"A poignant story of colonization and assimilation, something I know a little bit about. A masterpiece."--Chinua Achebe
Praise for Edge of Nowhere
"Smelcer's prose is lyrical, straightforward, and brilliant . . . authentic Native Alaskan storytelling at its best."--School Library Journal (starred review)
"A spare tale of courage, love and terrible obstacles."--The Wall Street Journal
"More psychological depth than Robinson Crusoe."--Frank McCourt
Praise for Lone Wolves
"A beautiful and moving story of courage and love."--Ray Bradbury
"Smelcer is] a rockstar of Alaskan literature."--Mushing magazine
"Powerful, eloquent, and fascinating."--Kirkus Reviews
"Smelcer's work has a touch of the classical, combining good old-fashioned adventure and survival themes with heart-tugging moments of clarity and poignancy that recall Jean Craighead George's Julie of the Wolves."--Booklist
Praise for The Trap
"A gripping and poignant story, made even more so because of its basis in historical fact."--Horn Book (starred review)
Four Indian teenagers are kidnapped from different regions, their lives immutably changed by an institution designed to eradicate their identity. And no matter what their home, their stories are representative of every story, every stolen life. So far from home, without family to protect them, only their friendship helps them endure. This is a work of fiction. Every word is true.
John Smelcer is the author of over forty books, including essays, story collections, poetry, and novels, and five YA novels.
John Smelcer is the poetry editor of Rosebud magazine and the author of more than forty books, including the recent young adult novels Lone Wolves, Edge of Nowhere, and Savage Mountain (Leapfrog Press, 2013, 2014, 2015). He is an Alaskan Native of the Ahtna tribe, and is now the last tribal member who reads and writes in Ahtna. John holds degrees in anthropology and archaeology, linguistics, literature, and education. He also holds a PhD in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, and formerly chaired the Alaska Native Studies program at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
His first novel, The Trap, was an American Library Association BBYA Top Ten Pick and a VOYA Top Shelf Selection. The Great Death was short-listed for the 2011 William Allen White Award, and nominated for the National Book Award, the BookTrust Prize (England). His Alaska Native mythology books include The Raven and the Totem (introduced by Joseph Campbell). His short stories, poems, essays, and interviews have appeared in hundreds of magazines, and he is winner of the 2004 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award and of the 2004 Western Writers of America Award for Poetry for his collection Without Reservation. John divides his time between a cabin in Talkeetna, the climbing capitol of Alaska, where he wrote much of Lone Wolves, and Kirksville Mo., where he is a visiting scholar in the Department of Communications Studies at Truman State University.
Awards
John Smelcer is the winner of the 2004 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award and of the 2004 Western Writers of America Award for Poetry for his collection Without Reservation
Lone Wolves was chosen for ALA's Amelia Bloomer book list.
Edge of Nowhere is on the Alaska Library Association's 2014 Battle of the Books list.
The Great Death
- Nominated for the BookTrust Prize (England); Short-listed for the 2011 William Allen White Book Award for Children's Literature.
