Little Town Tea's Book Corner

Leslie Silko's Gardens in the Dunes is my favorite Native American novel. It is a beautiful and tragic story that follows two sisters who are separated when they are forced into different away schools. I used this novel, along with three other novels, to write my final paper in my senior seminar class that dealt only with Native American literature. As I wrote in my paper, Sister Salt, the older of the sisters, is thought too old to be sent to the same school as her sister, Indigo; “the authorities judged Sister Salt to be too much older than the others to send away to Indian boarding school. There was hope the little ones might be educated away from their blankets. [. . .] Chances were she’d be a troublemaker and might urge the younger students to attempt escape” (67). Realizing that the older the person was the harder it would be to melt away their Native American identity, the authorities separated the two sisters, with neither having any knowledge about the other. While Indigo is taken away to a standard boarding school, Sister Salt is shipped away to somewhere that is loosely referred to as “a school.”
This book continues to follow each sister in her separate life and adventure. Leslie Silko, a Native American herself, does a fantastic job demonstrating the life a Native American girl on her own and what she would have to deal with at the time the story is set. It is an eye opening book with a story anyone would enjoy. I highly recommended picking up Silko's Gardens in the Dunes.

Little Town Tea's Quote of the Week

"I'll not confer with sorrow
Till tomorrow;
But Joy shall have her way
This very day."
- T. B. Aldrich

Happy Easter Little Town Tea Lovers!

I hope you all have a wonderful day hunting for brightly colored eggs among the dandelions and tulips that flourish in your grassy lawns.

Snail Mail

One of my favorite past times is writing letters. There is nothing like sitting down with a mug full of hot green tea, finding the right pen, rummaging through a box full of different stationary, picking the perfect one, and writing a letter. Unfortunately, I have difficulty putting the time aside for one of my favorite hobbies and only perform the task once in a blue moon, but when I begin writing I don't just write one letter. Last week I found myself in the mood to write. I turned on Joni Mitchell, made some tea, lighted a pumpkin spice scented candle and wrote three letters, including one with drawings and complete bios of my fictional pirate crew of the "Dirty Mermaid." Not only is writing letters enjoyable, it is so much more personal than receiving an e-mail or writing on someone's facebook wall. So, when you are listening to some good music and find your hand wanting to move and your mouth thirsting for the taste of tea, pick out the right pen, go through your box of collected stationary that you have picked up throughout the years, pick the right one, and write a letter.