Apple: Skin to the Core

Awards or Honors: 

• National Book Awards Longlist
• Michael L. Printz Honor Book for 2021
• Time's 10 best YA and children's books of 2020
• NPR's best book of 2020
•  Shelf Awareness's best books of 2020
• Publisher's Weekly's big indie books of fall
• Amazon's best book of the month
• AICL best YA books of 2020
• CSMCL best multicultural children's books of 2020

Bibliographic Information:

Title: Apple: Skin to the Core

Author: Eric Gansworth

Publisher: Levine Querido

Copyright date: 2020

ISBN: 978-1646140138

Reading interest level: Grades 7 and up

Genre: Autobiographies and Memoirs; In-verse; Nonfiction

Format: Print Book

Author Description: 

Eric Gansworth "is an enrolled member of the Onondaga Nation. "He grew up in the Tuscarora Nation as a decendant of one of two Onondaga women present among the Tuscarora at the foundation of the nation in the 18th century (Eric Gansworth, 2021). Currently, he is a Professor of English and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York" (Gansworth, (n.d.). Gansworth has published several works using "synthesized verbal and visual images from the Haudenosaunee cosmology world, popular culture, and current indigenous life" (Gansworth, n.d.). Gansworth is a visual artist, as well as a writer. He has held solo exhibitions at art studios, and art is displayed in museums. Apple: Skin to the Core is his memoir and most recent work.

Plot Summary: 

This is Gansworth's memoir, in-verse, on his life growing up on the Tuscarora "rez" with his Onondaga family. He writes about his grandparents forced "incarceration" at boarding schools, where the purpose was to "kill the Indian, save the man" (Gansworth, 2020). He references the back and forth battle of family wanting to leave the reservation to seek better opportunities, yet feeling the pressure to stay to hold on to the culture. "Apple", is known as a slur among Native tribes, referring to someone being an Indian on the outside, yet White on the inside. It is someone who has forgotten their culture and assimilated to White culture. Gansworth also uses this term as a positive back by referencing the Beetles, Apple records, and relates their music to his life experiences. 

Creative Use for a Library Program: 

I would invite local First Nation organizations to hold a Pow wow at the library, where they can share stories about their culture.

Potential Challenge Issues:

 There is no sexual content, or offensive language in this book. It does touch on racism in pop culture, and in the policies of boarding schools his grandparents attended. I would defend the title by stating that Apple is a 2021 Printz Honor book, and it is written by an author who provides a perspective on a culture that deserves representation.

Reason for Inclusion:

I included this title because I wanted a book that represented First Nations. This memoir from Gansworth represents an own voice narrative.

Critical Evaluation:

Gansworth focuses on race and culture in this memoir. The book begins with stories of his grandparent's experiences in the boarding schools that American Indian were sent to, whose focus was to erase the memory of their original culture by keeping children away from their families long enough for them to never be able to return to a life as an Indian. Assimilation is a topic many immigrants have to deal with and it is relatable to many. However, the difference as Gansworth states, is that the people of Native tribes never wanted to become Americans. This was their home, and they wished to hold on to whatever land and culture they could hold on to, and that is the heartbreaking element of this memoir. 

Gansworth writes about feelings of growing up poor, his lack of knowledge about Indian culture, misconceptions from larger society of how Indians really live, and his estranged relationship with his father. All his stories are written in short verses, and it makes the book feel a little direction-less. It felt like a scrapbook of thoughts and emotions. Gansworth is a talented writer and artist, and the verses were well crafted, but they were full of angst. While teens may be able to relate to it, I would have preferred a heartwarming story sprinkled in every now and then. However, it does end with a little bright note as Gansworth writes about how the new generation has shown to embrace Native culture, and help to teach the next generation to keep their cultures alive.

Speed-Round Table Talk:

Eric Gansworth writes this book, in verse, about his childhood and teen years on a Tuscarora reservation, as a member of the Onandaga Nation. We learn about his family's history and about the struggle to hold on to his culture when so many were trying to erase it.