Daniel Vandever Indigenous Peoples’ Day Reading
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 10th, Salina Bookshelf hosted an online reading and discussion of Daniel Vandever’s two award winning books Fall in Line, Holden! and Herizon!
Fall in Line, Holden! follows Holden, a young Navajo boy, through his day at boarding school. Holden’s vivid imagination transforms his commonplace surroundings into a world of discovery and delight. Named a 2017 Honor Award book with the American Indian Library Association.
Herizon details the journey of a young Diné girl as she helps her grandmother retrieve a flock of sheep aided by a magical scarf. Within the scarf’s powers is the ability to transform, which changes the girl and the world she knows. In an age that has seen the election of the first female vice president in U.S. history and Deb Haaland being appointed Secretary of the Interior, Herizon speaks to the power of the moment and not a distant idea of what could be. It is a story that honors progress and persistence and can relate to audiences of any background.
NOTE: Herizon is a wordless book as an ode to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) and in honor of all those without a voice.
Order Fall in Line, Holden! at www.env-salinabookshelf-staging.kinsta.cloud Order personalized copies of both Herizon and Fall in Line, Holden! at www.southofsunrisecreative.com
Vandever is the owner of South of Sunrise Creative, a strategic communications firm that helps advance higher education initiatives through community development strategies. The company focuses on equity, access, and advancement – principles that also shape his approach to children’s books. It is in each role that Vandever hopes to affect change on the Navajo Nation through education. He received a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri and a Masters in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico. He the grandson of the late Joe Vandever Sr., Navajo Code Talker, U.S. Marine Corps, Third Raider Battalion.