Gabrielle Tayac

After reading Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma - the fourth entry in the My World: Young Native Americans Today series, recently selected by the the American Indian Library Association as an American Indian Youth Literature Award winner - I was so impressed that I immediately went in search of other titles in the series. Meet Naiche introduces a young boy of the Piscataway people of Maryland, detailing his mixed Piscataway and Apache heritage, and setting out both the traditional and contemporary activities that make up his days.

Like Meet Christopher, this was written by a Native American adult relative of the child being introduced, and was profusely illustrated with color photographs taken by a Native photographer (John Harrington is of the Siletz people). I like that these books emphasize the contemporary presence of Native American peoples in the United States, and that they highlight the lives of real native children. Informative and engaging, they will teach young readers a little about the Native nations and customs in question; but more importantly, they will demonstrate that while Native children may come from different cultures, they have the same interests - from playing sports at school, to learning about computers - as children everywhere. Highly recommended to any young readers (or the librarians and teachers responsible for putting books in their hands) who want a realistic, non-romantic view of contemporary Native American children.… (meer)