Books with author Tim Tingle

In an expansion of his award-winning picture book Crossing Bok Chitto, acclaimed Choctaw storyteller Tim Tingle offers a novel that reminds readers that the strongest bridge between cultures is friendship. Starred review, Publishers Weekly Starred review, Booklist Starred review, Kirkus Reviews Martha Tom knows better than to cross the Bok Chitto River to pick blackberries. The Bok Chitto is the only border between her town in the Choctaw Nation and the slave-owning plantation in Mississippi territory. The slave owners could catch her, too. What was she thinking? But crossing the river brings a surprise friendship with Lil Mo, a boy who is enslaved on the other side. When Lil Mo discovers that his mother is about to be sold and the rest of his family left behind. But Martha Tom has the answer: cross the Bok Chitto and become free.Crossing to freedom with his family seems impossible with slave catchers roaming, but then there is a miracle--a magical night where things become unseen and souls walk on water. By morning, Lil Mo discovers he has entered a completely new world of tradition, community, and . . . a little magic. But as Lil Mo's family adjusts to their new life, danger waits just around the corner.

Ten-year-old Isaac, now a ghost, continues with his people as they walk the Choctaw Trail of Tears headed to Indian Territory in what will one day become Oklahoma. There have been surprises aplenty on their trek, but now Isaac and his three Choctaw comrades learn they can time travel--making for an unexpected adventure. The foursome heads back in time to Washington, D.C., to bear witness for Choctaw Chief Pushmataha who has come to the nation's capital at the invitation of his dear friend Andrew Jackson. You cannot blame the people before you for mistakes their ancestors made, Chief Pushmataha tells the little band. In doing so, the general makes a powerful and timeless lesson, one made more so as the reader travels from graveyards to boarding schools, from 1824 to 2018, experiencing firsthand the joy of never leaving.

Bobby Byington has always had to navigate his father’s alcoholism and anger, but things are looking up. His father has stopped drinking, his mother is back home, and his basketball team is winning games. But two new problems surface when his "smart" girlfriend is bullied by a resentful schoolmate and a fellow team member is bullied by an abusive father. This is the second novel in the No Name series.

After Bobby Byington's unforgettable winning high-school season, Coach Robison recruits Choctaw players from several communities to play in a summer league. Coach selects the Panther as the team's mascot, saying, "To many Choctaws, young and old, the Panther is an elder watching over us, helping us when we are in need." As the team gels and moves to the national tournament, they find out they are up against more than other basketball teams. They must deal with racist taunts and unfair sportsmanship on the court. The situation comes to a head when, on the eve of a key game against a bullying opponent, two Choctaw players are arrested for robbery. Never doubting their innocence, Coach Robison asks, "Who can we trust, and how can we find the truth?"

Told in the words of Isaac, a Choctaw boy who does not survive the Trail of Tears, HOW I BECAME A GHOST is a tale of innocence and resilience in the face of tragedy. From the book's opening line, "Maybe you have never read a book written by a ghost before," the reader is put on notice that this is no normal book. Isaac leads a remarkable foursome of Choctaw comrades: a tough-minded teenage girl, a shape-shifting panther boy, a lovable five-year-old ghost who only wants her mom and dad to be happy, and Isaac s talking dog, Jumper. The first in a trilogy, HOW I BECAME A GHOST thinly disguises an important and oft-overlooked piece of history.

"The hour has come to speak of troubled times. It is time we spoke of Skullyville." Thus begins Rose Goode's story of her growing up in Indian Territory in pre-statehood Oklahoma. Skullyville, a once-thriving Choctaw community, was destroyed by land-grabbers, culminating in the arson on New Year's Eve, 1896, of New Hope Academy for Girls. Twenty Choctaw girls died, but Rose escaped. She is blessed by the presence of her grandmother Pokoni and her grandfather Amafo, both respected elders who understand the old ways. Soon after the fire, the white sheriff beats Amafo in front of the town's people, humiliating him. Instead of asking the Choctaw community to avenge the beating, her grandfather decides to follow the path of forgiveness. And so unwinds this tale of mystery, Indian-style magical realism, and deep wisdom. It's a world where backwoods spiritualism and Bible-thumping Christianity mix with bad guys; a one-legged woman shop-keeper, her oaf of a husband, herbal potions, and shape-shifting panthers rendering justice. Tim Tingle—a scholar of his nation's language, culture, and spirituality—tells Rose's story of good and evil with understanding and even laugh-out-loud Choctaw humor.Tim Tingle, responding to a scarcity of Choctaw literature, began interviewing tribal elders in the early '90s. His collection Walking the Choctaw Road was the Oklahoma Book of the Year. Tingle's children's book, Crossing Bok Chitto, garnered over twenty state and national awards, including Best Children's Book from the American Indian Library Association, and was an Editor's Choice in the New York Times Book Review.

In Walking the Choctaw Road, Tingle reaches far back into tribal memory to offer this deeply personal collection of stories woven from the supernatural, mythical, historical and oral accounts of Choctaw people living today. Native American storyteller Joe Bruchac says, “For a good many years now, Tim Tingle has been one of my favorite American story-tellers. Walking the Choctaw Road . . . will stay with you and lend you some of its strength. Cross the river with these stories—they’ll give you safe passage.”Tim Tingle lives in Canyon Lake, Texas. His appearances throughout the nation push book sales. The cloth edition of this book sold out in little more than a year and is now in its second printing.

Martha Tom knows better than to cross the Bok Chitto River to pick blackberries. The Bok Chitto is the only border between her town in the Choctaw Nation and the slave-owning plantation in Mississippi territory. The slave owners could catch her, too. What was she thinking? But crossing the river brings a surprise friendship with Lil Mo, a boy who is enslaved on the other side. When Lil Mo discovers that his mother is about to be sold and the rest of his family left behind. But Martha Tom has the answer: cross the Bok Chitto and become free.Crossing to freedom with his family seems impossible with slave catchers roaming, but then there is a miracle—a magical night where things become unseen and souls walk on water. By morning, Lil Mo discovers he has entered a completely new world of tradition, community, and . . . a little magic. But as Lil Mo’s family adjusts to their new life, danger waits just around the corner.

Danny Blackgoat is a teenager in Navajo country when soldiers burn down his home, kill his sheep and capture his family. During the Long Walk of 1864, Danny is labeled a troublemaker and given the name Fire Eye. Refusing to accept captivity, he is sent to Fort Davis, Texas, a Civil War prisoner outpost. There he battles bullying fellow prisoners, rattlesnakes and abusive soldiers until he meets Jim Davis. Jim teaches Danny how to hold his anger and starts him on the road to literacy. In a stunning climax, Jim―who builds coffins for the dead―aids Danny in a daring and dangerous escape. Set in troubled times, Danny Blackgoat is the story of one boy's hunger to be free and be Navajo.

Inspired by the traditional Choctaw story “No Name,” this modern adaptation features a present-day Choctaw teenager surviving tough family times—his mother left home and he is living with a mean-spirited, abusive father. The one place the teen can find peace is on the neighborhood basketball court. But after a violent confrontation with his father, the teen runs away, only to return home to find an unexpected hiding spot in his own backyard. His hiding spot becomes his home for weeks until the help and encouragement from a basketball coach, a Cherokee buddy and a quiet new next-door girlfriend help him face his father.

Danny Blackgoat is a teenager in Navajo country when soldiers burn down his home, kill his sheep and capture his family. During the Long Walk of 1864, Danny is labeled a troublemaker and given the name Fire Eye. Refusing to accept captivity, he is sent to Fort Davis, Texas, a Civil War prisoner outpost. There he battles bullying fellow prisoners, rattlesnakes and abusive soldiers until he meets Jim Davis. Jim teaches Danny how to hold his anger and starts him on the road to literacy. In a stunning climax, Jim—who builds coffins for the dead—aids Danny in a daring and dangerous escape. Set in troubled times, Danny Blackgoat is the story of one boy's hunger to be free and be Navajo.