THE RELUCTANT STORYTELLER

A novella, a short story, and an essay explore Cherokee present and past.

In Cherokee storyteller Coulson’s title novella, Maurice “Chooch” Tenkiller, a Minnesota middle schooler, is stuck accompanying his uncle Dynamite on a road trip to attend the Wild Onion Festival in Greasy, Oklahoma, to tell stories. The Tenkillers are a family of Cherokee storytellers, but Chooch has his heart set on becoming a chef. In the car, Dynamite tells a traditional story about a fox that wants to fly, suggesting that Chooch can pursue his own destiny. Indeed, upon arriving at the festival, surrounded by his extended family, Chooch learns that his gift of cooking is its own way of telling stories. Unfortunately, after 38 pages of careful character development, Chooch’s compelling story ends abruptly in two pages of epiphany and limp denouement, jarring readers out of their relationship with the protagonist. Bear Don’t Walk (Crow/Northern Cheyenne) crafts bold paintings that have the feel of snapshots, breathing life into the story. Coulson’s second tale, “The Energy of the Thunder Beings,” illustrated by Cherokee artist Boney, follows young Saloli, who ignores his mother’s advice and climbs the mountain called Standing Man in search of a new pair of sticks to play stickball, a quest that leads him to an encounter with the Little People. The book concludes with a brief showcase of contemporary Cherokee life and culture as explained by Cherokee author Sorell.

Three valuable expressions of Cherokee culture; sadly, the marquee story starts strong but ultimately fails to satisfy.