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by Charlene Willing McManis (Author), Traci Sorell (Author), Luisana Duarte Armendáriz (Translator)
American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner - American Indian Library Association
Cuando la tribu Umpqua de Regina es terminada legalmente y su familia debe mudarse de Oregón a Los Ángeles, ella se embarca en una búsqueda para comprender su identidad como india a pesar de estar tan lejos de casa.
When Regina's Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and her family must relocate from Oregon to Los Angeles, she goes on a quest to understand her identity as an Indian despite being so far from home.
La familia de Regina Petit siempre ha sido Umpqua, y vivir en la reserva de la tribu Grand Ronde es todo lo que Regina, de diez años, ha conocido. Su mayor preocupación es que Sasquatch pueda existir en el bosque. Pero cuando el gobierno federal promulga una ley que dice que la tribu de Regina ya no existe, Regina se convierte en "india no más" de la noche a la mañana, a pesar de que vive con su tribu y practica las costumbres tribales, y aunque sus antepasados fueron indígenas durante incontables generaciones.
Ahora que se han visto obligados a abandonar su tierra natal, el padre de Regina inscribe a la familia en el Programa federal de reubicación de indígenas y los traslada a Los Ángeles. Regina encuentra un mundo completamente nuevo en su vecindario en 58th Place. Nunca ha conocido a niños de otras razas, y ellos nunca han conocido a un indio de verdad. Por primera vez en su vida, Regina se enfrenta cara a cara con la crueldad del racismo, personalmente y hacia sus nuevos amigos.
Mientras tanto, su padre cree que si trabaja duro, su familia será tratada como estadounidenses blancos. Pero no es tan fácil. Es 1957, durante la era de los Derechos Civiles, y la familia lucha sin su comunidad tribal ni su tierra. Al menos Regina tiene a su abuela, Chich, y sus historias. Al menos están todos juntos.
En esta conmovedora novela de grado medio basada en la propia historia tribal de la autora de Umpqua, Charlene Willing McManis, Regina debe averiguar: Quién es Regina Petit? Es india, americana o ambas? Y ella y su familia alguna vez estarán bien?
Regina Petit's family has always been Umpqua, and living on the Grand Ronde Tribe's reservation is all ten-year old Regina has ever known. Her biggest worry is that Sasquatch may actually exist out in the forest. But when the federal government enacts a law that says Regina's tribe no longer exists, Regina becomes "Indian no more" overnight--even though she lives with her tribe and practices tribal customs, and even though her ancestors were Indian for countless generations.
Now that they've been forced from their homeland, Regina's father signs the family up for the federal Indian Relocation Program and moves them to Los Angeles. Regina finds a whole new world in her neighborhood on 58th Place. She's never met kids of other races, and they've never met a real Indian. For the first time in her life, Regina comes face-to-face with the viciousness of racism, personally and toward her new friends.
Meanwhile, her father believes that if he works hard, their family will be treated just like white Americans. But it's not that easy. It's 1957, during the Civil Rights era, and the family struggles without their tribal community and land. At least Regina has her grandmother, Chich, and her stories. At least they are all together.
In this moving middle-grade novel drawing upon Umpqua author Charlene Willing McManis's own tribal history, Regina must find out: Who is Regina Petit? Is she Indian, American, or both? And will she and her family ever be okay?
Author Biography
Luisana Duarte Armendáriz grew up on the Juárez, Mexico-El Paso, Texas border. She has lived in places like Boston, the Philippines, Michigan, and Connecticut. Luisana's first middle grade novel Julieta and the Diamond Enigma won the 2018 New Visions Award. She has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Connecticut and sometimes also works as a translator. She loves reading; spending time with her dog, Thalia; and beating her family at Chinese checkers. She lives on the border and teaches English at the University of Texas at El Paso (Go Miners!).
Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books as well as poems for children. Her lyrical story in verse, At the Mountain's Base, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Kokila, 2019), celebrates the bonds of family and the history of history-making women pilots, including Millie Rexroat (Oglala Lakota). Her middle grade novel, Indian No More, with Charlene Willing McManis (Tu Books, 2019), explores the impact of federal termination and relocation policies on an Umpqua family in the 1950s. Traci's debut nonfiction picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 2018), won a Sibert Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor. It also received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, The Horn Book and Shelf Awareness. A former federal Indian law attorney and policy advocate, she is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma where her tribe is located. For more about Traci and her other works, visit www.tracisorell.com.
