Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard

I came across the audio version of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard via Hoopla. I like eating Indian fry bread, although I haven't eaten it in years. I also wanted to learn more about Native American Culture. Because of this, I chose to listen to Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard. 

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story is a children's book published in 2019 and it has numerous accolades including the Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal, Publishers Weekly Best Picture Book of 2019, Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019, and NPR's 100 Favorite Books for Young Readers.

I really enjoyed listening to the audio version of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, which is nicely narrated by the author. My only complaint about listening to the audio version of this book is that the reader misses out on viewing the illustrations found within the physical book.

For being an illustrated children's book, Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story is filled with plenty of information about fry bread and also about Native American history. I learned that the Navajo tribe was the first to make fry bread over 150 years ago. There are also several different recipes for fry bread, which I thought was interesting as I only thought there was one universal recipe. The author even included his own recipe for fry bread and how to make it.

Additionally, I learned that there are 573 federally recognized Native American tribes here in the USA and 67 state recognized Native American tribes. There was plenty of other information within Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story that I found informative too.

I am giving Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!! 

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones, which was nicely narrated by Shaun Taylor-Corbett.

I have mixed feelings regarding the books written by Stephen Graham Jones. I read and disliked The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, but I enjoyed Night of the Mannequins despite the fact that it was different than I thought it would be. 

So, Mapping the Interior is my third read by Stephen Graham Jones. I didn't love this novella, but didn't hate it either. Maybe, this just means that Stephen Graham Jones's writing just isn't for me.

As far as Mapping the Interior goes, it falls into the indigenous horror genre. There is a lot of suspense as to what is truly happening  and why. Several key indigenous themes throughout make Mapping the Interior an eerie read with a horrific ending.

I asked Google Gemini to flush out the key themes for Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones. See below:

Stephen Graham Jones’s 2017 novella Mapping the Interior blends Indigenous horror with psychological trauma. The story follows Junior, a twelve-year-old Blackfeet boy who catches a glimpse of his deceased father walking through their modular home in full fancy-dancer regalia.

Grief and the Mythologizing of Absence

Junior barely knew his father, who died under mysterious circumstances when Junior was very young. Instead of grieving a real person, Junior constructs an idealized myth of a protective figure. His desire for guidance causes him to ignore the entity’s increasingly parasitic nature, highlighting how unresolved grief distorts judgment and turns memory into a dangerous force.

The Horror of Paternal Duty and Cycle of Harm

The father's ghost presents itself as a guardian, but keeping him anchored requires devastating sacrifices from the living—specifically targeting Junior's younger brother, Dino. Jones explores how generational trauma operates under the guise of family loyalty, forcing children to endure harm to preserve a patriarch's memory.

Displacement and Domestic Space

The modular home acts as a physical manifestation of dislocation and poverty. By literalizing the title, Junior attempts to "map" the house's interior, discovering impossible dimensions inside a cheap structure. This mirrors the experience of off-reservation displacement—trying to carve out identity and cultural connection inside space designed to be impermanent and featureless.

Cultural Identity and Perverted Ritual

Traditional Indigenous practices, such as the father's fancy dancing and ritualistic protection, become twisted into something predatory. Rather than providing spiritual grounding, the ritual elements become violent demands, critiquing the impulse to blindly weaponize tradition without accountability.

Below is the publisher's summary for Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones found Chirp's website:

The New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones, brings readers a spine-tingling journey through a young boy’s haunted home. Winner of the 2017 Bram Stoker Award for Long Fiction!

“A triumph. So emotionally raw, disturbing, creepy, and brilliant.”
—Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie

Walking through his own house at night, a young boy thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. The figure reminds him of his long-dead father, who drowned mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows, it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he ever knew.

The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you’d rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his younger brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them … at a terrible cost.

I'm giving Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Little Free Library is Launching an Indigenous Library Program!!

It's no secret that I LOVE LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES!! I was excited to recently learn online via Book Riot's website that LITTLE FREE LIBRARY TO LAUNCH AN INDIGENOUS LIBRARY PROGRAM. In the above article, I learned the following information:

Little Free Library is launching the Indigenous Library Program this spring. The new program will distribute LFL book-sharing boxes to tribal lands and other Indigenous communities. Boxes will be shipped to volunteer stewards for free and will come with two sets of books — one set will feature 25 books written and/or illustrated by BIPOC authors and another 25 books will center Indigenous people.

The new program has an advisory group consisting of educators, authors, and librarians, most of whom are Indigenous, all of whom have a long history serving Indigenous communities. The program aims to “strengthen community, inspire readers, expand easy book access, support positive literacy outcomes, and make little free libraries available in high-need locations serving Indigenous peoples.”

What an exciting new program to promote literacy and so much more within the indigenous community!!