The illuminating and deeply personal debut from Gabriela Maya Bernadett, Stories My Grandmother Told Me explores culture, race, and chosen family, set against the backdrop of the twentieth-century American Southwest.
In a hilly Southern California suburb in the late twentieth century, Gabriela Maya Bernadett listens as her grandmother tells her a story.
Itâs the true story of Esther Small, the great-granddaughter of slaves, who became one of the few Black students to graduate from NYU in the 1940s. Having grown up in Harlem, Esther couldnât imagine a better place to live; especially not somewhere in the American Southwest.
But when she learns of a job teaching Native American children on a reservation, Esther decides to take a chance. She soon finds herself on a train to Fort Yuma, Arizona; unaware that each year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs kidnaps the native Tohono Oâodham children from the reservation and forces them to be educated in the âways of the White man.â It doesnât take long for Esther to notice how Fort Yuma parallels her own grandmotherâs story as a slave in the Southâthe native children, constantly belittled by teachers and peers, are forced to perform manual labor for local farmers.
One of two Black people in Fort Yuma, Esther feels isolated, never sure where she belongs in a community deeply divided between the White people and the Tohono Oâodhams. John, the school bus driver and Tohono Oâodham tribe member, is one of the only people she connects with. Friendship slowly grows into love, and together, Esther and John navigate a changing America.
Seamlessly weaving in the present day with the past, Stories My Grandmother Told Me blends a womanâs memory of her life, and that womanâs granddaughterâs memories of how she heard these stories growing up. Bernadettâs captivating narrative explores themes of identity, tradition, and belonging, showing what it really means to exist in a multicultural America.