Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen

Two Tribes is a Graphic Novel written for ages 8 to 12. I will be reviewing this book in the category of a middle-grade Graphic Novel.

Two-Tribes follows Mia, a girl who is both Jewish and Muscogee Native American, as she takes a covert trip away from her Jewish mother and stepfather, who have full custody of Mia, to visit her Muscogee father and grandmother. Mia wants to know who she is and understand her whole heritage, not only the Jewish side of her identity, and hopes that visiting her father will give her this understanding.

I chose to read Two Tribes because it was awarded the Texas Bluebonnet award and because I have always been fascinated by how individuals create and define their personal identity within the parameters of the culture they live in, and so was interested to see that concept explored in this graphic novel.

In my review I will evaluate theme, character, and illustration.

A major theme within Two Tribes is multicultural representation. The book opens with Mia being teased at her private Jewish school because of the darkness of her skin. She does not look like the other Jewish students at her school because she is half Jewish and half Muscogee, and many of her physical features reflect her Native American heritage. This teasing reawakens a desire for Mia to learn more about her Muscogee heritage, but because of the acrimonious nature of her parent's divorce, Mia feels she must do so behind her Jewish mother's back. This effort is initially thwarted because the books Mia finds in her school library about Native Americans only offer her highly stereotyped and derogatory representations of Native Americans. Including this detail within Two Tribes, a relatively short book, struck me because of its commentary on the importance of having genuinely diverse books accessible to youth who often seek to find and understand themselves through literature. It is noteworthy that both pieces of Mia's heritage, Jewish and Muscogee, have a dark history of being misrepresented, stereotyped, and shrouded in mysticism. It can be difficult to find authentic and contemporary representations of these peoples in media. Two Tribes does a beautiful job of providing readers with a relatable protagonist who is both Jewish, Native American, and a contemporary American teen, while simultaneously highlighting the need for more of this type of media. In addition, Cohen highlights the similarities of both Jewish and Native American traditions, showing that both nations have a long and painful history of persecution. Both groups have spirituality as a pillar of their culture and identity, regardless of the beliefs of individuals within these cultures. Finally, both ethnicities have ancient roots and traditions that are preserved in oral and written stories and through practice today. While there are many cultural differences between these groups as well, Mia finds strength in discovering the beauty of both halves of her heritage and in sharing that beauty across her family's genealogical lines. By choosing to celebrate how Judaism and Native Americanism are lived and experienced today, Cohen is once again providing and advocating for the representation youth need in the media created for them.

Two Tribes is also a coming-of-age story, which is seen in the character development of Mia. A good and obedient daughter, her growing discontent over not knowing about her Muscogee heritage and identity pushes her to deceive both her mother and her father when she takes a bus to go and visit her father without her mother's knowledge. This bold and risky move highlights how Mia's need to understand herself has become all-consuming. A good friend, student, and daughter begins to be irritable, disrespectful, and deceitful as she craves to uncover her identity as someone apart from her mother's daughter. This character development is important and appropriate for middle-grade readers to see, as they are also beginning to reshape their identities as individuals whose self is independent of the identities of their parents. Mia is changing and challenging the worldview that her mother raised her with, something she has in common with middle-grade youth for whom this book was written. And, as Mia succeeds in learning what it means to be Muscogee, we see her return to herself. She is remorseful for how she tricked her parents and returns to the obedient daughter who loves all parts of her family. Yet, even as she regains these better parts of herself, she also maintains her growth, advocating for herself and her need to understand her dual heritage. She also becomes an advocate for Native Americans, calling out the adults in her life who try to diminish that part of her identity. In this way, Mia not only provides a strong representation of a Jewish teen and a Native American teen for readers but is also a mirror to the common struggle for identity that is experienced by Two Tribe's intended audience.

Finally, Two Tribes has a deceptively simple illustration style to accompany its text. With a comic book feel, Two Tribes uses bright colors and traditional speech bubbles to create a very accessible reading experience. Additionally, Cohen frequently draws Mia with exaggerated facial expressions, which help the reader to fully understand what Mia is feeling and highlight her role as the story's protagonist. While the adults around her are more neutral in their expressions, Mia is drawn in a way that fully expresses her experiences. Her internal dialog is sometimes written on the page for the reader but is always shown to the reader in how she is drawn, both in facial expression and body language. Cohen maximizes the graphic novel format by using her illustrations to show readers Mia's internal conflict and her stress about her fractured identity visually. By modeling her illustrations on traditional comic book styles, Cohen makes sure that Two Tribes feels accessible to even the most reluctant readers and allows for visual literacy to lead the way as readers experience Mia's story.

Cohen, E. B. (2023). Two Tribes. Heartdrum.