My Name Is Not Easy

Publishers Weekly

Edwardson (Blessing's Bead) crafts a multilayered story set in 1960s Alaska, told from the perspectives of children coming of age in a cultural contact zone. When 12-year-old Luke and his brothers are sent to a punitive Catholic boarding school, he knows that he will have to sacrifice his Iñupiaq name. But he isn't prepared to lose his youngest brother, Isaac, who is too young to enroll and is sent to live with a family in Texas. At Sacred Heart, Eskimos, Indians, and whites initially segregate themselves by ethnicity, but as they are touched by insidious outside forces, the racial boundaries fall away, and their voices become unified. Amiq, a defiant Eskimo, challenges authority, and a stubborn girl named Chickie longs to open closed doors, finding love with an Eskimo student; meanwhile, a quiet boy gathers the courage to write the truth. Edwardson distills a complex period in American history, examining the Cold War, the moon race, and the Kennedy era with cold, crisp illumination. Her beautifully styled prose offers strong descriptions of an isolated world and a mosaic of identities that must be sutured back together after being broken off at the root. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)

Children's Literature - Paula McMillen

Although readers may be familiar with the compulsory relocation of Native American children to boarding schools, where they were required to give up their language, their dress, their food, their religious beliefs, and even their names; there were other atrocities visited on them as this story of three Eskimo brothers makes clear. Luke, Bunna, and Isaac are sent to Sacred Heart Catholic boarding school, deep in the Alaskan interior and far from the icy waters and wide-open expanses of their Inupiaq village far to the north. Before they can even unpack, the youngest brother, Isaac, is inexplicably whisked away in the school's station wagon—adopted out, without the family's permission, to a home in Texas. Luke and Bunna struggle to make their way in this foreign environment, which is fraught with tension between the white kids, the Indians, and the Eskimos. Only the Eskimo children, however, are singled out to swallow radioactive iodine-131 as part of military-sponsored research into cold weather tolerance. The story is told mainly from Luke's point of view, with alternating chapters told by four classmates—Amiq, the outspoken leader of the Eskimo kids; Chickie, the whitest kid but still an outsider; introspective Junior; and quiet, intense Donna. With the passing years, they forge alliances, experience first loves, and gain strength to return home and make changes. An author's note identifies the factual episodes behind this well-told, compassionate, and ultimately hopeful tale. Although there are certainly numerous books providing insight into this shameful aspect of America's imperialism, this provides the unique perspective of Alaskan natives, as well as historically based incidents involving civil disobedience and "peaceful" uses of atomic bombs—all noteworthy discussion starters. Reviewer: Paula McMillen, Ph.D.

VOYA - Ed Goldberg

In her author's note, Debby Edwardson describes the lack of schools near Alaska's remote villages in the 1960s and the need to send young children hundreds of miles away to school. She describes Project Chariot, a plan to create an Alaskan Harbor by detonating nuclear blasts bigger than those at Hiroshima, and the military's Cold Weather Research using iodine-131 on Alaskan children and adults. While My Name Is Not Easy describes these deplorable incidents through the reminiscences of several children at Sacred Heart School, it does not do them justice. Rather than concentrating on the high emotions these acts might have generated, the book is more a sparse three-year diary of Luke, Chickie, Donna, Amiq and several other students. It merely touches on these issues and the antagonism between Alaskan Eskimos and Indians. In one incident, Luke's youngest brother, Isaac, too young to attend the school but sent there anyway, is taken away by a priest and ultimately given to a family in Texas to adopt, never sent back home. The heartache this situation might generate is glossed over. Edwardson's writing is descriptive and certain characters emerge, but mostly the characters are one-dimensional. In passing, she mentions several historic events, such as President Kennedy's assassination in 1963 and the Good Friday earthquake of 1964 which caused 115 deaths in Alaska, but does not elaborate. Readers will not get a good understanding of Alaskan life or the issues faced by Alaskans living in remote, desolate tundra. There is a more informative, absorbing story waiting to emerge regarding these historic events. Reviewer: Ed Goldberg

VOYA - Nicole Drago

Bringing to light a problem that has not often been acknowledged, My Name Is Not Easy shows young readers the struggles of Alaskan natives being taken from their hometowns and forced to live in Catholic boarding schools. With harsh racial divisions and challenging rules, Amiq, Luke, Chickie, Junior, Bunna, and Sonny all come face-to-face with challenges that change their lives and history. Each character faces a different struggle with society, people of another race, or themselves. Debby Dahl Edwardson reveals in this new novel the hardships of growing up and trying to fit in. I recommend this book to young adults who are interested in tales of racial boundaries and coming of age. 5Q, 4P. Reviewer: Nicole Drago, Teen Reviewer

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up—Prior to the Molly Hootch Act of 1976, which required Alaska to build and staff high schools in even the smallest of the rural villages, children who wished to continue their education beyond what was offered in their communities traveled to BIA or church-supported boarding schools in the lower 48 or more populated parts of Alaska. Luke's Inupiaq experience of leaving his home near the Arctic Circle in 1960 to journey with his two younger brothers to the Catholic sponsored Sacred Heart School is based in large part on Edwardson's husband's memories of boarding school. The author unflinchingly explores both the positive and negative aspects of being away from home at such a young age. Nothing is familiar to Luke and his fellow students; the terrain, the food, the language are strange, and their struggle with feelings of homesickness and alienation is heart-wrenching. Edwardson's skillful use of dialogue and her descriptions of rural Alaska as well as boarding-school life invoke a strong sense of empathy and compassion in readers as they experience Luke's emotions along with him. It is rare that an author can write about a controversial subject such as this without prejudice. Edwardson is to be applauded for her depth of research and her ability to portray all sides of the equation in a fair and balanced manner while still creating a very enjoyable read.—Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK