Publishers Weekly
08/28/2023
Debut author Chuculate, who is Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee, delivers a plainspoken memoir that chronicles critical moments during his childhood in Oklahoma in the 1970s and ’80s. Because of his parents’ divorce early in his life, Chuculate remembers spending most of his time being “shuttled between my mom and her mother.” Granny and Grandpa’s home was the only constant as he cycled through 14 schools in nine years and experienced much uncertainty throughout his mother’s rocky second marriage. His participation on his local baseball team provided focus and community, particularly with other kids, and fishing with his friends and Grandpa helped him feel connected to his Native roots. Via anecdotal, slice-of-life vignettes peppered with sensorial references to period TV shows, music, and clothing, the author develops a keen sense of time and place that aids in grounding the free-flowing narrative. While Chuculate’s experiences with racism are present throughout, the author establishes in a concluding q&a that this is not a memoir of trauma, but a transformative interpretation of the life of an ordinary boy in America endeavoring to become “known for grander things.” Ages 12–up. Agent: Alex Glass, Glass Literary Management. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Cheyenne Madonna:
"Eddie Chuculate emerges as an important new talent in his generation of storytellers. He’s a kind of journalist of the soul as he investigates the broken-hearted nation of Indian men. The epicenter of action is the tenuous meeting place between boyhood and manhood, between fierce need and desire. Chuculate relates a world that is exactly what it is, with no romantic savage junk, and no temporary spiritual life preservers. In the midst of despair there’s a shrine of meaning that surfaces, like the miracle of sunrise after an all-night party." — Joy Harjo, United States Poet Laureate
"Where are we, among these coyote mirages, this endless herd of antelope? What is this beautiful place? Is it the land of magical realism? Not exactly. It’s a bit north of that. The tone of Chuculate’s narration is serene and buoyant, a rare mood at present. Mozart might be a useful model to think of. Every sentence is unexpected, yet infallible. The ultimate aim of the short story, like the arrow, is to end exactly where it should. In art, the satisfaction of hitting the bull’s-eye is not a simple one. It goes deep." — Ursula K. Le Guin, National Book Award and Hugo Award winner
"Chuculate presents a profound disconnect between the mythology of Indian art and the present-day reality of Indian artists, who rarely get to be artists without the cultural qualifier. He also lays bare the effects of wide-spread multi-generational addiction without making excuses for the way his characters treat each other. There are no saints in here, and no demons, either. Cheyenne Madonna is a fantastic debut." — The Santa Fe New Mexican
"An amazing, moving debut—rich, thoughtful, eloquent and honest." — Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Chuculate writes forthright prose in a somber key, examining without judgment the lives of Native American characters like Old Bull, a Cheyenne who, in ‘Galveston Bay, 1826,’ the collection’s one stand-alone story, ventures out to see the ocean for the first time, only to get savaged by a hurricane. Memory and will converge here to powerful effect." — Publishers Weekly
School Library Journal
11/01/2023
Gr 7 Up—This autobiography takes a full circle journey through the childhood of author Chuculate. It is a portrait of growing up Native American in Middle America during the 1970s and 1980s. Chuculate finds himself wandering the pastures of his grandparents' rural Oklahoma farm "in habitual solitude" for much of his childhood. His young life is split enjoying the space and freedom of the Muskogee countryside and in town with his mother and stepfather. A love of sports and good mentorship guide Chuculate through middle school and into high school. He excels at writing and finds his way into journalism at the Muskogee Phoenix. With help from his coach Branan, he is recruited to Oklahoma's Northeastern State University. Overall, the characters are described in everyday circumstances from fishing and baseball to library visits and church service. Reading this memoir feels like sitting around the dinner table hearing about a relative's day. It explores themes of racism, poverty, and bullying, helping connect young readers to a story set in the past. VERDICT A good addition to any teen nonfiction collection.—Meaghan Nichols
JANUARY 2024 - AudioFile
Pascal Casimier narrates the life of award-winning author Eddie Chuculate with even pacing and a determined tone. Chuculate, who is Creek and Cherokee, grew up in Oklahoma in the 1970s and '80s and discovered his passion for writing in high school. Music plays at the opening and closing of the production, enhancing the listener's experience. Casimier's voice sounds slightly monotone at times as he describes the many obstacles Chuculate faced as he shuffled between the homes of his parents and different schools. Listeners will relate to his experiences in this coming-of-age memoir, which extols the importance of hard work and perseverance while making one's way in the world. M.D. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-06-21
This memoir by award-winning author Chuculate (Muscogee Creek) is a testament to the importance of support from family and friends in shaping identity.
This work is largely centered on Muskogee, Oklahoma, during the 1970s in what was a racially mixed community. Chuculate shares episodes from his daily life that readers can reflect on and interpret to draw their own life lessons. These seemingly random memories collectively tell his story of growing up Native in an inclusive environment with white, Black, Native, and Latine friends; his best friend, Lonnie, was Black, and the multiracial environment felt completely ordinary. Growing up, Chuculate spent a great deal of time with his maternal grandparents, Granny and Homer; following his parents’ divorce, he barely saw his father. But he was close to his mom and stepdad, Roman (Chickasaw), and his family’s guidance provided Chuculate with a loving environment that nurtured him. Hearing Creek spoken by relatives and in church, he was fascinated and wrote down the words he learned. In high school, Chuculate began covering sports for the Muskogee Daily Phoenix, something that sparked his passion for writing and led to his work-study job writing about college athletics. The conversational style and family photographs throughout help bring this intimate, anecdotal memoir to life.
Will make readers feel as if they’re sitting beside a relative, listening to stories and shared knowledge. (map, author’s note, Q&A with the author) (Nonfiction. 13-18)
