Reading Across Rhode Island, Rhode Island’s One Book, One State community read program kicks off its 20th year by encouraging everyone to read Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley with this year’s Honorary Chair Lorén Spears, Narragansett, Executive Director of Tomaquag Museum.
Reading Across Rhode Island is a program of the Rhode Island Center for the Book, made possible through a vibrant collaboration of librarians, teachers, book group leaders and readers from across the state.
Calendar of Events
January 25 from 7:00 – 8:00pm: Reading Across Rhode Island Virtual Kick Off at the Pell Center, Salve Regina University
Recording from the Virtual Kickoff on January 25, 2022
Readers were invited to join moderator, Jim Ludes, Executive Director, Pell Center for International Relations and Policy, Honorary Chair Lorén Spears, Silvermoon Mars LaRose, Assistant Director of the Tomaquag Museum and Reading Across Rhode Island Education Chair Maureen Nagle for engaging introduction to the book. Register at ribook.org.
February 15 from 6:30-8pm: Firekeeper’s Daughter and Evening for Educators
Recording from the RARI Evening for Educators
About This Year’s Book
Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground.
A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time Selection
Amazon’s Best YA Book of 2021 So Far (June 2021)
An Entertainment Weekly Most Anticipated Books of 2021 Selection
With four starred reviews, Angeline Boulley’s debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, is a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, perfect for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
“Immersive and enthralling, Firekeeper’s Daughter plunges the reader into a community and a landscape enriched by a profound spiritual tradition. Full of huge characters and spellbinding scenes, it gives a fascinating insight into life on and off the reservation, with Daunis as a tough and resourceful heroine through every vicissitude.” —Financial Times
“Hitting hard when it comes to issues such as citizenship, language revitalization, and the corrosive presence of drugs on Native communities, this novel will long stand in the hearts of both Native and non-Native audiences.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
About the Author
Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island. Firekeeper’s Daughter is her debut novel and was an instant #1 NYT Bestseller.
Angeline. Boulley wesbsite: https://angelineboulley.com
Angeline Boulley Twitter: https://twitter.com/FineAngeline
About the Honorary Chair
Lorén M. Spears, Narragansett, Executive Director of Tomaquag Museum, has been an educator for 25 years, has served as an adjunct faculty at Brown University and at University of Rhode Island. She shares her cultural knowledge and traditional arts learned through her family with the public through museum programs. She has written curriculum, poetry, and narratives published in a variety of publications such as Dawnland Voices, An Anthology of Indigenous Writing of New England; Through Our Eyes: An Indigenous View of Mashapaug Pond; The Pursuit of Happiness: An Indigenous View, From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution Recently, she co-edited a new edition of A Key into the Language of America by Roger Williams.
She works tirelessly to empower Native youth and to educate the public on Native history, culture, the environment and the arts. She was appointed by Governor Gina Raimondo to serve on the Board of the RI State Council on the Arts and the RI Historical Records Advisory Board and serves on many other boards including New England Museum Association, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, The Pell Center’s Story in the Public Square and South County Tourism Council.
Under Spears’ leadership, Tomaquag Museum received the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ National Medal. Spears has also received numerous awards including a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from the University of Rhode Island 2017, a Doctor of Education, Honoris Causa from Roger Williams University in 2021, the Extraordinary Woman Award 2010, International Day 2010, the Urban League, Woman of Substance Award, 2006 and the RI Council for the Humanities 2016 Tom Roberts Prize for Creative Achievement in the Humanities. She is married to Robin Spears Jr., artist, environmental police officer, and mason. She has three grown children, and 1 grandchild.
| Contact Kate Lentz at kate@ribook.org for sets of books available to classroom teachers, library discussion groups and senior centers. Further reading lists, book discussion guides, the author’s website, audio interviews and other supplementary materials may be found on the Rhode Island Center for the Book website at ribook.org. Rhode Island Center for the Book is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization devoted to promoting personal and community enrichment by celebrating the art and heritage of reading, writing, making, and sharing books. Founded in 2003, the RI Center for the Book is the state affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress and resides at The Pell Center at Salve Regina University. |