Dr. Joseph Bruchac, Saratoga Springs Poet Laureate, is a writer and traditional storyteller who lives in the Adirondack Mountains Region of northern New York in the house he was raised in by his grandparents. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. An enrolled member of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, much of his writing draws on his Native ancestry.

His education includes a B.A. from Cornell University, a master’s degree from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from the Union Institute (Ohio). He is the winner of numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts writing fellowship and a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship.

He and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, who are also storytellers and writers, work together teaching martial arts and in projects involving the preservation of Native culture, Native language renewal, teaching traditional Native skills, and environmental education at their Ndakinna Education Center. (ndakinnacenter.org). They recently teamed up with Abenaki artist Amy Hook-Therrien on a collaborative bilingual Abenaki children's picture book, "Gluskonba and the Maple Trees."

His experiences include teaching at Skidmore college, Columbia University and Hamilton College, 8 years of running a college program in a maximum-security prison, and 3 years of teaching in West Africa.

Author of over 160 books in several genres for young readers and adults, his best-selling PathFinder novel is Found, a title about a teenage survival expert finds all his skills tested as he’s pursued through the Canadian wilderness by men determined to silence him. ALA Booklist says "This high/low adventure is the epitome of an adrenaline rush."

Selected List of Awards include:

2023 Poet Laureate, Saratoga Springs

American Book Award for Breaking Silence

Horn Book honor for The Boy Who Lived with the Bears

Scientific American Children’s Book Award for The Story of the Milky Way

Cherokee Nation Prose Award

Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children’s Literature

2005 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award

2001 Parents Guide to Childrens' Media Award for Skeleton Man

2000 Parents Choice Gold Award for Crazy Horse's Vision

1999 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas

1999 Jane Addams Childrens Book Award for Heart of a Chief

1998 Writer of the Year Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas

1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas

1997 Paterson Award for Dog People

1996 Boston Globe Book Award for The Boy Who Lived with the Bears

1995 Knickerbocker Award

See more at JoeBruchac.com

If you have any questions about Joseph Bruchac’s Indigenous heritage, please read this on his website.

Featured

FOUND

$9.95

Joseph Bruchac

A teenage survival expert finds all his skills tested as he’s pursued through the Canadian wilderness by men determined to silence him. On his way to teach at Camp Seven Generations, a Native outdoor school, Nick witnesses a murder and then is thrown off a train. Remembering and using the teachings of his Abenaki elders will prove to be the difference between life and death.

Review from ALA Booklist:

This high/low adventure is the epitome of an adrenaline rush. It is a terrific survival story packed with fascinating facts (how to cover tracks and hide all evidence of a campsite, what to do if you find yourself in a cave with a bear) and wonderful nods to the Abenaki language and Native American cultural tenants of thanking animals and leaving no trace.

— Becca Worthington

Joseph Bruchac is a writer, storyteller, proud Nulhegan Abenaki citizen, and respected elder among his people. He lives in the Adirondack Mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Native American ancestry. He works extensively on projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language, and traditional Native skills. He is the author of more than 140 books for children and adults.

ISBN: 9781939053237
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Fry Reading Level: 4
Page Count: 107
Width: 4.50
Height: 7.00
Price: 9.95
Publication Year: 2020
Publisher: 7th Generation Native Voices Books

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THE LONG RUN

$9.95

Joseph Bruchac

“You are useless, kid. Useless. Why do I have to take care of you? You just hold me back. Useless.” Travis put his hand on his stomach. He felt the bruise from his father’s blow, but what his father had said hurt more. Useless. I’m not useless. I can run. That’s one thing I can do. “I’m tired of being afraid,” Travis said. He said it softly. He said it to himself. I can’t stay here, Travis thought. The thought surprised him. But how can I leave my father? Then another thought hit him. It hit him harder than his father’s drunken fists. I have to leave. I have to run. Not tomorrow. Now! Follow Travis Hawk on a cross-country trek as he escapes a world of brutality and uncertainty and puts his trust,and even his very life, in the hands of total strangers. Travis’s story is one of struggle, survival, risk, and resilience,navigating a solo journey of hundreds of miles to seek a safe haven, far from the demons of his past.

Praise for The Long Run

“The Long Run will keep young readers turning pages. Its protagonist, Travis Hawk, is a 17-year-old whose mother’s passing caused an acceleration in his father’s drinking. With nowhere else to turn, Travis decides to run back to the only loving home he knows and embark on a cross-country trip from Seattle to Maine to reconnect with his grandparents. The Long Run is a stirring story about a young man who empowers himself to succeed against the odds.”

––Ryan Winn, Tribal College Journal, Fall 2017

Praise for Joseph Bruchac

“Joseph Bruchac’s books are about empowerment. They relay stories of morally sound Native protagonists who face great adversity. Often, the central characters are young adults whose elders have taught them about both their Indigenous traditions and self-defense. Their honed moral and physical strength allows these teenagers to face the various trials of an unjust world.”

––Ryan Winn, Tribal College Journal, Fall 2017

ISBN: 9781939053091
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Lexile Level: HL490L
Fry Reading Level: 2.5
Page Count: 120
Width: 4.50
Height: 7.00
Publication Year: 2016
Publisher: 7th Generation

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WALKING TWO WORLDS (SOFTCOVER)

$9.95

Joseph Bruchac

This work of historical fiction is based on the true, inspiring story of the early education of Seneca leader Ely Parker. Hasanoanda was his Indian name, but in mission school he became “Ely.”

Despite the racism and deceit, he faced, he never gave up his mission to receive an education that would enable him to aid the Seneca people in their quest to keep their land. As a young person, he learned how to live in the world of the white man, but never forgot his Seneca roots.

Also included is an afterword that highlights the careers and achievements of Ely Parker’s adult life.

Walking Two Worlds won the 2015 Independent Book Publishers IPPY Silver Award in Juv-Young Adult Multicultural Fiction

Author Info: For over 30 years, Joseph Bruchac has been creating poetry, short stories, novels, anthologies, and music that reflect his Abenaki Indian heritage and Native American traditions. He is the author of more than 120 books for children and adults, including the critically acclaimed, best-selling Keepers of the Earth series, with its remarkable integration of science and folklore.

In 1999, Bruchac received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas. His poems, articles, and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket, and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola, and Smithsonian Magazine.

Praise for Joseph Bruchac

“Joseph Bruchac’s books are about empowerment. They relay stories of morally sound Native protagonists who face great adversity. Often, the central characters are young adults whose elders have taught them about both their Indigenous traditions and self-defense. Their honed moral and physical strength allows these teenagers to face the various trials of an unjust world.”

––Ryan Winn, Tribal College Journal, Fall 2017

ISBN: 9781939053107
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Lexile Level: HL470L
Fry Reading Level: 2.5
Page Count: 160
Width: 4.50
Height: 7.00
Publication Year: 2015
Publisher: 7th Generation

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WALKING TWO WORLDS (HARDCOVER)

$16.95

Joseph Bruchac

This work of historical fiction is based on the true, inspiring story of the early education of Seneca leader Ely Parker. Hasanoanda was his Indian name, but in mission school he became “Ely.”

Despite the racism and deceit, he faced, he never gave up his mission to receive an education that would enable him to aid the Seneca people in their quest to keep their land. As a young person, he learned how to live in the world of the white man, but never forgot his Seneca roots.

Also included is an afterword that highlights the careers and achievements of Ely Parker’s adult life.

Praise for Joseph Bruchac

“Joseph Bruchac’s books are about empowerment. They relay stories of morally sound Native protagonists who face great adversity. Often, the central characters are young adults whose elders have taught them about both their Indigenous traditions and self-defense. Their honed moral and physical strength allows these teenagers to face the various trials of an unjust world.”

––Ryan Winn, Tribal College Journal, Fall 2017

ISBN: 9781939053138
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Lexile Level: HL470L
Fry Reading Level: 2.5
Page Count: 160
Width: 4.50
Height: 7.00
Publication Year: 2015
Publisher: 7th Generation

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