About this item
The Cherokee community is grateful for blessings and challenges that each season brings. This is modern Native American life as told by an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation.The word otsaliheliga (oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah) is used by members of the Cherokee Nation to express gratitude. Beginning in the fall with the new year and ending in summer, follow a full Cherokee year of celebrations and experiences. Written by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, this look at one group of Native Americans is appended with a glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary, originally created by Sequoyah."A gracious, warm, and loving celebration of community and gratitude" - Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW"This informative and authentic introduction to a thriving ancestral and ceremonial way of life is perfect for holiday and family sharing" - School Library Journal STARRED REVIEW
About the Author
Traci Sorell writes award-winning fiction and nonfiction for young people of all ages. Her debut nonfiction picture book We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 2018) , won an American Indian Youth Literature Award (AIYLA) - Picture Book Honor, a Sibert Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor. Other titles include: At the Mountain's Base, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Kokila, 2019) , an AIYLA - Picture Book Honor; Indian No More, co-authored with Charlene Willing McManis (Tu Books, 2019) , won the AIYLA Middle Grade category and 2020 Global Read Aloud for Upper Elementary; Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Millbrook, 2021) , an Orbis Pictus Honor; and, We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know, illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 2021) . A former federal Indian law attorney and policy advocate, Sorell is a 2021-22 Tulsa Artist Fellow and Cherokee Nation citizen who lives on her tribe's reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. For more about Traci, all of her books and accompanying teachers' guides, visit www.tracisorell.com.
