Moccasin Thunder: American Indian Stories for Today (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Moccasin Thunder: American Indian Stories for Today Deborah Stevenson Carlson, Lori Marie , ed. Moccasin Thunder: American Indian Stories for Today. HarperCollins, 2005156p Library ed. ISBN 0-06-623959-1$16.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-623957-5$15.99 R Gr. 9-12 Noted anthologist Carlson (Red Hot Salsa, BCCB 4/05, etc.) turns here to contemporary short stories, collecting ten pieces, half of them original, about modern life as a Native American. Though reading sophistication levels vary (some entries were initially published for adult audiences), protagonists for the stories are all young, and settings for stories range from a southwestern boarding school (Joy Harjo's "How to Get to the Planet Venus"), to Canada's Northwest Territories (Richard Van Camp's "The Last Snow of the Virgin Mary"), to Chicago (Susan Power's "Drum Kiss"). Many of the stories are imbued with sadness—accounts of lost and deceiving families, straitened circumstances, missed opportunities—yet some of those offer tenderness and insight (the standout of the collection, Sherman Alexie's story of a boy's yearning for his father, shines with humor and resilience as well as loss), and several speak eloquently and directly to the power of storytelling that's accessible even to young tellers of tales. Individual stories could be shared as readalouds with younger audiences or the collection used as a resource rather than a straight-through read, while older readers will simply appreciate the concentration of literary experience. Author biographies are included. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois