On a not so unusual summer day, Celia, and best friends, Tammi and sister Parrot, take a stroll down along their northern Minnesota town's river bank. The trio has planned a solid afternoon of sunbathing and talking guys. Following along the usual trail to the river under a canopy of large cottonwood trees, they are accosted by an outlaw biker, and the whole summer takes a different direction. In 1965 small town America, and the setting for this story, still enjoyed drive-in movies, the local softball team, summer dances, and swimming in the nearest watering hole. It wasn't quite the "Summer of Love," but the Beetles were big on the radio, while most small towns were still attached to the 50's, and dependant on the surrounding farms for their economy. Celia, with one year left of high school, bridges the world of her just-off-reservation town of Beaverton, and almost on-rez Native culture through her love of nature. Except for a supportive bond with her Uncle Reese, the town sheriff, Celia is growing increasingly independent of her family. Uncle Reese, with an often heavy hand, mentors, encourages and befriends this, at-times, all too dreamy teen. Uncle Reese is full of heart and wisdom, and may be tough on crime but understanding enough to allow Celia space to explore her own identity and make mistakes without fully falling victim to the outlaw biker. It's Uncle Reese's sense of compassion for everyone in his jurisdiction that Celia respects while valuing the duties of his job and never undermining his authority. By the end of the summer Celia will change. She will give up a little of her youthful simplicity, but she'll find a greater sense of identity, personal values and boundaries. Here begins the transforming of, "Celia, the Girl." My interest in writing this book was to offer a young women's perspective via her own inner voice and talks with her girlfriends, providing the reader some of the reasoning behind her hormonally-driven choices in developing male relationships. Celia trusts the opinion and support provided by her Uncle Reese, and somewhat reluctantly listens to his advice when he recognizes her loosened boundaries. As most teen men and women, Celia is no exception in growing weary of her parent's watchful eye. She is feeling grown up enough to choose her male relationships without their knowledge, even if the male company isn't interested in reciprocating her emotional best interest. Young adults need mentors and guidance to assist in steering their innocent passions of love, the desire to be loved through intimate relations, and balancing those desires with achieving their dreams of career and purpose. Through Celia's character we briefly explore the thoughts of young women and what motivates the young men who desire them. In openly discussing choices, as Uncle Reese is determined to do with Celia, she is better able to review the options, consequences and whether she can live with the truth. Celia, led by her curiosity and desire, learns only after drastic events that her ability to see what she doesn't want to believe is the truth her friends, parents and Uncle Reese, with no emotional attachment, see clearly. These issues are those of most young women around the globe. For young women without goals, guidance and mentors, particularly in minority communities, it's a challenge to stay focused and on the road to self-actualization, before succumbing to a young man's desires. This is one such story.
I grew up on the plains. I remember at age two or three looking over vast black fields with striped patterns-rows I now know had been indented by farm machines that planted or picked the autumn crop of potatoes. I sat on that black dusty earth watching as my mother and father picked up the leftovers the machines didn't pluck or the sorters had rejected. My legs couldn't keep up with my folks; the indented rows were difficult hills and valleys to small feet, so in resignation, I sat and watched the scene. If I stood to make progress in the direction of my parents, the foretelling wind grabbed a fistful of dirt refined to sandiness and pressed it like pins to my exposed skin. It was meant to warn in a most fortuitous manner that Winter was following right on its heels and would soon roll down off the Tundra with little resignation, until exhaustion overtook it somewhere down south. I would then sit back down and cuddle into my rut, as earth comforted my tormented skin, and warmed me to my heart. Debra Peebles was born to a Red Lake Band of Chippewa/Fort Peck Lakota mother, and a Scot and English father. Celia, the Girl is her second book. Her first, a memoir, a coming of age book inspired by recognition of the Great Mother energy called, Extraordinary Storms, or I Remember Mother.
