Fall in Line, Holden!

Reese (2017) points out that “when people think ‘American Indian’ (or ‘Native American’) a certain imagery or style comes to mind. Vandever blows that expectation away with his own graphic style” (para. 5). Vandever, [list his tribal affiliation if found; Navajo], studied graphic design in college and used his training to create the illustration for his book with simple shapes and contrasting colors, offering a very modern feel to his story. As we follow Holden through his school day we see him struggling to conform with his peers, who all appear in black and white, while Holden has a blue shirt on. When Holden’s imagination gets the better of him, the background of the page goes from being mostly white to mostly full-colour, showing just how rich of an imagination Holden has. At the end of the day, after the children have worked so hard to stay in line, they all fall helter-skelter out of line and are scattered around the page pretending to be all the wonderful things Holden imagined.

This story is a very gentle introduction to the idea of Indian Boarding Schools. With rhyming text and inviting pictures—as well as Holden’s curious personality—it’s a book that many children will be able to identify with. However, the opening line of the story, which tells us that the story takes place “deep in the heart of Indigenous Nation” at a “strict Western school of stern education” (Vandever, 2017, third opening) and the author’s note and acknowledgements at the back of the book give readers the crucial context they need to make sense of this story. Vandever states that he wrote the story as a way “to begin conversations about a grim period in American history” while grappling with his family’s own history at Indian Boarding Schools (Vandever, 2017, author’s note).

Vandever hopes that “with both Western and traditional knowledge” we can begin to take “ownership of our future based on the resilience of our past” (2017, acknowledgement). This sentiment is similar to the concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing,” most commonly “credited to Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall,” who explains the importance of “learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous...ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western...ways of knowing...and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all” (The Blockhouse School Project, 2012, as cited in Campbell, Tan, & Quaiattini, 2018, p. 49).

Works Cited:

Campbell, S., Tan, M., & Quaiattini, A. (2019). Canadian Indigenous Children’s Books Through the Lens of Truth and Reconciliation. Lapin Yliopisto, 46–56. https://doi.org/10.7939/R3WP9TN53

Reese, D. (2017, August 9). American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL): Recommended: Daniel W. Vandever’s FALL IN LINE, HOLDEN. American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL). https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2017/08/recommended-daniel-w-vandevers-fall-in.html