Two Tribes, graphic memoir

 

My Thoughts:

This graphic story inspired by Emily Bowen Cohenʻs life, is about Mia who lives with her mom and new stepfather. She is sent to Jewish day school and as a family, they practice Jewish traditions. But Mia is also part Muskogee from her biological fatherʻs side. Like her mom, her dad lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Mia sticks out at her Jewish day school because she does not look like her classmates, and that just makes her hungry to get to know her Native American side of her identity. Her plan is to take her bat mitzvah money and sneak away to Oklahoma to visit her dad and his new family. It is a little disturbing that her mother does not seem to see her or that the teachers at the Jewish school do not curb the ethnic shaming by the students, especially when Semitic attacks are prevalent in the world. 

Her mother eventually finds out and is very upset that Mia left and was staying with her dad and his family, but eventually she understands that the divorce is not about Mia and Mia should not be isolated from both sides of her family. 

As teachers we cannot control parents, but it is our job to ensure that all students understand their identity as well as the gifts that come with being and/both, not one or the other. 

This is another book out of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of Harper Collins Children's Books. 

From the Publisher:

Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn’t want to talk about him, but Mia can’t help but feel like she’s missing a part of herself without him in her life.

Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma—without telling her mom—to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side.

Publication Information:

Author, Illustrator: Emily Bowen Cohen

Publisher: Heartdrum (August 15, 2023)