The Idaho Center for the Book at Boise State University has chosen two books to represent Idaho at the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival: “Four Treasures of the Sky” by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (adult selection) and “It’s Her Story: Sacajawea” by Randy’L Teton and illustrated by Aly McKnight (youth selection).
National Book Festival
The Library of Congress National Book Festival is a free, annual literary event that brings together bestselling authors and thousands of book fans for author talks, panel discussions, book signings, and other activities. This year’s event takes place on Saturday, August 24 in Washington, D.C.
Great Reads from Great Places
Idaho’s 2024 book selections are included on the Library of Congress list of Great Reads From Great Places and will be highlighted in the Roadmap to Reading section of the National Book Festival. The Great Reads initiative is a program of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress honoring the country’s regional literary heritage.
2024 Idaho Great Reads
Four Treasures of the Sky (adult selection)
“Four Treasures of the Sky” is a novel inspired by true events in Idaho history. The book’s fictional heroine, Daiyu, is a young girl fighting to claim her own story after being kidnapped and smuggled from China to America in the 1880s. Daiyu eventually makes her way from San Francisco to Pierce, Idaho, just as anti-Chinese sentiment is sweeping across the country in the wake of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Author Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a Chinese-American writer. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Apogee, Ninth Letter, Passages North, The Rumpus, HuffPost, The Cut, Catapult, and elsewhere. She was born in Changchun, China and grew up in Austin, Texas, where she currently lives. “Four Treasures of the Sky” was named a New York Times Notable Book and the Idaho Book of the Year in 2022. Click here to listen to an interview with Zhang on Boise State Public Radio.
It’s Her Story: Sacajawea (youth selection)
“It’s Her Story: Sacajawea” is a children’s graphic novel about the journey of Sacajawea–a brilliant, multilingual Shoshone girl who was torn from her home in present day Idaho at a young age. In 1804, she set out with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide across hundreds of miles of unmapped land to reach the Pacific Ocean. The story is written from a tribal perspective by Randy’L Teton, and illustrated by tribal artist Aly McKnight, both enrolled members of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe of Fort Hall, Idaho.
Author Randy’L Teton has curated multiple exhibitions in Idaho highlighting Shoshone-Bannock history and culture. In 1998, she served as the official model for the U.S Native American Dollar coin featuring Sacajawea. She is currently working on a personal memoir. Click here to read an interview with Teton in the Idaho State Journal.
Illustrator Aly McKnight creates art featuring vibrant colors and Indigenous stories. She spends her days sketching, painting, collaborating with the Indigenous creative community, and adventuring with her family throughout Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.
The National Book Festival Roadmap to Reading is made possible by the generous support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.