Publishers Weekly
★ 08/19/2024
In 1885, armed federal agents stormed the Ponca reservation. Though panicked parents tried to hide their children, four-year-old Little Moon There Are No Stars Tonight was one of several Native youths taken from their families. The children were transported hundreds of miles to the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School in Oklahoma; there, they were cut off from their culture, and many given new, “American” names. Via urgent, intimate-feeling first-person prose, Jones (Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters), Little Moon’s grandson, chronicles the history of Chilocco from its opening in 1884 to its closure in 1980. Through extensive research and interviews with key figures, the author details the goal of North American residential schools (“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man”), their strict rules, and the inhumane and traumatic conditions under which the children lived. Quotes and stories from Chilocco survivors—as well as relevant personal experiences from his childhood that Jones threads throughout—unravel heartbreaking situations and further deepen the text’s visceral and empathetic depiction of this horrific chapter in U.S. history. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Prasie for Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of the American Indian Boarding Schools
"Stealing Little Moon is both a moving family saga and an expertly told true story that all Americans should know." —Steve Sheinkin, New York Times bestselling author of Bomb and Undefeated
★ "A timely, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful memoir that powerfully illustrates the resilience and enduring spirit of the Native American people." — Booklist, starred review★ "Via urgent, intimate-feeling first-person prose, Jones, Little Moon’s grandson, chronicles the history of Chilocco from its opening in 1884 to its closure in 1980. Through extensive research and interviews with key figures, the author details the goal of “all residential boarding schools”(“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man”), their strict rules, and the inhumane and traumatic conditions under which the children lived. Quotes and stories from Chilocco survivors—as well as relevant personal experiences from his childhood that Jones threads throughout—unravel heartbreaking situations and further deepen the text’s visceral and empathetic depiction of this horrific chapter in U.S. history." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “In this thoughtful, rich examination of intergenerational trauma, author Jones of the Ponca Nation in Oklahoma follows four generations of his family who attended — forcibly or voluntarily — the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School . . . There is a careful balance here of historical context and intimate family history, and Jones must walk a fine line in portraying both. Some of his family members excelled at and even enjoyed some amount of their education (Chilocco was considered one of the less severe schools), but their success in no way redeems or negates the overall systemic cruelty. ” —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Book, starred review
"Jones' truth-telling and the family experiences he weaves throughout will surely ignite a fire deep within the souls of Native youth today." — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories
BCCB Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award
Oklahoma Book Award Winner: Young Adult
Kirkus Reviews Best Middle-Grade Anthologies of 2021
New York Public Library's Best Books for Kids List selection
★ "Valuable both for its broad range and shivery appeal." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ "As awesome as these stories are, what makes this book a real treasure is the context that Jones provides for each tale... It is an intimate and enriching reading experience that will be a boon to library shelves." — Booklist, starred review
"Full of alarming phenomena — flying heads, skeletons that leave bloody footprints, flesh-eating vampire babies — but the telling is done in such a way that we experience the stories as eerie anecdotes and folktales rather than as disturbers of our ease... With its intermittent chills, this collection will leave readers ages 8-12 with a strong sense of the supernatural as perceived and recalled in Native American communities." — Wall Street Journal
"This crowd-pleasing anthology... [is] delivered without macabre flourish but packing a dramatic wallop." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"A frightening ride via Native American storytelling... add to your library for a diverse cultural representation of scary stories." — School Library Journal
"The narrators, Wes Studi and DeLanni Studi, both members of the Cherokee Nation... imbue their delivery with the appropriate amount of tension, suspense, and excitement, and their steady, well-paced voices will make listeners feel as if they are sitting around a fire with master storytellers... A great recommendation for young listeners who appreciate legends and myths and are looking for something that will send shivers up their spines." — Booklist, audio review
"Illustrated with pen-and-ink illustrations, the book has the distinction of added to the coterie of nightmares accessible to your children. They'll love it... Spine-chilling and horrific by turns, here's the book to hand to the kid looking for some scares and thrills." — School Library Journal's A Fuse 8 Production
Kirkus Reviews
2024-07-19
Relays the heart-wrenching experiences of the American Indian boarding school era.
This comprehensive and complex text by Jones (Ponca) follows four generations of his family’s education at Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, starting with the experience of his grandmother. In 1885, when she was just 4, government officials stole her from her family and drove her a great distance away by wagon for boarding school. Ponca Tribe members had already been forcibly relocated from their Nebraska homelands by the U.S. government to Oklahoma. Jones explains how the boarding schools erased Native culture from students’ lives to assimilate them into dominant white society. He details the cultural genocide and displacement of Native peoples, describing the poverty and other lingering effects through subsequent generations. Throughout the text, which combines general historical background with his family’s story, readers learn about the abuse of and systematic attacks on American Indian people over the century that the boarding schools were in existence. The density of the information included requires some patience from readers, but Jones also offers hope, describing the revitalization of Native culture and people’s ability to live in two worlds despite the U.S. government’s history of legal restraints on sovereign Native nations. Text boxes provide extensive context, but their placement can distract from the flow of the narrative. Jones’ truth-telling and the family experiences he weaves throughout will surely ignite a fire deep within the souls of Native youth today.
Presents harsh realities and thought-provoking content critical to understanding U.S. history. (bibliography, photo credits)(Nonfiction. 9-14)
