Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!
Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.
Congratulations to Ann Dallman on the release of Cady and the Search for Family
This is the third book in the Cady Whirlwind Thunder series. How did you come up with the idea for your third book?
Like many authors, I’ve found that my characters assume a life of their own. When writing my Cady books (middle grade novels) I often feel as if I’m channeling my character. I felt Cady’s frustration, anger and sadness at the disappearance of her mother. Cady and the reader don’t know what happened to her mother and the reason for her disappearance. I wanted to write about a female heroine, someone the age of my former students, who was from a woodland band of Indians. The Potawatomi (Keepers of the Fire) have seven bands and Hannahville is the Woodland Band.
The Potawatomi are part of the Three Fires Confederation (Potawatomi, Ojibway and Odawa).
What was the most difficult part of writing the book?
Writing this particular story was difficult because it contains an underlying theme of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People. I was helped with my research by a few of my former students from the Hannahville Reservation (Potawatomi) in Wilson, MI. This is an important topic and one which needs to receive more attention. I also wanted to present a warning, within a story, telling teens to be careful of internet involvements with strangers. From my twenty-five years as a classroom teacher, and as a parent and grandparent, I know that direct lectures are not always the most effective way to do this. I hope that readers will respond to the message when presented in story form.
What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?
I’d like my readers (and I have readers of all ages) to relate to Cady’s message, “I’m here, see me.” Through missing her mother and trying to find her, Cady is learning how to see herself. All of us, at varying times in our life, seem to struggle with how to see ourselves as we grow and change. Christine DeSmet, a fabulous mystery writer, developmental editor and Distinguished Faculty Associate (writing) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said “We are inundated with ads and commercials about makeup, right? As if seeing ourselves isn’t good enough. We need masks. But we don’t…girls and young women need to truly ‘see’ themselves and value themselves so that they don’t get into trouble by following the wrong guy or path.” I love her explanation of this which truly captures one of the main themes of this third Cady book.
I am also very proud of these two reviews:
“An adventure requires friends, and Cady Whirlwind Thunder has many. She must draw on the strength of all her spirit helpers as she reluctantly follows a path into a mystery about her very identity. Ann Dallman invites the reader to share a worthy, modern story about Native American youth, family, values and resilience.”
-Martin Reinhardt, PhD (Anishnaabe Ojibway) Professor Emeritus, Northern Michigan University Center for Native American Studies
“In Cady and the Search for Family, the third novel in the Cady Whirlwind Thunder mysteries, author Ann Dallman gives the reader another heart-deep journey into the disappointments and hope-filled dreams of Cady, a modern Native American teenage girl. As in the first two novels of the series, Dallman spins a mystery within the storyline that adds the perfect touch of tension.”
-Sue Harrison, internationally best-selling author
What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find it?
I have several author appearances lined up in the UP and Wisconsin. My first one is set for April 12 at Spies Public Library in Menominee, MI followed by two this upcoming summer in Door County. I’m especially excited about a July author signing I’ll be doing in Chicago. The exposure through SCBWI is invaluable and I plan to approach radio and newspaper outlets and will pursue the usual social medial sources. I’ve found that word of mouth and local advertising in my hometown areas of Marinette (WI) and Menominee (MI) are also worth pursuing.
What's next for you?
Years ago, I wrote a memoir focused on my 15 years teaching on the Hannahville Reservation. I was working with a literary agent from New York who referred me to an editor from the New Yorker magazine. I put that project aside for various personal reasons and then wrote my Cady books. I’d like to return to that project with a fresh outlook that time has provided.
More about the book . . .
Cady’s mother disappeared when Cady was only six-years-old. Now about to turn 14, Cady aches for her mother to be with her. In an attempt to curb her granddaughter’s angry outbursts, Grandma Winnie takes Cady on a road trip throughout Wisconsin and Michigan. “We’ll repeat the trip your mother took when she was your age and maybe you’ll learn more about her,” Grandma tells Cady. Adding to Cady’s stress is the deadline for her essay entry in Barnesville’s centennial celebration. Through missing her mother and trying to find her, Cady is learning to see herself. Accompanying her on her adventures are her best friend, Irish; her “crush,” John Ray Chigaug; and, an ever-present blue jay.
Published by: Modern History Press (an imprint of Loving Healing Press) of Ann Arbor, MI
More about the author . . .
Ann Dallman has lifelong roots in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This is her third Cady novel. Cady and the Bear Necklace (Midwest Book Award Winner) and Cady and the Birchbark Box are both UP Notable Books and received State History Awards from the Historical Society of Michigan. (Cady and the Bear Necklace also received the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award.) A retired teacher, Ann continues to work as a freelance journalist and photographer. “Sometimes I write myself into a corner. That’s when I go swimming, that’s where the solution comes to me.” Fall is her favorite season, and she is passionate about making applesauce.
Website: https://www.anndallman.com/
Instagram: AnnDallmanAuthor
Facebook: AnnDallmanAuthor