I struggled to find my voice and the heart of the story. The writing felt forced and tried to do too much. I think one misconception about picture books is that they are easy to write because they are short. But that economy of language is what makes it so tough. Also, the interplay between text and art poses some unique challenges.”
She finally found her voice.
“It wasn’t until I centered the writing on something I truly love – berry picking – that the story began to find its rhythm,” she said. “That personal connection allowed me to explore, learn, and bring more meaningful depth to the story.”
She said she’s still a bit self-conscious about claiming the title of “author.”
“I’m no stranger to imposter syndrome as an artist,” Goade said. “But I really felt out of my depth at times, even though my wonderful editor Susan Rich and book team helped me every step of the way. Receiving a Caldecott Honor for ‘Berry Song’ is very exciting and affirming on a personal level. It tells me I’m on the right path.”
She hopes the recognition can help other Indigenous writers as well.
“When books like ‘Berry Song’ get recognition, I think it helps increase visibility of all children’s literature by Indigenous authors and illustrators,” she said. “I’m just one bookmaker among many in the talented and supportive Native KidLit community, and the thought that this honor might help more Native creators get book contracts is what it’s all about. Representation is so important, and we need more books by Native authors and illustrators in the world.”
The book has drawn high praise.
“Tapping into themes of people’s connection to nature — and nature’s to people — the volume crucially invites readers to recognize this intersection,” according to the starred review in Publishers Weekly.
“Told in rhythm, song, and narrative, the language is rich and evocative —perfect for early elementary readers,” wrote the School Library Journal.
“Berry Song,” is published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
‘The Summer of Bitter and Sweet’
Ferguson’s debut young adult novel, “The Summer of Bitter and Sweet,” was cited as an Honor Book in the Stonewall awards for young adult literature.
The Stonewall Book Awards recognize books for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender experience.
Ferguson is an activist, feminist and auntie with a Ph.D, who teaches at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She lives on Gabrielino Tongva territory.
She has said that writing, teaching and beading are all political acts.
”At the heart of the novel is a family and a community,” she told author and blogger Cynthia Leitich Smith. “At the heart of the novel are the people and the land and the relationships between them.”
The novel tells the story of a Métis girl, Lou, in Canada who learns to deal with the issues she is facing.
“As the story opens, Lou is secretive and dealing with all the things in her life alone — even though she has supportive uncles, her mom, and her best friend at her side,” Ferguson told Smith. “As Lou’s tumultuous summer moves forward, she reconnects to her kin and her community to build healthy, thriving relationships.”
The book was also a finalist for a William C. Morris Award as a debut book for teens by a first-time author. It is published by Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
‘Kapaemahu’
“Kapaemahu” was named an Honor Book for the Stonewall Award for children’s literature.
It tells the story of an Indigenous legend of how four people who are two-spirit, or māhū, brought healing arts from Tahiti to Hawai’i and imbued their powers in four giant boulders on Waikiki Beach.
The book is written by Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, who also wrote and co-directed a 2020 animated short film by the same name. Wong-Kalu narrates the film.
Wong-Kalu is a Native Hawaiian, is māhū and a transgender woman. The book was illustrated by Daniel Sousa and is published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT’s free newsletter.