Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask: Young Readers Edition

Gr 6 Up–“Indians. We are so often imagined, but so infrequently well understood,” Treuer’s opening sentence reads. As a Princeton-educated, Ojibwe professor with “one foot in the wigwam and one in the ivory tower,” Treuer “cannot speak for all Indians,” but he’s ready with “specific rather than generic answers.” This young readers adaptation is certainly rare in that it expands on Treuer’s 2012 original, growing from approximately 120 to 200 Q&As. Treuer also takes the mic, making his narrating debut. Composed, eloquent, courteous, Treuer is an ideal, safe guide through all manner of topics, from the difficult, inane, nuanced, to downright racist. A single quibble: Georgetown was not named for George Washington, but most likely King George II (GW was still a teen when Georgetown was founded in 1751).