Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of American Indian Residential Schools

Dan SaSuWeh Jones brings to light the forced assimilation and cultural erasure of Indigenous people by government-run residential schools with first-person accounts that breaks down the truth of America’s hidden past. Scholastic Focus is the premier home of thoroughly researched,beautifully writtenand thoughtfully designed works of narrative nonfiction aimed at middle grade and young adult readers. These books help readers learn about the world in which they live and develop their critical thinking skills so that they may become dynamic citizens who are able to analyze and understand our pastparticipate in essential discussions about our presentand work to grow and build our future. When Little Moon There Are No Stars Tonight was four years oldarmed federal agents showed up at her home and took her from her family. Under the authority of the governmentshe was sent away to a boarding school specifically created to strip her of her Ponca culture and teach her the ways of white society. Little Moon was one of thousands of Indigenous children forced to attend these schools across America and give up everything they’d ever known: familyfriendstoysclothingfoodcustomseven their language. She would be the first of four generations of her family who would go to the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School. Dan SaSuWeh Jones chronicles his family’s time at Chilocco–starting with his grandmother Little Moon’s arrival when the school first opened and ending with him working on the maintenance crew when the school shut down nearly one hundred years later. Together with the voices of students from other schoolsboth those who died and those who survivedDan brings to light the lasting legacy of the boarding school era. Part American historypart family historyStealing Little Moon is a powerful look at the miseducation and the mistreatment of Indigenous kidswhile celebrating their strengthresiliencyand courage–and the ultimate failure of the United States government to erase them.