This is a very special Q&A of the book club, we encourage you to share this invitation with your patrons statewide.  The diaspora of Native Americans is covers our state from one end to the other.  As always, there is no fee to participate nor any type of residency requirement.

UP Notable Book Club presents a Q&A session about Sharon M. Brunner's Michigan Indian Boarding School Survivors Speak Out

Official Seal of the U.P. Notable Books
UP Notable Book Club: The Crystal Falls Community District Library in partnership with the U.P. Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) has scheduled author events with winners of the UP Notable Book List. The 46th event is with Sharon Marie Brunner. She has published five books associated with the history of Native Americans. Brunner is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie [Michigan] Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The impact of Indian boarding schools has been devastating for generations of Native Americans, and the aftershocks continue to affect their descendants today. Michigan was home to three: in Baraga, Harbor Springs and Mt. Pleasant. The last to close was Holy Childhood School of Jesus, in Harbor Springs. The aim of Michigan Indian Boarding School Survivors Speak Out was to both study and preserve the memories of survivors before, during, and after their school experience.

When: Thursday, May 8th, 2025 at 7 pm Eastern / 6 pm Central
Where: on the Zoom platform -- please contact Evelyn Gathu in advance at egathu@crystalfallslibrary.org, or by phone at (906) 875-3344. We recommend you borrow a copy of these books from your local library or purchase from your local bookseller in advance to get the most out of these events.

Sharon Marie Brunner is shownSHARON M. BRUNNER has worked with the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians as an Education/Disabilities Coordinator for the tribal Head Start Program and as an Education Coordinator for the Johnson O’Malley Program. Sharon served as a private consultant for the Department of Health and Human Services as a federal reviewer of tribal Head Start Programs in the U.S. and was a professor for the Bay Mills Community College, a tribal college.  As a member of the aforementioned tribe, she served on the Child Welfare Committee for many years. Sharon has spent a good portion of my life either providing service or writing about Native Americans.  On May 17th, 2025 she will be presenting a workshop on “Addressing the Needs of Native Americans in Literature.” at the 27th annual Spring Conference of the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA) at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette, Michigan.

Cover of the book - Michigan Indian Board School Survivors Speak Outhttps://www.amazon.com/Michigan-Indian-Boarding-School-Survivors/dp/1615998020
"Sharon Marie Brunner combines her family and tribal experiences with historical research to provide a unique and strong foundation for this narrative history. Originally a dissertation, which she wrote to complete the requirements for her Masters Degree in Social Work, Brunner soon realized that her study deserved a wider audience. I'm grateful that her publisher, Modern History Press, agreed. Now in book form, this landmark study is available to the general public as well as to scholars, historians, tribal members, and anyone interested in Native American history. Based on interviews with Northern Michigan Native people who had lived in an Indian Boarding School or whose parent(s) had lived in a Boarding School, Michigan Indian Boarding School Survivors Speak Out includes the interviews Brunner conducted as well as her meticulous analysis of the resulting data, which enabled her to delineate the social, personal, and spiritual effects of this government enforced separation of children from their families, and of the lasting negative impact that resulted from the denigration of the children's Native heritage and cultural mores. I highly recommend this book." 
-- Sue Harrison, international bestselling author of The Storyteller Trilogy. 

More information about the U.P. Notable Book list, U.P. Book Review, and UPPAA can be found on www.UPNotable.com

About the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA)
Established in 1998 to support authors and publishers who live in or write about Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, UPPAA is a Michigan nonprofit association with over 180 members, many of whose books are featured on the organization’s website at www.uppaa.org. UPPAA welcomes membership and participation from anyone with a UP connection who is interested in writing. 

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Regards,

Victor R. Volkman, President
L H Press Inc.
www.LHPress.com