by M.L. Smoker and Natalie Peeterse, Illustrated by Dale Ray DeForest
Dynamite Entertainment
4/19/22, paperback
SKU: 9781948206464
If Aiyana hears one more traditional Lakota story, she'll scream! More interested in her social media presence than her Native American heritage, Aiyana is shocked when she suddenly finds herself in a magical world-with no cell coverage!
Pursued by the trickster Raven, Aiyana struggles to get back home, but is helped by friends and allies she meets along the way. Her dangerous journey through the Spirit World tests her fortitude and challenges her to embrace her Lakota heritage. But will it be enough to defeat the cruel and powerful Raven?
Target Age: 8 to 12
Review:
"Having stories such as this is vital on multiple levels. Not only do they provide diverse stories told by authentic voices, but they also help readers who may be struggling with their identity learn to accept who they are. For indigenous readers, there is a true reflection of themselves and their culture, and for those who are not indigenous, they have a hero to connect with and learn from." - The Beat
About the Contributors:
M.L. Smoker is member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes, poet M.L. Smoker earned a BA at Pepperdine University and an MFA at the University of Montana, where she received the Richard Hugo Memorial Scholarship. Smoker is the author of the poetry collection Another Attempt at Rescue (2005). With Melissa Kwasny, she co-edited I Go to the Ruined Place: Contemporary Poems in Defense of Global Human Rights (2009). Smoker lives in Helena, Montana, where she works in the Indian Education Division of the Office of Public Instruction.
Natalie Peeterse is the co-author of the graphic novel Thunderous. Her poetry chapbook Black Birds : Blue Horse, An Elegy won the Gold Line Press Poetry Prize in 2011. A second poetry chapbook, Dreadful : Luminosity, Letters, was published by Educe Press in the spring of 2017.
Dale Ray DeForest grew up in the 4-Corners area of the Navajo Nation, around Shiprock and Farmington, New Mexico, graduated High School from the Navajo Preparatory School in 1995 then studied 2-D Arts and Photography at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, where he graduated IAIA in the summer of 2000. Dale employees high-contrast and thick lines to convey bold imagery matched with bright and vivid colors. Artwork that can be used to not only express, but captivate and manipulate thought and action has always been my goal as an artist.