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Eagle Drums

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by Nasug̊raq Rainey Hopson

**A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK**

A magical middle grade debut about the origin story of the Iñupiaq Messenger Feast, a Native Arctic tradition, with beautifully hand-drawn full color art throughout.

As his family prepares for winter, a young, skilled hunter must travel up the mountain to collect obsidian for knapping–the same mountain where his two older brothers died.

When he reaches the mountaintop, he is immediately confronted by a terrifying eagle god named Savik. Savik gives the boy a choice: follow me or die like your brothers.

What comes next is a harrowing journey to the home of the eagle gods and unexpected lessons on the natural world, the past that shapes us, and the community that binds us.

Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson is part cultural folklore, part origin myth about the Messenger’s Feast – which is still celebrated in times of bounty among the Iñupiaq. It’s the story of how Iñupiaq people were given the gift of music, song, dance, community, and everlasting tradition. Hopson’s full-page illustrations and spot art, rendered in colored pencil, accompany this powerful story.

Find it in our Young Adult Collection here.

Rez Ball

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by Byron Graves

This compelling debut novel by new talent Byron Graves tells the relatable, high-stakes story of a young athlete determined to play like the hero his Ojibwe community needs him to be.

These days, Tre Brun is happiest when he is playing basketball on the Red Lake Reservation high school team—even though he can’t help but be constantly gut-punched with memories of his big brother, Jaxon, who died in an accident.

When Jaxon’s former teammates on the varsity team offer to take Tre under their wing, he sees this as his shot to represent his Ojibwe rez all the way to their first state championship. This is the first step toward his dream of playing in the NBA, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him.

But stepping into his brother’s shoes as a star player means that Tre can’t mess up. Not on the court, not at school, and not with his new friend, gamer Khiana, who he is definitely not falling in love with.

After decades of rez teams almost making it, Tre needs to take his team to state. Because if he can live up to Jaxon’s dreams, their story isn’t over yet. 

This book is published by Heartdrum, an imprint that publishes high-quality, contemporary stories about Indigenous young people in the United States and Canada.

Find it in our collection here.

Sacajawea

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by Randy’L He-Dow Teton

A graphic novel for children ages 7 to 10. Sacajawea was a brilliant, multilingual Shoshone girl who was torn from her home at a young age. In 1804, she set out with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide across hundreds of miles of unmapped land to reach the Pacific Ocean. Almost 200 years later, she became the first Indigenous woman to appear on a US coin. This is her story.

Find it in our collection here.

Fire on the Mountain

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The Story of the 10th Mountain Division 

Enjoy this award winning film, then join staff at the Wood River Museum of History + Culture for a reception and to view the Wall of Honor installation created for Veterans Day.

Thursday, November 14, 2024
5:30pm – 7:00pm
More/register here.

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN celebrates the United State’s indomitable snowmen, the men of the 10th Mountain Division, America’s only mountain and winter warfare troops.

This award winning film is an emotional portrait of the mountain warriors’ creation, grueling training, daring World War II exploits, then focuses on their next 50 years. United by their love of the mountains, the 10th attracted championship skiers & mountaineers.

Their first battle was the spectacular night climb of Italy’s Apennine Riva Ridge where they surprised the Germans on top. That led to a push that ended World War II a week earlier in Italy than the rest of Europe. After the war, they pioneered the United States’ infant ski industry and became the backbone of its outdoor education and conservation movements. Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division include many familiar names and faces from Sun Valley in the 1930s as well as after the war: 

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN comes full circle as it follows members of the 10th Mountain Division on their 1995 re-climb of Riva Ridge. Again, the Germans were waiting on top, but; this time, veterans from the United States, Austria, Germany and Italy, now members of the International Federation of Mountain Soldiers, celebrated a coming together of old foes turned friends and renewed their pledge for world peace.

“Bracing exploits, hearty outdoorsmen powerfully captured on film!” – New York Times

​”Among the best documentaries about skiing ever filmed!” – Snow Country Magazine

Foyer Exhibit: Tiny Art Show

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In November 2024, the Children’s Library hosted a Tiny Art Show for children and teen patrons, which included 28 entries from artists two-fifteen years of age. Patrons browsed the exhibit and voted on their favorites in several categories. All the artists received an award certificate and five were selected for special honors.

The exhibit was moved to the Library’s foyer in December, to further celebrate the creative inspiration of these young artists. The Art Show will be on display through January 2025.

More here.

Book Review: Dinners with Ruth

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Library Assistant Leona Anthony recommends Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg.

Dinners with Ruth

Rarely does a person wake up one morning and decide that she is going to be a trailblazer. Timing, opportunity, and a supportive sisterhood of friends can pivot a hardworking woman with curiosity, determination, and empathy toward a successful career to then open doors for other women in the same field.

Prize-winning reporter Nina Totenberg was a trailblazer for female journalists when women were traditionally offered jobs as secretaries, nurses, and schoolteachers.

In Dinners with Ruth, Nina recounts how her steadfast sisterhood of friends, which included Ruth Bader Ginsburg, thrived and survived because they consistently showed up and cared for one another through life’s highs, lows, and in between. This is an uplifting book filled with devotion, hope and optimism.

In 1975, when Nina walked into National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington, DC, it was a small organization that focused on the daily ninety-minute show, All Things Considered. What primarily stood out to her was that women held important jobs within the organization, and they were helping each other succeed.

While her career as a journalist flourished, it was Nina’s enduring sisterhood of friends who sustained her. This sisterhood enabled Nina to weather through varying stages of her storied career as a DC political reporter from the evolving high courts to the legislative branches and the White House.

Her support group also saw her through the illness and eventual death of her first husband, Floyd Haskell. The simple and caring act of showing up for each other was deeply rooted and abiding. Death eventually dismantles her supportive circle but the unwavering lifelines that Nina and her friends freely gave to one another are remarkable.

One of these lifelines was with Ruth Bader Ginsburg who Nina met in 1971 when both were in New York to attend a legal conference. They met, decided to forgo the conference, hopped in a taxi, went shopping, and talked the rest of the day. This was the first day of a friendship that would span over fifty years. Their unwavering acts of showing up for one another exemplified a level of trust and comfort that enabled their lifelines to thrive for the rest of their days together.

Although Ruth was born more than a decade before Nina, they weathered unforeseen illnesses of their partners and their own aging. The two were tactfully true to each other to enable positive outcomes and redeeming qualities to do their jobs in public and to thrive privately. Showing up matters.

Find it in our collection here.

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