Other Recommended Books
Books about Oregon and Our History Recommended by Librarians
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Recommended Fiction for Adults
Alexie, Sherman The Toughest Indian in
the World
This acclaimed collection of stories presents the kind of native
American rarely seen in literature--one portrayed without
stereotypes--who pays his bills, holds down jobs, and falls in
and out of love.
Bailey, Margaret The Grains, or, Passages
in the life of Ruth Rover, with occasional pictures of Oregon,
natural and moral
Balch, Frederic The Bridge of the gods; a
romance of Indian Oregon
Chacon, Daniel And the Shadows Took
Him
The Molinas, a Mexican American family, are living their version
of the American dream in a Fresno barrio. When William gets a
better job, it's the family's chance to enter the ranks of the
middle class, and he announces that they're off to try their
chances in Oregon.
Dillard, Annie The Living
The extravagantly praised, nationally bestselling first novel
from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dillard--a mesmerizing
evocation of life in the Pacific Northwest during the last
decades of the 19th century. "A novel of character that blends
history, social change, and individual dreams in a sophisticated,
seamless prose".--Seattle Times.
Doig, Ivan The Sea Runners
Four men, indentured Scandinavians, escape Russian Alaska and
make their way down the Pacific Northwest coast in a stolen
canoe.
Eidson, Tom All God's Children
A widowed Quaker woman struggles to raise her sons and keep her
land on the frontier. When she befriends and takes in a
Japanese-American family, trouble with her neighbors arises.
Fowler, Karen Joy Sarah Canary
Into a Chinese laborer's camp in the unsettled Northwest Pacific
wanders a strange white woman dressed in black, speaking a
garbled but ecstatic language. When a young Cantonese boy is
chosen to escort her back to whatever unknown place she came
from, they both embark on what proves to be an extraordinary
odyssey.
Hamamura, John The Color of the
Sea
Separated from his Japanese-American family and girlfriend by the
interment practices of World War II, martial arts master Sam
Hamada is recruited by the U.S. Army for a secret mission in
Japan, where he finds himself torn between cultures.
Hockenberry, John A River Out of
Eden
When several government employees are found murdered along the
Columbia River, Francine Smohalla, a government worker of Chinook
and white descent, embarks on an investigation and soon finds
herself caught between her tribe and a local extremist.
Hudson, Helen A Temporary
Residence
An emotionally charged portrait of the lives of the
Japanese-Americans evacuated from their homes after the Pearl
Harbor bombings and forced to relocate to the Mt. Hope Assembly
Center.
Ikeda, David Stewart What the Scarecrow
Said
Prosperous William Fujita, a Japanese American born as soon as
his mother arrives on the mainland in 1897, must go with his
family and other Japanese to the internment camps in 1942.
Kadohata, Cynthia The Floating
World
Story of a Japanese-American girl and her family travelling
around the Pacific Northwest during the 1950's.
Kogawa, Joy Obasan
Pearl Harbor changes life in Vancouver for Naomi Nakane when the
government takes property from her relatives and interns
them.
Larson, Elsie J. The Dawn's Early
Light
Also known as: Tides of war ; bk. 1
A woman whose husband was killed at Pearl Harbor must face her
prejudice when she is asked to spy on interned Japanese-Americans
but becomes sympathetic to their plight.
Kirk Mitchell Black Dragon
During World War II, Jared Campbell, a civilian homicide
detective stationed at Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp in
California, joins forces with Hank Fukuda, the camp's internal
police chief, to investigate the decapitation murder of the camp
director and the suicide of an internee
Malladi, Amulya Serving Crazy with
Curry
Pressured by her mother to marry and become a traditional Indian
wife and confronted by the loss of her job in Silicon Valley,
Devi seeks refuge from her despair in attempted suicide, only to
be forced to move back in with her parents until she
recovers.
Edward Miyakawa. Tule Lake
Mueller, Marnie The Climate of the
Country
The stories of the Japanese Americans interred at the Tule Lake
Relocation Center during the second World War are told by Denton
Jordan, a conscientious objector who both lives and works in the
camp.
Okada, John No-No Boy
Ichiro, a Japanese-American, returns to Seattle, Washington after
spending two years in an internment camp, and another two years
in prison.
Otsuka, Julie When the Emperor Was
Divine
Told from five different points of view, this story chronicles
the experiences of Japanese Americans caught up in the nightmare
of the World War II internment camps.
Pavelich, Matt Our Savage
From the Balkan backwater where he was born, Danilo Lazich, a
giant of a man, makes his difficult way through life, continually
wearing out his welcome in locales throughout Europe and the
United States, until he finally settles in a remote corner of
Wyoming.
Robinson, Eden Monkey Beach
Five hundred miles north of Vancouver is Kitamaat, an Indian
reservation in the homeland of the Haisla people. When the
mischievous 20-year-old Lisa Hill begins receiving visits from
otherworldly guests, readers discover that this small community
is alive with more than its colorful citizens.
Sakamoto, Kerri The Electrical
Field
When a lonely, middle-aged Japanese-Canadian women is implicated
in the murder of a beautiful young girl in a small Ontario
suburb, the whole community is forced to come to terms with its
dark past
Siporin, Alan Fire's Edge
From award-winning writer and former NPR reporter Alan Siporin,
comes a riveting novel of suspense and courage, where people,
good and bad, are tested by hate in Oregon's skinhead
underworld.
Tatlock, Ann All the Way Home
From an abusive German-Irish family, Augusta informally adopts
Sunny Yamagata's family as her own until the Yamagatas are sent
to a Japanese-American internment camp in the 1940s. They meet
again in Mississippi twenty years later.
Uyemoto, Holly Go
Wilhelmina deals with emotional problems and her
Japanese-American family's history on the eve of her 21st
birthday.
Veltfort, Ruhama The Promised
Land
The renegade son of an orthodox rabbi in the shetls of Poland
flees to the New World and settles into the mercantile splendor
of golden-age St. Louis, where he is driven by recurring visions
to lead his followers West on the Oregon Trail.
Weatherford, Joyce Heart of the
Beast
In an attempt to save her family farm, Iris Steele explores
generations of family history and lore, piecing together the
story of her family's past, and the events that fostered fear and
distrust between early homesteaders and Native Americans, and is
still felt by their descendants today.
Wheeler, Richard S The Fields of
Eden
In the mid 1840s, the trails from the Missouri frontier are
clogged with pioneers searching for a new life in a remote land
they call a "new Eden." This is the story of the emigrants who go
up against the British Hudson's Bay Company to overcome their
shattered dreams and make possible the settlement of Old
Oregon
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Recommended Non-Fiction for Adults:
Aguilar, George When the river ran wild!:
Indian traditions on the Mid-Columbia and the Warm Springs
Reservation
Aguilar uses personal and historical documents to illustrate the
changes for the Kiksht Chinooks since the arrival of Lewis and
Clark. As he shares in his introduction, "This book focuses on
Indian names and name-giving, fishing lore, and known traditional
customs, myths, and beliefs."
Allerfeldt , Kristofer Race, radicalism,
religion and restriction: immigration in the Pacific Northwest,
1890 - 1924
Many newcomers to the Northwest received exclusions rather than
welcomes when arriving in the Northwest. In Allerfeldt's work,
religion is represented by Catholic pioneers, radicalism by the
International Workers of the World (Wobblies) and race by
Japanese immigrants. Through these groups we get a picture of the
social forces at work in the Northwest from 1890 to 1924.
Applegate, Shannon Skookum: an Oregon
Pioneer Family's History and Lore
This book chronicles the history of the Applegate family
beginning with their journey along the Oregon Trail to the
Yoncalla Valley to the present day.
Beckham, Stephen Dow Requiem for a
people: the Rogue Indians and the frontiersmen
Originally published in 1971, this classic study chronicles the
consequences of settlers, war and other forces on the Rogue River
Indians.
Boag, Peter Environment and experience:
settlement culture in nineteenth-century
Boag explores the relationship between settlers and the
environment, looking at how the settlers' sense of community
varied and changed over time. The author challenges the view of
the settler's relationship with nature and the wilderness as a
battle rather than a positive experience.
Dary, David The Oregon Trail: an American
saga
The Oregon Trail was the longest voluntary migration in history.
Using primary sources, this book covers the history of the fur
traders, missionaries, farmers, gold-seekers, and others who made
this trip and had a profound influence on the American West.
De Cristoforo, Violet Kazue May sky:
there is always tomorrow: an anthology of Japanese American
concentration camp kaiko haiku
De Cristoforo anthologizes Kaiko Haiku, a contemporary form of
the poetry which is not restricted to discussion of nature or the
traditional haiku structure. Her work provides a history of haiku
clubs, their members and their poetry, prior to and during the
Japanese Internment.
Dirlik, Arikf Chinese on the American
frontier
This collection of articles provides an overview of Chinese life
in 19th century America in the West, including a section specific
to the Northwest.
Etulain, Richard W Beyond the Missouri:
the story of the American West
Covering a variety of topics including political, social and
cultural changes, this volume chronicles the history of the
American West and its changes starting with the first people in
the area and continuing on to the present day.
Gamboa, Erasmo Nosotros: the Hispanic
people of Oregon: essays and recollections
Husted, Bette Lynch Above the Clearwater:
living on stolen land
This collection of essays touches on a variety of social and
cultural topics as the author follows her family's history that
begins on land in North Central Idaho that was originally home to
the Nez Perce Indians.
Inada, Lawson Fusao Drawing the line:
poems
Oregon's current Poet Laureate shares poetry about Oregon,
Japanese American life and other topics in this collection.
Inada, Lawson Fusao Only what we could
carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience
This collection of letters, stories, poetry and art reflects the
experiences of many of the Japanese Americans held in internment
camps during World War II.
Koppel, Tom Kanaka: the untold story of
Hawaiian pioneers in British Columbia and the Pacific
Northwest
Koppel uses primary sources and interviews to piece together the
experiences of Hawaiians who immigrated to the Pacific Northwest
in the late 1800s.
Lowenstein, Steven The Jews of Oregon,
1850 - 1950
Using primary sources and oral histories, Lowenstein details the
history of Jewish communities throughout Oregon. The book covers
pioneer migrations in the 1800s to middle of the 20th
century.
Oregon Council for the Humanities The
First Oregonians: an illustrated collection of essays on
traditional lifeways, Federal-Indian relations, and the State's
Native People today.
The First Oregonians is a collection of essays reflecting the
story of the native people of Oregon. This history covers life
before the Oregon Trail up to contemporary times.
Oregon Council for the Humanities
Nosotros: the Hispanic people of Oregon: essays and
recollections
Nosotros contains essays and narratives which cover the history,
influence and perspectives of the Hispanic community in
Oregon.
Ravage, John W. Black Pioneers: Images of
the Black experience on the North American Frontier
Ravage has collected previously unpublished photographs showing
the experience of African Americans in the frontier West,
including a chapter on the Pacific Northwest.
Tamura, Linda Hood River Issei: an oral
history of Japanese settlers in Oregon's Hood River
Valley
Through interviews conducted in the 1980's when the youngest
Issei interviewed was 82 yrs old, Tamura collected oral histories
of Japanese who immigrated to the US between the 1890's and 1924
to settle in the Hood River Valley. Themes explored include
cultural experiences, immigration, settlement and internment
during World War II.
Wendt, Ingrid From here we speak: an
anthology of Oregon Poetry
This anthology collects a variety of Oregon poetry, from the
songs of the Native Oregon Tribes to contemporary offerings. This
collection follows the history of Oregon poetry and provides a
unique perspective of Oregon community and history.
Willingham, William F. Starting over:
community building on the eastern Oregon frontier
Focusing on the creation of a frontier community, this family
history covers the settlement of Long Creek Valley in Eastern
Oregon from the late 1800s to the 20th century.
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