I received The Sacred Stone Camp today and it may require a discussion about how we define historical fiction in terms of years. This takes place during the Standing Rock Protests aka Dakota Access Pipeline Protests in 2016. I appreciate that this is an Own Voices title as the author is Indigenous and was born and raised in the Coast Salish Territory in Washington. The illustrator is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. The book is very well done for a picture book, but it does run into the issue that we’ve previously discussed in if it can measure up to a chapter book. The end includes notes about the actual event and a glossary of Indigenous words that were used in the text.
-Lisa
I agree completely with Lisa. The Sacred Stone Camp raises two familiar but important conversations for our committee: how we define the “historical” time frame, and the challenge of evaluating a picture book alongside chapter books. The 2016 Standing Rock Protests certainly fall within the realm of recent history, and as we’ve noted before, contemporary historical events can be just as culturally significant and worthy of recognition, especially when presented through an Own Voices lens. I’ve reached out again to theScott O’Dell rep, but still waiting on the novel turned graphic novel quandry☹
ReplyDeleteLike you, I really appreciate the authenticity brought by the Indigenous author and illustrator, as well as the thoughtful back matter and glossary. At the same time, I share your concern about how a picture book competes on the same scale as a full-length novel, particularly when considering depth, complexity, and development—criteria that can be inherently harder for a picture book to meet simply due to format.
I think we have some great options for the award without including this one (or the graphic novels), but hopefully we will get a reply.
Mary Ann