Blessing's Bead
- Subject
- Native American
- Age
- 9-12 years
- Format
- Trade Paperback
- Pages
- 240
- Publisher
- Tu Books
- Size
- 13.8 cm × 20.6 cm
- ISBN
- 9781643795768
Now in paperback: the acclaimed middle-grade novel tracing four generations of an Iñupiaq family in Alaska, which the Washington Post praised as "a rare and beautiful book."
ALASKA, 1917
Nutaaq adores her older sister, Aaluk, and the happy world of their close-knit Iñupiaq village. When Aaluk goes across the sea to marry a Siberian Inuit man, she gives Nutaaq a gift from her husband's people: two precious cobalt blue beads. Through the months that follow, as a great shadow falls over the village, the beads remind Nutaaq of the people she loves, and hold out hope that she might connect with her sister again.
ALASKA, 1989
Blessing's life in the city is unpredictable, with a mother who's sometimes wonderful and sometimes gone. When Mom finally can't take care of her anymore, Blessing is sent to live in a remote Arctic village with a grandmother she barely remembers. In her new home, unfriendly girls whisper in a language she doesn't understand, and Blessing feels like an outsider among her own people. Until she looks in her grandmother's sewing tin--and finds a cobalt blue bead.
How might Blessing discover her place in her family and community? And will Nutaaq's hope ever be fulfilled? Tracing four generations of bonds and breakage within one Iñupiaq family, Blessing's Bead is a lovely and surprising novel about trauma, survival, and the healing power of culture and stories.
About the creators
Debby Dahl EdwardsonAuthor
Debby Dahl Edwardson is the acclaimed author of three books for young readers: Blessing's Bead; My Name Is Not Easy, which was a finalist for the National Book Award; and the picture book Whale Snow. She married into and has lived for more than forty years among the Inupiat people of Alaska, of which she says, "It is not the culture I was not born into but it is the one I belong to, the one that has become home to me as a human being and as an artist." She lives in Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost community on the North American continent, with her husband.
Nasugraq Rainey Hopson is an artist, writer, and teacher, currently working on a forthcoming novel. Tribally enrolled Iñupiaq, she describes the goal of all her work as "creating things for others to appreciate and understand our unique Indigenous experience and . . . that our people can see themselves reflected in." She lives in Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska. Visit her website at https://www.nasugraqhopson.com.
Data provided by BiblioShare.
What reviewers said
"Concrete and symbolic references to the transforming power of language, names, and stories link the two narratives, but it's the Nutaaqs' rhythmic, indelible voices--both as steady and elemental as the beat of a drum or a heart--that will move readers most. A unique, powerful debut."
"A rare and beautiful book. It's a short read that nonetheless makes many far-reaching connections, like a folk tale or a legend, wrapped in a tough but straightforward narrative, leaving echoes that linger long after and in unanticipated ways.... a rich and nuanced enactment of a perspective and a mode of storytelling that surprises as much as it reveals."
"Edwardson treads an elegant line in her perspective: Blessing is both an insider--Iñupiaq--and an outsider still learning exactly what that means. It's a perspective that allows any reader in, and they'll learn much about the power of stories and names and how to use them both."
"The community's sharing of a whale adds color, as do the authentic imagery, details, and language that pervade this memorable story."
"Blessing makes an emotional journey of self-discovery, as Edwardson weaves a fascinating portrait of a family's rich history."
"This unique and fascinating tale is told in an evocative voice that includes Village English, school English, Native language, and colloquialisms."
