Red Bird Danced - Dawn Quigley

\nWith lyrical verse and powerful emotion, Dawn Quigley (Ojibwe) tells the story of urban Native kids who find strength in connection with those who came before and in the hope that lets them take flight. \n \nAriel and Tomah have lived in the city's intertribal housing complex all their lives. But for both of them, this Dagwaagin (Autumn) season is different than any before.\n \nFrom his bench outside the front door of his building, Tomah watches his community move around him. He is better at making people laugh than he is at schoolwork, but often it feels like his neighbor Ariel is the only one who really sees him, even in her sadness. \n \nAriel has always danced ballet because of her Auntie Bineshiinh and loves the way dance makes her feet hover above the ground like a bird. But ever since Auntie went missing, Ariel's dancing doesn't feel like flying.\n \nAs the seasons change and the cold of winter gives way to spring's promise, Ariel and Tomah begin to change too as they learn to share the rhythms and stories they carry within themselves.\n \nThis first middle grade novel by Dawn Quigley is a tour de force. She is known for her American Indian Youth Literature Award-winning Jo Jo Makoons chapter book series and young adult novel Apple in the Middle. \n \nGive Red Bird Danced to readers who love Jasmine Warga and Christine Day!\n