First American Indian Youth Literature Award winners announced, honored at JCLC

The American Indian Library Association (AILA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce the first recipients of its American Indian Youth Literature Award. This new literary award was created as a way to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians. Books selected to receive the award present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.

The award is presented in each of three categories-picture book, middle school, and young adult-and each winner receives $500 and a commemorative plaque, which will be presented during the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color’s (JCLC) Children’s Luncheon program in Dallas on October 13 at noon.

This year's winners are:

"Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story," by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, illustrated by Sam Sandoval, and published by the University of Nebraska Press is the winner for the picture book category. Accompanied by rich watercolor illustrations, the text relates a culturally vital tale from the Salish people of Montana about the significance of the gift of fire and how it should be respected.

   Louise Erdrich is the winner of the middle-school award for "The Birchbark House," published by
   Hyperion Books for Children. Setting her book in the middle 19th century, Erdrich paints a
   detailed portrait of Ojibwa life through the experiences of 7-year-old Omakayas who lives on the
   Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker on Lake Superior. "The Birchbark House" was Erdrich’s
   first novel for young readers, and the first book she has illustrated. She is a member of the
   Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa and lives with her two daughters in Minnesota.

 

 

 

 

 

   The young adult award is "Hidden Roots," written by Joseph Bruchac and published by  
   Scholastic Press. The book is set within the historical framework of the Vermont Eugencis 
   Program, a Native American sterilization program in the 1930s, and tells the story of the
   haunting effects of this shameful and tragic deed on one of the Abenaki families victimized by
   it. Author of more than 70 books for adults and children, Bruchac is of Abenaki ancestry and is a
   nationally recognized professional storyteller living in Greenfield Center, New York.

** Award Criteria ** 

The American Indian Library Association (AILA)
The American Indian Library Association (AILA) is a membership action group that addresses the library-related needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives.  AILA was founded in 1979 in conjunction with the White House Pre-Conference on Indian Library and Information Services on or Near Reservations.   AILA members are individuals and institutions interested in the development of programs to improve library and information services in all types of libraries that serve Indian communities. 

To learn more about the AILA please visit http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/aila.html