Traci Sorell

Traci Sorell is an American author of fiction and nonfiction works for teens and an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation.

Personal lifestyle

Sorell has spent her life with her family living on the Cherokee Nation tribe's reservation in northeastern Oklahoma by Fort Gibson Lake.^[1] Her mother's family has lived in the area since 1838 when Cherokee people were removed from their homelands.^[2] She has a younger brother and sister.^[2]

As a child, Sorell learned about her ancestors from her grandmother, fishing, and caring for animals and the land.^[2] She also enjoyed reading, singing, and performing in theater productions.^[2]

When Sorell was a teenager, she and her family moved to Southern California, and she became the first person in her family to graduate from college.^[3] Her mother, sister, and brother later received degrees, as well.^[2]

Sorell's second language is Spanish, though she is trying to learn the Cherokee language.^[2]

Education

Sorell majored in Native American Studies and minored in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley graduating with a Bachelor Arts in 1994.^[1] During her time at Berkeley, Sorell lived in Madrid and taught English and Spanish to children and adults.^[2]

In 1996, she received a Master of Arts from the University of Arizona, where she studied American Indian Studies with a concentration in Federal Indian Law & Policy.^[1]

Later, Sorell returned to school and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2001.^[1]

Career

Sorell began her career by helping Native Nations and their citizens by writing "legal codes, testimony for Congressional hearings, federal budget requests, grants and reports."^[2]

Since beginning her writing career, Sorell has continued to focus on incorporating culturally accurate books about Cherokee and other Indigenous people for children and young adults.^[2]

Sorell is currently a Tulsa Artist Fellow.^[1]

Awards and honors

Four of Sorell's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Powwow Day,^[4] We Are Still Here!,^[5] We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga,^[6] and Classified.^[7]

Awards and honors for Sorell's books

Year	Title	Award/Honor	Result	Ref.
2018	We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga	Reading the West Book Award	Winner	^[8]
2019		Boston Globe–Horn Book Award	Honor	^[9]^[10]
		Orbis Pictus Award	Honor	^[11]
		Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award	Honor	^[12]
		ALA Notable Children's Books	Selection	^[13]
2020	At the Mountain's Base	ALA Notable Children's Books	Selection	^[14]^[15]
		American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[16]^[17]
		Rise: A Feminist Book List	Top 10	^[18]^[19]
	Indian No More	ALA Notable Children's Books	Selection	^[20]
		American Indian Youth Literature Award	Winner	^[16]
	We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[16]^[17]
		Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title	Finalist	^[21]
		Odyssey Award	Honor	^[22]^[23]
2022	At the Mountain's Base	ALA Notable Children's Recordings	Selection	^[24]
	We Are Still Here!	ALA Notable Children's Recordings	Selection	^[24]
		American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[25]^[17]
		Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award	Honor	^[25]
	Classified	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[25]^[17]
		Orbis Pictus Award	Honor	^[26]
		Rise: A Feminist Book List	Selection	^[27]
2024	Contenders	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[28]
	Mascot	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor
	She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor

Publications

Ages 4+

• We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac (2019)
• At the Mountain's Base / ᎾᏍᎩᏃ ᎤᎾᎢ ᎡᎳᏗᏢ ᎣᏓᎸᎢ, ᎾᎢ, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (2019)
• Pow Wow Day, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (2022)
• Being Home, illustrated by Michaela Goade (2023)
• Clack, Clack! Smack! A Cherokee Stickball Story, illustrated by Joseph Erb (2024)

Ages 7+

• Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (2021)
• One Land, Many Nations: Volume 1 with Lee Francis IV, illustrated by Jesse Hummingbird (2021)
• We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know, illustrated by Frané Lessac (2021)

Middle grade

• Indian No More with Charlene Willing McManis (2019)
• She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller with Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint (2022)
• Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series, illustrated by Arigon Starr (2023)
• Mascot with Charles Waters (2023)
• Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal with Will Chavez (2025)

Anthology contributions

• Thanku: Poems of Gratitude, edited by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Marlena Myles (2019)
• No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History, edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley, illustrated by Jeanette Bradley (2020)
• The Reluctant Storyteller with Art Coulson, illustrated by Carlin Bear Don't Walk and Roy Boney Jr. (2020)
• The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson (2020)
• Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (2021)
• Wonderful Women of the World, edited by Laurie Halse Anderson (2021)
• No World Too Big: Young People Fighting for Global Climate Change, edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley, illustrated by Jeanette Bradley (2023)

References

1. "Traci Sorell". Tulsa Arts Fellowship. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
2. "About". Traci Sorell. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
3. "Traci Sorell". AACRAO. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
4. "Powwow Day by Traci Sorell". Junior Library Guild.
5. "We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
6. "We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
7. "Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
8. Wittenstein, Barry (2019-04-17). "Awards: Reading the West; RBC Taylor Emerging Writer". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
9. "Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners". The Horn Book. 2019-05-29. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
10. Holmes, Linda (2019-05-30). "Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
11. "Announcing the 2019 NCTE Children's Book Awards". NCTE. 2018-11-17. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
12. Morales, Macey (2019-01-28). "Joyce Sidman wins 2019 Sibert Medal". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
13. "ALSC names 2019 Notable Children's Books". American Library Association. 2019-02-25. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
14. "Notable Children's Books: 2020". Booklist. March 15, 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
15. "2020 Notable Children's Books". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
16. Aase, Lara (2020-01-27). "AILA announces 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Awards". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
17. "American Indian Youth Literature Award". American Indian Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
18. "Rise: A Feminist Book Project: 2020". Booklist. March 15, 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
19. "At the Mountain's Base | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. February 6, 2020. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
20. "2020 Notable Children's Books". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
21. "2020 Audie Awards®". Audio Publishers Association. from the original on 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
22. "2020 ALSC Book & Media Award Winners". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). 2020-01-27. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
23. Morales, Macey (2020-01-27). "Scholastic Audiobooks wins 2020 Odyssey Award for "Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction"". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
24. "2022 Notable Children's Recordings Round 1 Discussion List" (PDF). American Library Association. June 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
25. Morales, Macey (2022-01-24). "American Library Association announces 2022 Youth Media Award winners". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
26. SLJ Staff (2021-11-21). "2022 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck Awards Announced". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
27. "Current Book List". Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18. 2020-08-18. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
28. "American Library Association announces 2024 Youth Media Award winners" (PDF). American Library Association. Retrieved 22 January 2024.

External links

• Official website