Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
Drawing from her experiences as an Indigenous scientist, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer demonstrated how all living things--from strawberries and witch hazel to water lilies and lichen--provide us with gifts and lessons every day in her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass. Adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, this new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth's oldest teachers: the plants around us. With informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art from illustrator Nicole Neidhardt, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults brings Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation.
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Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her first book, Gathering Moss, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. Braiding Sweetgrass made the bestsellers list of the New York Times and the Washington Post and was named by Literary Hub as a Best Essay Collection of the Decade.
Monique Gray Smith is the award-winning and bestselling author of nine books for readers of all ages. She is Cree, Lakota, and Scottish and the mother of teenage twins. An inspirational, sought-after speaker and consultant, she lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
"A book that is entirely in a class of its own, this belongs in every collection for teens."--starred, School Library Journal
-- (12/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)"Smith smartly streamlines language while staying true to the narrative's core concepts by adding brief sidebars that explain featured terminology, pose reflection questions, and highlight important passages, inviting collaborative discussion and acting as a call to action."--starred, Publishers Weekly
-- (10/3/2022 12:00:00 AM)"Both an urgent, essential call to action and an uplifting love letter." -starred, Kirkus Reviews
"[F]illed with legends, reminiscences, bits of history, sidebars, drawings, and gentle challenges to readers, encouraging them to consider making changes in their actions, beliefs, and values. Truly, a lovely, calming addition for collections."--Booklist
-- (11/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)"Urging a look toward history and tradition to teach us how to answer the questions of the future, Gray Smith adapts Wall Kimmerer's wisdom for a new, hungry audience."--Foreword Reviews
-- (9/26/2022 12:00:00 AM)"This beautiful, imaginative revisioning is a gift to our children that teaches them how to follow the path of our ancestors."--Diane Wilson, author of The Seed Keeper
-- (5/31/2022 12:00:00 AM)"Gray Smith's adaptation makes this visionary exploration of Indigenous connections to the land, to plants and to storytelling and story-making accessible to a whole new readership and hopefully will inspire young people to rise to the challenges of the Climate Crisis." -Jeffrey Canton, Children's Book Columnist, The Globe and Mail
-- (5/31/2022 12:00:00 AM)"Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults is my new favorite book! What a great way for young people (and anyone, really) to learn about our healing medicines. Chii miigwech!"--Angeline Boulley, #1 NYT Bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter
-- (5/10/2022 12:00:00 AM)
