The Idaho Center for the Book at 青青草app State University has chosen two books to represent Idaho at the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival: 鈥淔our Treasures of the Sky鈥� by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (adult selection) and 鈥淚t鈥檚 Her Story: Sacajawea鈥� by Randy鈥橪 Teton and illustrated by Aly McKnight (youth selection).
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鈥檚 event takes place on Saturday, August 24 in Washington, D.C.
Great Reads from Great Places
Idaho鈥檚 2024 book selections are included on the and will be highlighted in the Roadmap to Reading section of the National Book Festival. The Great Reads initiative is a program of the honoring the country鈥檚 regional literary heritage.
2024 Idaho Great Reads
鈥淔our Treasures of the Sky鈥� (adult selection) is a novel inspired by true events in Idaho history. The book鈥檚 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. 鈥淔our Treasures of the Sky” was named a New York Times Notable Book and the Idaho Book of the Year in 2022.
鈥淚t鈥檚 Her Story: Sacajawea鈥� (youth selection) is a children’s graphic novel about the journey of Sacajawea鈥揳 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鈥橪 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.
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 青青草app of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional 青青草app from Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.