In 1980 life is hard on the Tuscarora Reservation in upstate New York, and some of the teenagers feel they have fewer options than they'd like: Carson Mastick dreams of forming a rock band, and Maggi Bokoni longs to create her own conceptual artwork instead of the traditional beadwork that her family sells to tourists--but tensions are rising between the reservation and the surrounding communities, and somehow in the confusion of politics and growing up Carson and Maggi have to make a place for themselves. - (Baker & Taylor)
As the tension between those on the Tuscarora Reservation and the surrounding community grows, teens Carson Mastick and Maggi Bokoni dream of exploring their own artistic dreams beyond the reservation. - (Baker & Taylor)
NPR Best Books of the Year * Boston Globe Best Books of the Year * School Library Journal Best Books of the Year * Chicago Public Library Best Books of the Year
A powerful new book from Eric Gansworth, author of If I Ever Get Out of Here, that speaks the truth on race, relationships, and rock from two unforgettable perspectives.
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Scholastic)
NPR Best Books of the Year * Boston Globe Best Books of the Year * School Library Journal Best Books of the Year * Chicago Public Library Best Books of the YearA powerful new book from Eric Gansworth, author of If I Ever Get Out of Here, that speaks the truth on race, relationships, and rock from two unforgettable perspectives.
Carson Mastick is entering his senior year of high school and desperate to make his mark, on the reservation and off. A rock band -- and winning Battle of the Bands -- is his best shot. But things keep getting in the way. Small matters like the lack of an actual band, or his brother getting shot by the racist owner of a local restaurant.Maggi Bokoni has just moved back to the reservation with her family. She's dying to stop making the same traditional artwork her family sells to tourists (conceptual stuff is cooler), stop feeling out of place in her new (old) home, and stop being treated like a child. She might like to fall in love for the first time too.Carson and Maggi -- along with their friend Lewis -- will navigate loud protests, even louder music, and first love in this stirring novel about coming together in a world defined by difference. - (
Scholastic)
Eric Gansworth is Lowery Writer-in-Residence and Professor of English at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and was recently NEH Distinguished Visiting Professor at Colgate University. An enrolled Onondaga, he was born and raised at the Tuscarora Indian Nation, just outside Niagara Falls, New York. His debut novel for young readers, If I Ever Get Out of Here, was a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick and an American Indian Library Association Young Adult Honor selection, and he is the author of numerous acclaimed books for adults. Eric is also a visual artist, generally incorporating paintings as integral elements into his written work. His work has been widely shown and anthologized and has appeared in Iroquois Art: Power and History, The Kenyon Review, and Shenandoah, among other places, and he was recently selected for inclusion in Lit City, a Just Buffalo Literary Center public arts project celebrating Buffalo's literary legacy. Please visit his website at ericgansworth.com. - (Scholastic)
Booklist Reviews
There are no easy life choices for Carson, Maggi, and Lewis as their lives intersect on their reservation.Carson has glory-filled dreams of getting off the reservation by winning a bandcompetition yet has a hard time being committed to the work needed for theidea to succeed. He also wishes that Maggi, who has moved back from the city,will give his budding first-love feelings a chance. Although Maggi finds the bandfun and Carson a great friend, she is committed to exploring what arelationship would look like with white 30-year-old Jim, who is heavily pursuing heraffections. Though the characters are struggling personally, they are all unitedagainst a restaurant called Custer's Last Stand, and soon the community members come together tomake their own stand against a racist restaurant owner who proudly display his"No Indians" sign. Readers will find a continuing cast of characters fromGansworth's If I Ever Get Out of Here (2013) while also getting amusic-laced perspective of young, contemporary Native Americans' struggles. Grades 10-12. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
