[Music]
>> Meg Medina: Hello. Today
I have with me Traci Sorrell.
She is the author of this book,
this book and this book.
Let's see what Traci
has to say about books.
Traci, welcome to the
Library of Congress.
>> Traci Sorrell: Wado.
Thank you, Meg, for having me.
I'm delighted to be here.
>> Meg Medina: Oh my gosh,
you are one of my favorite authors.
So this is going to be just
a delight to chat with you.
One thing I ask all my authors
when they come on this show
is to book talk a book that
really grabbed them by the heart.
So what did you bring to
Book Talk for me today?
>> Traci Sorrell: Well, I brought
"Child of the Flower-Song People:
Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua"
written by Gloria Amescua, who won
a Pura Belpré honor for this book.
And of course, noted illustrator
Duncan Tonatiuh,
who also has won a Pura Belpré
award for his art and his books,
and then also the Cyber Medal.
I love this book.
>> Meg Medina: Why?
>> Traci Sorrell: So many books
are needed to combat the erasure
and invisibility of indigenous people.
And you see that because in
K-12 curriculum, after about 1900,
it's like poof, gone, disappeared.
I'm like, what?
You know, indigenous
people are still here.
And so this wonderful story is set
in Mexico, south of Mexico City.
It starts in Milpa Alta.
Luce is a young girl growing up
there with other Nahua,
you know, families.
The Mexican Revolution comes along.
Her father is killed, and
her family ends up relocating
her mother and sisters. And
she ends up relocating to
the Santa Anita neighborhood
in Mexico City.
Well, what is on the outskirts then.
Now it's definitely
part of the city.
But she has this dream
from childhood, right?
To be able to teach her language.
She grows up teaching her language,
learning her cultural traditions.
And that is not something, of course,
that indigenous people
are expected to be doing.
She's supposed to assimilate
into the larger culture.
Well, she wins a beauty contest
in her neighborhood, and that
leads her then to become
a model for famous
artists, photographers, Diego Rivera.
So her image becomes the face of
Mexican art in the early 20th century.
She's on murals.
She's in all these paintings.
Like I say, famous photography.
And she gets them connected
with one of the professors
who teaches at university.
And she does get to teach, and
she teaches her language at
a couple of universities
in Mexico City.
Her traditions, I mean, it's
just incredible, right, to have
that visibility and not only for,
you know, Nahua people and
her story, but also her just tenacity.
I always when I visit young
people in schools, I say,
you know what? There's many ways
to get somewhere in the world.
And she's a perfect
example of that, right?
Her childhood dream did not
work in the way that many people
would think of someone
becoming a teacher.
Right. But she's an incredible person.
And so I'm just delighted that
Gloria and Duncan brought this
book to our attention.
And I love, love the art.
And I want to show you,
if you take the case cover.
I'll just take it off.
You see on the hardcover--
>> Meg Medina: Duncan!
>> Traci Sorrell: Yes.
>> Meg Medina:
You have outdone yourself.
>> Traci Sorrell: This is all the
Nahuatl language that is coming out of
loose into the world, right? And here
is Professor Orcasitas writing down
her words. So much of what we
have of the Nahuatl language
at that time is because
of her work with him.
>> Meg Medina: So, you know,
traditionally, as you say,
we have not had
many stories from Cherokee
or any native people.
And so my question for you is,
what is it that you
hope your books bring?
Not only to all children, but
not only to native children, but
also children who are not
from native backgrounds.
What is your hope for
your literature with them?
>> Traci Sorrell: My hope is
that it connects our humanity.
First and foremost, they see that
we are all human and that we have
the same hopes, dreams, challenges,
setbacks as anyone else, you know?
But often what we find
is our contributions,
our mere existence isn't even
represented, isn't even talked about,
isn't even integrated
into the larger, you know,
historical record,
contemporary realities.
And so, regardless of the
child's background, you know.
My hope is that we are growing
a more informed, you know,
citizenry, right, of the world.
>> Meg Medina: You know, one thing
I love about your work is that
you ask the reader to look at something
from a different perspective.
So for example, you have a novel
in verse that I like very much.
Mascot, which you co-wrote
with Charles Waters, I think.
Where eighth grade students,
if I'm not mistaken,
are responding to their
problematic school mascot.
And then you have a
picture book, I think,
called Being Home, which is
about a little girl moving.
And normally-- I wrote a picture
book about moving, and it has
this sad sort of
feeling like, oh, lost.
But you come at it
from a whole different way.
So talk to me about that.
Like, what is it about
encouraging kids to see things
through a different
lens that appeals to you?
>> Traci Sorrell: Because I think
when I was younger and in their age,
right, especially, you know,
upper elementary,
I thought, wow,
there's not just this or that.
There's so many different
ways of seeing things.
And yet so many times the
adults around me are like,
no, this is right, this is wrong.
And I'm like, there's lots of
ways of navigating the world.
And so in the books, I want
to reflect to them those things
that they're already
seeing and experiencing.
Right. Because the people
we write for, as you know,
are extremely intelligent and
they're having lots of experiences.
>> Meg Medina: What advice would
you give teachers and parents
and interested kids who are
watching our show
if they want to read more
literature by native authors?
What advice would you give them?
>> Traci Sorrell: I would say go to the
American Indian Library
Association's website.
Every two years,
they award books from board books
to young adult novels
in a variety of formats.
Like I say, all ages. And they have
a youth literature awards program.
And so you will get books from
small native owned presses
to the large multinational
conglomerate trade publishers,
and I love that there
is such that range there.
And so they look at what, you know,
has been created by native people
and really also how that's presented.
You know, that there isn't that use
of stereotypes or a pan native,
pan indigenous identity
that, you know.
It is rooted in the people
and the work has been
thoughtfully presented.
So, you know, there are books
that entertain, inform, inspire.
I would definitely
start there for sure.
>> Meg Medina: Traci, I'm so glad
that you came to visit me in D.C.
And I'm thrilled with your work.
Thank you for the book talk,
and I'm going to be
looking for you on the shelf.
>> Traci Sorrell:
I appreciate that. Wado, Meg.
>> Meg Medina:
Wado, Traci.