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A review by saidtheraina
Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band by Sonia Paoloni, Christian Staebler
4.0
I love consuming media about niche history. In this case, I got to learn about a rock band that proudly branded itself as "Native American" way back in the 1960s and 70s. The members came from a few different tribal nations.
I appreciated the illustration style - it's very French, atmospheric, kind of meandering, with a wide variety of approaches and layouts (kinda like life). Much of the text is first person from one of the members of the band. This is something of an authorized biographical piece, although the primary author/superfan is a white French man.
I appreciated the representation of how people of various Native American backgrounds have been mistaken for Latine people. Obviously there are some blurred lines there too in some cases, but in the experience of Pat and Lolly Vegas, it was an example of white assumptions. There's a great scene with Jimi Hendrix along those lines.
I loved the section about AIM and Redbone's activism.
Originally published in French. And there are points when you can tell.
I feel like the people who will appreciate this the most are probably the people who are familiar with the band. So, although this is currently shelved in our YA GN section, I'm going to suggest we move it to the adult GNs. There's a level of assumed knowledge that I don't think most teens will have. And the aesthetic will fit more in the Adult GN section in our library.
I appreciated the illustration style - it's very French, atmospheric, kind of meandering, with a wide variety of approaches and layouts (kinda like life). Much of the text is first person from one of the members of the band. This is something of an authorized biographical piece, although the primary author/superfan is a white French man.
I appreciated the representation of how people of various Native American backgrounds have been mistaken for Latine people. Obviously there are some blurred lines there too in some cases, but in the experience of Pat and Lolly Vegas, it was an example of white assumptions. There's a great scene with Jimi Hendrix along those lines.
I loved the section about AIM and Redbone's activism.
Originally published in French. And there are points when you can tell.
I feel like the people who will appreciate this the most are probably the people who are familiar with the band. So, although this is currently shelved in our YA GN section, I'm going to suggest we move it to the adult GNs. There's a level of assumed knowledge that I don't think most teens will have. And the aesthetic will fit more in the Adult GN section in our library.