Two books paying tribute to Native American culture and a kick off to the SequillReviews' 2024 Book Challenge!

Happy New Year! Before we get into reviews of two new titles, I challenge you to join me in my 2024 Book Challenge: A quest to read a book for each of the 50 United States. The rules are simple - choose any title you'd like and then track the state it is based in. You're finished when you hit all 50. This is a straight forward and simple reading challenge that should not be too overwhelming for those with less-than-ideal time to read. But wait, isn't that everyone?!

Starting my challenge off, I hit up Oklahoma with Brandon Hobson's National Book Award Finalist Where the Dead Sit Talking (published February 20, 2018, 288 pages, Soho Press). Hobson is a Native American author and I purchased his novel at an airport in November, which is Native American Heritage Month. I was excited to read this and it didn’t sit on the TBR pile for long. The novel is narrated by Sequoyah, who as an adult looking back tells us about a fateful year in his early adolescent life during foster care. This novel elicits profound, and I mean profound, loneliness. There was a real sense of being adrift and left wanting. Sequoyah is yearning so clearly for attention and affection and he doesn't ever get it. His foster family is nice enough and cares, but everyone is at an arms length away it seems, including fellow foster kids George and Rosemary. None of this is thoroughly expressed, but rather felt as Sequoyah tells us about his past and this soul-crushing year for him.

   I didn’t enjoy this novel, but I felt compelled to bear witness to what it was that Sequoyah was telling me. I admittedly did not understand the point of some aspects of this story, the strangeness of the characters. But perhaps this is how Sequoyah felt - not so much ostracized but certainly not included. It was sad, heavy, and lonely but carried a torch, a small ember of hope as Sequoyah remains resilient through some very tough circumstances and continued disappointments.

Hobson’s novel fascinated me enough to pick up his novel The Removed (published February 2, 2021, 7 hours and 6 minutes) which I downloaded as an audiobook. It is another heavy, brooding tale in Oklahoma, but this time there are more characters - all more colorful and engaging than in Where the Dead Sit Talking. The story's overarching theme is about healing and being aware of what may be guiding us. As in the first novel, what is going on isn't expressly stated but rather you're on the journey, along for the ride. One of my favorite characters is Maria and I very much enjoyed her and her husband's (Ernest) rebirth after taking in Wyatt as a temporary foster. They were able to take in a very much needed breath of fresh air with him around as they finally came to terms with the loss of their eldest son. My second favorite character is Edgar, the youngest of Maria and Ernest's three children. His journey was from the most damaged area and was also the most in tune with Native American heritage and respect for their strife and struggle. I also appreciated the continued reminders of the racism minorities face in this country and the cruelty that many people endure on a regular basis.

If you only have time to read one, The Removed is the better pick, however both novels force a confrontation with America's past and the reverberating effects it has on the country's present. Hobson's naming of one particular character (Jackson Andrews) as a play on the president responsible for the Trail of Tears was an excellent creative play for this story. It is clear that Hobson, an as author, is more comfortable in this novel calling out racism and pushing back on it. His previous work as a social worker is also evident in both novels and highlights an underrepresented and often voiceless group - the foster kids themselves. This is good - we need more of it to spark conversation and to stand up and recognize the our true history, and nation's struggles, and all its ugliness. Until we face it head on and confront it, we will not be able to heal as a country - thank you Edgar. And don't we need that more than ever? Due to these pushing-the-boundaries questions, these make excellent book club picks and they are both short enough that you can opt to read both - I did!

Comment if you plan to join the challenge and drop a recommendation and the state it is in! I have Wyoming, Massachusetts, and Virginia covered (standby for future blog posts). But there are 46 more states to go and a bonus for Puerto Rico!

If you're more of a wallflower or are just seeking some inspiration for books, you can still join in on the fun by signing up for book recommendations where these posts are sent directly to your inbox! Join on my site by visiting the blog page. Thanks for swinging by! Happy Reading!