Traci Sorell Explained

Traci Sorell is an American author of fiction and nonfiction works for teens and an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation.

Personal lifestyle

Sorell has spent her life with her family living on the Cherokee Nation tribe's reservation in northeastern Oklahoma by Fort Gibson Lake.^[1] Her mother's family has lived in the area since 1838 when Cherokee people were removed from their homelands.^[2] She has a younger brother and sister.

As a child, Sorell learned about her ancestors from her grandmother, fishing, and caring for animals and the land. She also enjoyed reading, singing, and performing in theater productions.

When Sorell was a teenager, she and her family moved to Southern California, and she became the first person in her family to graduate from college.^[3] Her mother, sister, and brother later received degrees, as well.

Sorell's second language is Spanish, though she is trying to learn the Cherokee language.

Education

Sorell majored in Native American Studies and minored in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley graduating with a Bachelor Arts in 1994. During her time at Berkeley, Sorell lived in Madrid and taught English and Spanish to children and adults.

In 1996, she received a Master of Arts from the University of Arizona, where she studied American Indian Studies with a concentration in Federal Indian Law & Policy.

Later, Sorell returned to school and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2001.

Career

Sorell began her career by helping Native Nations and their citizens by writing "legal codes, testimony for Congressional hearings, federal budget requests, grants and reports."

Since beginning her writing career, Sorell has continued to focus on incorporating culturally accurate books about Cherokee and other Indigenous people for children and young adults.

Sorell is currently a Tulsa Artist Fellow.

Awards and honors

Four of Sorell's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Powwow Day,^[4] We Are Still Here!,^[5] We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga,^[6] and Classified.^[7]

Awards and honors for Sorell's books!Year!Title!Award/Honor!Result!Ref.

2018	We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga	Reading the West Book Award	Winner	^[8]
2019		Boston Globe–Horn Book Award	Honor	^[9] ^[10]
		Orbis Pictus Award	Honor	^[11]
		Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award	Honor	^[12]
		ALA Notable Children's Books	Selection	^[13]
2020	At the Mountain's Base	ALA Notable Children's Books	Selection	^[14] ^[15]
		American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[16] ^[17]
		Rise: A Feminist Book List	Top 10	^[18] ^[19]
	Indian No More	ALA Notable Children's Books	Selection	^[20]
		American Indian Youth Literature Award	Winner
	We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor
		Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title	Finalist	^[21]
		Odyssey Award	Honor	^[22] ^[23]
2022	At the Mountain's Base	ALA Notable Children's Recordings	Selection	^[24]
	We Are Still Here		ALA Notable Children's Recordings	Selection
		American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[25]
		Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award	Honor
	Classified	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor
		Orbis Pictus Award	Honor	^[26]
		Rise: A Feminist Book List	Selection	^[27]
2024	Contenders	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor	^[28]
	Mascot	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor
	She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller	American Indian Youth Literature Award	Honor

Publications

Ages 4+

• We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac (2019)
• At the Mountain's Base / ᎾᏍᎩᏃ ᎤᎾᎢ ᎡᎳᏗᏢ ᎣᏓᎸᎢ, ᎾᎢ, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (2019)
• Pow Wow Day, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (2022)
• Being Home, illustrated by Michaela Goade (2023)
• Clack, Clack! Smack! A Cherokee Stickball Story, illustrated by Joseph Erb (2024)

Ages 7+

• Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (2021)
• One Land, Many Nations: Volume 1 with Lee Francis IV, illustrated by Jesse Hummingbird (2021)
• We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know, illustrated by Frané Lessac (2021)

Middle grade

• Indian No More with Charlene Willing McManis (2019)
• She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller with Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint (2022)
• Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series, illustrated by Arigon Starr (2023)
• Mascot with Charles Waters (2023)
• Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal with Will Chavez (2025)

Anthology contributions

• Thanku: Poems of Gratitude, edited by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Marlena Myles (2019)
• No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History, edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley, illustrated by Jeanette Bradley (2020)
• The Reluctant Storyteller with Art Coulson, illustrated by Carlin Bear Don't Walk and Roy Boney Jr. (2020)
• The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson (2020)
• Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (2021)
• Wonderful Women of the World, edited by Laurie Halse Anderson (2021)
• No World Too Big: Young People Fighting for Global Climate Change, edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley, illustrated by Jeanette Bradley (2023)

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Traci Sorell. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.tulsaartistfellowship.org/fellows/sorell . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. Tulsa Arts Fellowship.
2. Web site: About. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.tracisorell.com/about . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. Traci Sorell. en-US.
3. Web site: Traci Sorell. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.aacrao.org/people/traci-sorell . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. AACRAO.
4. Web site: Powwow Day by Traci Sorell. Junior Library Guild.
5. Web site: We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell. 2022-02-12. Junior Library Guild.
6. Web site: We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell. 2022-02-12. Junior Library Guild.
7. Web site: Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell. 2022-02-12. Junior Library Guild.
8. Web site: Wittenstein. Barry. 2019-04-17. Awards: Reading the West; RBC Taylor Emerging Writer. 2022-02-12. Shelf Awareness.
9. Web site: 2019-05-29. Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.hbook.com/story/presenting-the-2019-boston-globe-horn-book-award-winners . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. The Horn Book.
10. Web site: Holmes. Linda. 2019-05-30. Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book. 2022-02-12. Shelf Awareness.
11. Web site: 2018-11-17. Announcing the 2019 NCTE Children's Book Awards. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://ncte.org/blog/2018/11/2019-book-awards/ . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. NCTE. en-US.
12. Web site: Morales. Macey. 2019-01-28. Joyce Sidman wins 2019 Sibert Medal. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2019/01/joyce-sidman-wins-2019-sibert-medal . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. American Library Association. en.
13. Web site: 2019-02-25. ALSC names 2019 Notable Children's Books. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2019/02/alsc-names-2019-notable-childrens-books . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. American Library Association. en.
14. Web site: March 15, 2020. Notable Children's Books: 2020. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.booklistonline.com/Notable-Children-s-Books/pid=9732930 . 2022-02-13. live. 2021-10-17. Booklist.
15. Web site: 2021-01-23. 2020 Notable Children's Books. 2021-10-28. Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). en.
16. Web site: Aase. Lara. 2020-01-27. AILA announces 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Awards. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2020/01/aila-announces-2020-american-indian-youth-literature-awards . 2022-02-13. live. 2021-10-28. American Library Association. en.
17. Web site: American Indian Youth Literature Award. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://ailanet.org/activities/american-indian-youth-literature-award/ . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. American Indian Library Association. en-US.
18. Web site: March 15, 2020. Rise: A Feminist Book Project: 2020. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.booklistonline.com/Rise-A-Feminist-Book-Project/pid=9732979 . 2022-02-13. live. 2021-10-27. Booklist.
19. Web site: February 6, 2020. At the Mountain's Base Awards & Grants. 2021-10-28. American Library Association.
20. Web site: 2021-01-23. 2020 Notable Children's Books. 2022-02-12. Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). en.
21. Web site: 2020 Audie Awards®. https://web.archive.org/web/20200203150625/https://www.audiopub.org/winners/2020-audies . 2020-02-03 . live. 2022-02-12. Audio Publishers Association.
22. Web site: 2020-01-27. 2020 ALSC Book & Media Award Winners. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/2020-book-media-awards . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). en.
23. Web site: Morales. Macey. 2020-01-27. Scholastic Audiobooks wins 2020 Odyssey Award for "Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction". https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2020/01/scholastic-audiobooks-wins-2020-odyssey-award-hey-kiddo-how-i-lost-my-mother . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. American Library Association. en.
24. Web site: June 2021. 2022 Notable Children's Recordings Round 1 Discussion List. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/awardsgrants/notalists/ncr/2022%20Notable%20Children%E2%80%99s%20Recordings%20Round%201%20Discussion%20List.pdf . 2022-02-13. live. 2021-10-27. American Library Association.
25. Web site: Morales. Macey. 2022-01-24. American Library Association announces 2022 Youth Media Award winners. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2022/01/american-library-association-announces-2022-youth-media-award-winners . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. American Library Association. en.
26. Web site: SLJ Staff. 2021-11-21. 2022 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck Awards Announced. 2022-02-12. School Library Journal.
27. Web site: 2020-08-18. Current Book List. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220213/https://risefeministbooks.wordpress.com/current-book-list/ . 2022-02-13 . live. 2022-02-12. Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18. en.
28. Web site: American Library Association announces 2024 Youth Media Award winners . American Library Association . 22 January 2024.