Kathleen Alcalá reviews Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe's RED PAINT

Sasha taq(w)šablu LaPointe is not Suquamish, but she is a descendant of two local tribes, the Nooksack and Upper Skagit tribes. To my delight, I discovered in the book that Sasha is the great-granddaughter of Vi taq(w)šablu Hilbert, a renowned storyteller who in large part helped recover the Lushootseed language of the coastal tribes before her passing in 2008. I interviewed Hilbert for an early issue of The Raven Chronicles, around 1991, and am continually struck by the importance of the role she played in language and cultural recovery. This is especially clear to me as I work with others of my tribe, the Ópata Nation, to recover and re-birth a language that has been all but obliterated by other languages and interests.

book reviewsPhoebe BoscheSeptember 21, 2022Raven Chronicles Pressraven chronicles, kathleen alcalá, Red Paint, Squamish, Sasha LaPointeComment

Kathleen Alcalá reviews Stephanie Barbé Hammer's PRETEND PLUMBER: AN ADVENTURE

This book is part exegesis, part coming of age, and part farce. It is full of self-absorbed people, institutions that reflect the same, well-meaning Jews, and even a little Kabbalistic magic.It also casts a light on the “things down below”—be they our personal plumbing, a secretly SM retirement home with senior ciizens dressed in black leather, angelic drug dealers, or unresolved family dynamics.

Because of Sarassine’s unrelentingly honest voice, this is probably best described as a YA book. Sarassine has a condition I’ve never heard of called dyspraxia, which makes it hard for her to learn certain things, and physically awkward. Those of us who survived adolescence might vaguely recall Sam’s experience of a first kiss, her willingness to forgive her parents for their non-parenting, and her openness to the many and varied characters that people Los Angeles today.

book reviewsPhoebe BoscheMay 25, 2022Raven Chronicles Pressraven chronicles, kathleen alcalá, stephanie barbe hammer, YA, coming of ageComment

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