鈥淎pple in the Middle鈥 is a young adult novel which follows Apple Starkington who is both white and Native American, like Quigley.
Dawn Quigley, assistant professor of education, became a published novelist with her debut book, Apple in the Middle. The coming-of-age young adult novel follows Apple Starkington, who is both white and Native American, like Quigley. Her name, Apple, signifies the complexity she feels about her identity: Native on the outside, and white on the inside. One summer, Apple visits her relatives on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation for the first time, and the story unfolds.
Quigley is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe in North Dakota. 鈥淢y dad is Scandinavian. My mom is Native American,鈥 says Quigley. 鈥淚 always say that figuratively I grew up with both Native American fry bread and lefse on the table.鈥
Her two daughters, who each began their first year of high school and college this fall, were part of Quigley鈥檚 inspiration for her first novel. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l never have the opportunity to spend time with my grandparents up in the Turtle Mountain Reservation because they鈥檝e passed on,鈥 explains Quigley.
While Quigley has had poetry, essays, and academic articles published, she describes the motivation behind writing a novel as a very different process. 鈥淚 just kept having this story walk around in my mind,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t literally would not go away until I would write it down.鈥 So, Quigley started writing two pages a day until, about nine months later, she had written a book.
She also drew inspiration from the K-12 and college students she鈥檚 taught over 18 years as an educator. 鈥淪o many of our students have multiple identities: multiple racial backgrounds, multiple religions, multiple languages. It doesn鈥檛 seem like you belong in one or the other, so you鈥檙e kind of in this third space,鈥 she explained. 鈥淭hat's what this book is really about.鈥
Quigley is passionate about showing Native American culture and traditions. 鈥淣ative people are still here. We鈥檝e adapted and changed, but our culture is still strong and we鈥檙e strong,鈥 said Quigley. As Apple visits her relatives in the book and learns about contemporary Native customs, the reader does too.
鈥淚鈥檓 tired of the negative stereotypes,鈥 says Quigley. Often times, the darker aspects of Native American characters are highlighted. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something we need to wash over,鈥 said Quigley, 鈥渂ut I wanted to bring out the Native humor and the strong family ties that I grew up with鈥攁nd they were really positive. The grandparents in here,鈥 she said, pointing at the book she cradles in her lap, 鈥渞eally are my grandparents.鈥
On Friday, October 12, 2018 at noon, Dawn Quigley will be one of three authors presenting at the Center for Women鈥檚 Bag Lunch Discussion Series on 鈥淏raiding Indigenous Feminist Characters in Fiction.鈥
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