Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

She’s an inspiration

Daughter of the Light-Footed People: The Story of Indigenous Marathon Champion Lorena Ramírez by Belen Medin

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I have read about women who ran in skirts because it was more modest. People who ran barefooted. And athletes who honor their religion by wearing a hajib. And yes, these things are controversial, but also amazing and inspiring. And Daughter of the Light-Footed People: The Story of Indigenous Marathon Champion Lorena Ramírez is also inspiring. Ramirez is from an extremely impoverished area of Mexico. But due to the life her people lead,  they are able to build up the strength and stamina required to […]

I promise there is pudding under the whipped cream (I needed a snack break)

Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection by Matt Dembicki,

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I would like to compare the newer edition (2021) of Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection to the one I read (2010) as some of the text used does not reflect modern expressions or what is considered politically correct. However, the afterwards of the editor Matt Dembicki, shows the process of working with the authors, storytellers and artists and the care taken to represent the people. This is a good book to teach how cultures express themselves (language flow fits cultural influences), plus how […]

New Old Food

New Native Kitchen by Chef Freddie Bitsoie, James O. Fraioli

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Bingo 15: Bird There’s really only two birds in New Native Kitchen, and it’s the three places duck gets mentioned and a handful of chicken recipes. I would also say that the phrase “birds of a feather” applies here because it is intended to introduce people to Indigenous cultures from across the country (sort of ironic but not in a bad way), and there’s a lot of emphasis on the importance of community, which given that this is a cookbook, is not that surprising. Although […]

laughing to keep from crying

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans and Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff

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A book to make you howl with both laughter and fury, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem gushes with humor, outrage, determination, and life. Kliph Nesteroff has worked with a large and knowledgeable team to document the past, track the current, and look towards the future of Native American comedy. Framed around a beloved punchline from Charlie Hill, the first Native American comedian to be featured on The Tonight Show, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, is both a knee-slapper and a heart-breaker. I […]

Civilization sucks

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

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CBR11bingo: Youths! Julie of the Wolves is the story of a 13-year-old Eskimo girl in Alaska named Miyax who is torn between the “old ways” of the traditional Eskimo people and the new ways that are taking hold of the larger communities in Alaska. When the novel opens, Miyax is lost on Alaska’s North Slope, having run away from home. Hungry and desperate, she attempts to communicate with a wolf pack, ingratiating herself to them until they accept her as one of their own. The […]

Hold on tight to your dreams

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

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Cbr11bingo Own voices Author Cherie Dimaline is a Canadian Metis writer, that is, her heritage is a mix of Indigenous American and European. In The Marrow Thieves, she imagines a grim future where environmental disasters, both man-made and natural, and disease have broken the Earth and most of its people. Government, science and religious leaders turn to Indigenous people for survival, but not in a way that involves respect and collaboration. As they have done throughout history, they aim to take something vitally important from […]



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