Traci Sorell


Traci Sorell is an Indigenous author of fiction and nonfiction works for children and teens. She is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

Personal lifestyle

Sorell has spent much of her life living within the Cherokee Nation tribe's reservation in northeastern Oklahoma and currently resides with her family by Fort Gibson Lake. Her mother's family has lived in the area since 1838 when Cherokee people were removed from their homelands. She has a younger brother and sister.
As a child, Sorell learned about her ancestors from her grandmother, fishing with her family, and caring for animals and the land. She also enjoyed reading, singing, and performing in theater productions.
When Sorell was a teenager, she and her family moved to Southern California, and she became the first person in her family to graduate from college. Her mother, sister, and brother later received degrees as well.
Sorell's second language is Spanish, though she is learning the Cherokee language.

Education

Sorell majored in Native American Studies and minored in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley graduating with a Bachelor Arts in 1994. During her time at Cal-Berkeley, Sorell lived in Madrid and taught English and Spanish to children and adults.
In 1996, she received a Master of Arts from the University of Arizona, where she studied American Indian Studies with a concentration in Federal Indian Law & Policy.
Later, Sorell returned to school and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2001.

Career

Sorell began her career by helping Native Nations and their citizens by writing "legal codes, testimony for Congressional hearings, federal budget requests, grants and reports."
Since beginning her writing career, Sorell has continued to focus on incorporating culturally accurate books about Cherokee and other Indigenous people into the canon of literature for children and young adults.
Sorell was a Tulsa Artist Fellow in 2021 and 2022.

Awards and honors

Seven of Sorell's books are Junior Library Guild selections, including Powwow Day, We Are Still Here!, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, and Classified.
YearTitleAward/HonorResultRef.
2018We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaReading the West Book AwardWinner
2019We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaBoston Globe–Horn Book AwardHonor
2019We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaOrbis Pictus AwardHonor
2019We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaRobert F. Sibert Informational Book AwardHonor
2019We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaALA Notable Children's BooksSelection
2020At the Mountain's BaseALA Notable Children's BooksSelection
2020At the Mountain's BaseAmerican Indian Youth Literature AwardHonor
2020At the Mountain's BaseRise: A Feminist Book ListTop 10
2020Indian No MoreALA Notable Children's BooksSelection
2020Indian No MoreAmerican Indian Youth Literature AwardWinner
2020We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaAmerican Indian Youth Literature AwardHonor
2020We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaAudie Award for Young Listeners' TitleFinalist
2020We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaOdyssey AwardHonor
2022At the Mountain's BaseALA Notable Children's RecordingsSelection
2022We Are Still Here!ALA Notable Children's RecordingsSelection
2022We Are Still Here!American Indian Youth Literature AwardHonor
2022We Are Still Here!Robert F. Sibert Informational Book AwardHonor
2022ClassifiedAmerican Indian Youth Literature AwardHonor
2022ClassifiedOrbis Pictus AwardHonor
2022ClassifiedRise: A Feminist Book ListSelection
2024Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World SeriesCarter G. Woodson Book AwardWinner
2024Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World SeriesAmerican Indian Youth Literature AwardHonor
2024MascotAmerican Indian Youth Literature AwardHonor
2024She Persisted: Wilma MankillerAmerican Indian Youth Literature AwardHonor

Publications

Ages 4+

  • We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac
  • At the Mountain's Base / ᎾᏍᎩᏃ ᎤᎾᎢ ᎡᎳᏗᏢ ᎣᏓᎸᎢ, ᎾᎢ, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre
  • Pow Wow Day, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight
  • Being Home, illustrated by Michaela Goade
  • Clack, Clack! Smack! A Cherokee Stickball Story, illustrated by Joseph Erb

    Ages 7+

  • Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, illustrated by Natasha Donovan
  • One Land, Many Nations: Volume 1 with Lee Francis IV, illustrated by Jesse Hummingbird
  • We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know, illustrated by Frané Lessac

    Middle grade

  • Indian No More with Charlene Willing McManis
  • She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller with Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint
  • Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series, illustrated by Arigon Starr
  • Mascot with Charles Waters
  • Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal with Will Chavez

    Anthology contributions

  • Thanku: Poems of Gratitude, edited by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Marlena Myles
  • No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History, edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley, illustrated by Jeanette Bradley
  • The Reluctant Storyteller with Art Coulson, illustrated by Carlin Bear Don't Walk and Roy Boney Jr.
  • The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
  • Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
  • Wonderful Women of the World, edited by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • No World Too Big: Young People Fighting for Global Climate Change, edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley, illustrated by Jeanette Bradley