Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Monday, November 1, 2021

An Inside Look #187 (Author INTERVIEW)

  An Inside Look with Joseph Bruchac

(Author of Rez Dogs)


Welcome to my favorite feature of my blog...


*Season #ONE (June of 2016 to March of 2017)

*Season #TWO (Summer of 2017)

*Season #THREE (School Year 2017/2018)

*Season #FOUR (Summer/fall of 2018)

*Season #FIVE (School Year 2018/2019)

*Season #SIX (Summer 2019) 

*Season #SEVEN (Fall 2019) 

*Season #EIGHT (Winter/Spring 2020)

*Season #NINE (Fall 2020)

*Season #TEN (Winter/Spring 2021)


*I'm excited to be back for season #ELEVEN with brand new interviews/authors.  


*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.

*This is the NINTH interview in which I'm calling Season #ELEVEN.  

*Thank you to Joseph Bruchac for being the One-Hundred Eighty-Seventh author I've had the pleasure of interviewing.  I truly appreciate it.




Rez Dogs

by Joseph Bruchac

(June 8, 2021)



How did you come to know Malian?
During the last year and a half, it’s been my regular practice to get up each morning and walk my dog. We live on a nature preserve in the Adirondack foothills and there are miles of trails and old roads where we can walk a long way without running into another person.

But that is where I ran into Malian. As I was walking one morning, her name and her story just appeared in my mind. It seems as if I could hear her voice and see what she was going through. She shares a lot in common with other young people I’ve known of her age, met while visiting Wabanaki schools and doing presentations at them in New England and Nova Scotia. There is also a bit in her of my 15-year-old granddaughter Carolyn Rose.



What do you think is her most admirable quality?
I think that she has a number of admirable qualities. But one of them, in particular, is her ability to listen well—to stories, to good advice—and then put into practice what she learned through being a good listener. (In a number of our traditional Wabanaki stories, the main character is a young woman whose name is Little Listener is the one who saves the day.)



Is there anything you wish Malian would have changed or done differently in her story?
I have to say I am very satisfied with the way she conducted herself throughout the story. So, there’s nothing that I wish that she had done differently.



What do you think she can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
Be patient with yourself and with those around you. Be helpful where you can and remember that other people are having problems, too. You are not alone. 



How did you research Malian and the circumstances she found herself in?
I didn’t do any research during the writing of the story, aside from paying attention to the news. However, you could say that I have been researching the story for many decades – – by listening to elders, to storytellers, and by paying close attention whenever I have been visiting friends on any of our reservations. The setting for her story is very real, even though I have put it on a fictional Reservation.



Do you and she share any similarities?
I like to think that, like her, I am a good listener and patient with others. Plus, we both love and are good at remembering stories. Further, both of us have learned a lot from our four-legged canine friends.



What was the hardest scene to write about Malian?
I think the ending was the hardest for me to write. I really didn’t want to leave her and her grandparents, but it was the logical place to conclude.



Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
I don’t think you could say at any one of Malian’s supporters was the biggest one. Malsum, her grandmother, and grandfather played equally important roles. I think you could say that her biggest supporter was that family community — made up of her grandparents and the dog that came to help them.



Why do you think humans and animals have such a special connection?  
In all of our Native American traditions and cultures, humans and animals are regarded as being of equal importance. Further, animals are always teaching us things. In many of our traditions, we’re taught that the animals were here before the people and that it is through their help we survive. 

Quite frankly, when someone is not connected to animals, that person may not be leading a full life. All of us are together here on this planet, sharing the land, the waters, the air and the light of the sun. Of course we’re connected. 



What do you think Malian is doing as the present time?
I think Malian is back in school now, not taking it for granted and making the most of it. I suspect, like my granddaughter Carolyn, she’s really good at volleyball and enjoying being back on the team. She is also still learning from stories— Including those in the books that she’s always borrowing from the school library, which is her favorite room in the school. And she is looking forward to her next visit to her grandparents and hoping Malsum will show up to see her then. 



 
*Here are links to the One Hundred Eighty-Six interviews...

SEASON #ONE (2016-2017)

























SEASON #FOUR (Summer 2018)






















SEASON #FIVE (2018/2019)













SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)







SEASON #SEVEN (Fall 2019)




















SEASON #EIGHT (Winter/Spring 2020)

Interview #121 with Melissa Savage (Author of Nessie Quest)

Interview #122 with Tamara Bundy (Author of Pixie Pushes On)

Interview #123 with Lindsay Lackey (Author of All the Impossible Things)

Interview #124 with Tae Keller (Author of When You Trap a Tiger)

Interview #125 with Jamie Sumner (Author of Roll With It)

Interview #126 with Hena Khan (Author of More to the Story)

Interview #127 with Phil Bildner (Author of A High-Five for Glenn Burke)

Interview #128 with Leslie Connor (Author of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs)

Interview#129 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Queen Bee and Me)

Interview #130 with Jody J. Little (Author of Worse Than Weird)

Interview #131 with Jenn Bishop (Author of Things You Can't Say)

Interview #132 with Kaela Noel (Author of Coo)

Interview #133 with Rebecca Stead (Author of The List of Things That Will Not Change)

Interview #134 with Gae Polisner (Author of Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me)

Interview #135 with Emily Blejwas (Author of Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened)

Interview #136 with Joy McCullough (Author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost)

Interview #137 with Kim Baker (Author of the Water Bears)

Interview #138 with Erin Entrada Kelly (Author of We Dream of Space)

Interview #139 with Jess Redman (Author of Quintessence)

Interview #140 with Melanie Conklin (Author of Every Missing Piece)

Interview #141 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of Brave Like That)

Interview #142 with Gae Polisner and Nora Raleigh Baskin (Authors of Seven Clues to Home)



SEASON #NINE (Fall 2020)

Interview #143 with Jacqueline Woodson (Author of Before the Ever After)

Interview #144 with Sharon Creech (Author of One Time)

Interview #145 with Barbara Dee (Author of My Life in the Fish Tank)

Interview #146 with Kim Ventrella (Author of The Secret Life of Sam)

Interview #147 with Ellen Hopkins (Author of Closer to NoWhere)

Interview #148 with Alyssa Hollingsworth (Author of The Invisible Boy) 

Interview #149 with Rob Harrell (Author of WINK)

Interview #150 with Shelley Pearsall (Author of Things Seen From Above)

Interview #151 with Anna Staniszewski (Author of The Wonder of Wildflowers)

Interview #152 with Lorelei Savaryn (Author of The Circus of Stolen Dreams)

Interview #153 with Linda Sue Park (Author of Prairie Lotus)

Interview #154 with Lauren Wolk (Author of Echo Mountain) 

Interview #155 with Mae Respicio (Author of Any Day with You)

Interview #156 with Audrey Vernick (Author of After the Worst Thing Happens)

Interview #157 with Ernesto Cisneros (Author of Efren Divided)


SEASON #TEN (Winter/Spring 2021)

Interview #158 with Rebecca Ansari (Author of The In-Between)

Interview #159 with John David Anderson (Author of One Last Shot) 

Interview #160 with Tracy Holczer (Author of Brave in the Woods)

Interview #161 with James Bird (Author of The Brave) 

Interview #162 with Marcella Pixley (Author of Trowbridge Road)

Interview #163 with Barbara O'Connor (Author of Halfway to Harmony)

Interview #164 with Alan Gratz (Author of Ground Zero) 

Interview #165 with Lisa Fipps (Author of Starfish)

Interview #166 with Ann Braden (Author of Flight of the Puffin)

Interview #167 with Kimberly Willis Holt (Author of The Ambassador of NoWhere Texas) 

Interview #168 with Elana K. Arnold (Author of The House That Wasn't There) 

Interview #169 with Erin Soderberg (Author of The Great Peach Experiment)

Interview #170 with Donna Gephart (Author of Abby, Tried, and True)

Interview #171 with M. Evan Wolkenstein (Author of Turtle Boy)

Interview #172 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of Bea is for Blended)

Interview #173 with Jess Redman (Author of The Adventure is Now)

Interview #174 with David Levithan (Author of The Mysterious Disappearance of Aiden)

Interview #175 with Chris Grabenstein (Author of The Smartest Kid in the Universe)

Interview #176 with Ali Standish (Author of The Mending Summer)

Interview #177 with Holly Goldberg Sloan (Author of The Elephant in the Room)

Interview #178 with Jeff Zentner (Author of In the Wild Light)


SEASON #ELEVEN (Fall 2021)

Interview #179 with Katherine Applegate (Author of Willow) 

Interview #180 with Padma Venkatraman (Author of Born Behind Bars)

Interview #181 with R.J. Palacio (Author of Pony)

Interview #182 with Kyle Lukoff (Author of Too Bright to See)

Interview #183 with Barbara Dee (Author of Violets are Blue)

Interview #184 with Anne Ursu (Author of The Troubled Girls of Dragonmir Academy) f

Interview #185 with Margaret Finnegan (Author of We Could Be Heroes)

Interview #186 with Jasmine Warga (Author of Shape of Thunder)

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