From the Bookshelf of Diversity in All Forms!…

There There

Tommy Orange

Start date: October 1, 2019

Finish date: October 30, 2019

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

Why we're reading this: October Bonus Read- Indigenous Resistance´s Day.

There There by Tommy Orange
[close] October Bonus Read- Indigenous Resistance´s Day.

There There by Tommy Orange

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 73 topics — 889 comments total

Monthly Bonus Reads

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (February 2023)
By Mariah Roze · 2 posts · 18 views

last updated May 17, 2023 10:35AM

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide (March 2023)
By Mariah Roze · 2 posts · 11 views

last updated Mar 06, 2023 08:42AM

showing 2 of 2 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 27, 2018 Puck rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adult, favorites-2018, contemporary, favorites

Wow, wow: WOW. With his incredible debut, Tommy Orange has landed himself a place in my list of best books of 2018. His writing blew me away, his characters touched my heart and its message hits, like Marlon James said, like a thunderclap.

“Don't ever let anyone tell you what being Indian means. Too many of us died to get just a little bit of us here, right now, right in this kitchen."

In this book 12 characters come together around the Big Powwow of Oakland. Some of them are direct decedents o ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

Jan 21, 2022 Jan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audible-books, authors-of-color, contemporary, american, literary-fiction, fiction, indigenous

This debut novel by Tommy Orange is a masterpiece!!!!!

The novel introduces us to First Nation people living in Oakland, California. It begins with a prologue describing the brutality they suffered at the hands of white soldiers and settlers, "People who take and take and take and take."

"Getting us to cities was supposed to be the final, necessary step in our assimilation, absorption, erasure, the completion of a five-hundred-year-old genocidal campaign. But the city made us new, and we made it o This debut novel by Tommy Orange is a masterpiece!!!!!

The novel introduces us to First Nation people living in Oakland, California. It begins with a prologue describing the brutality they suffered at the hands of white soldiers and settlers, "People who take and take and take and take."

"Getting us to cities was supposed to be the final, necessary step in our assimilation, absorption, erasure, the completion of a five-hundred-year-old genocidal campaign. But the city made us new, and we made it ours. We didn’t get lost amid the sprawl of tall buildings, the stream of anonymous masses, the ceaseless din of traffic. We found one another, started up Indian Centers, brought out our families and powwows, our dances, our songs, our beadwork."

We are introduced to eleven main characters who each have chapters specifically devoted to them and their stories. These characters, often unwittingly, are interconnected by occupation, blood, or simply by chance. They each have insecurities about their identities as First Nation people, many are suffering from alcoholism, poverty, family tragedy and disfunctionality. For example, Jacquie Red Feather struggles with alcoholism:

"Jacquie kneeled in front of the minifridge. In her head she heard her mom say, “The spider's web is a home and a trap.” And even though she never really knew what her mom meant by it, she’d been making it make sense over the years, giving it more meaning than her mom probably ever intended. In this case Jacquie was the spider, and the minifridge was the web. Home was to drink. To drink was the trap. Or something like that. The point was Do not open the fridge. And she didn’t."

The power of storytelling is a strong theme in the book which draws from deep cultural roots. As our characters struggle with balancing their personal identities and their cultural ones, the power of storytelling comes into play.

These are voices I have not heard before--probably because I wasn't listening. The book has taught me that no matter our tribe, clan or cultural identify, we need to lift each another up regardless of our personal connections to each other. The American people can certainly learn a great deal from this book, regardless of their cultural identity.

My favorite character was Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield. I could relate to her as a little child in 1970 when her mother brought Opal and her sister Jacquie to protest at Alcatraz (which actually happened, by the way.) She clung to her toy bear Two Shoes. I had a stuffed dog named Lady that I clung to. I loved her also as a great aunt/grandmother.

I know these characters will carry with me for a long time, and I will continue to discover connections and meaning from them. This is a great book! Give it a read!! ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2020 Nanci rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, audio

I am a big outlier for this book! I love learning about different cultures and particularly Natives. I have read many books on their culture both historical fiction and non-fiction. I was so looking forward to reading this by an author new to me that had mostly 4 and 5 star reviews. It was really a let down for me.
I listened to the audio version, which was well-done. The biggest issue for me was the cursing. I know the author was trying to be authentic to the characters in the book, but it was ...more

Like · see review