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NORWAY — Norway Memorial Library will lead a fall book discussion series called “Native American Literature: Straddling Cultures.” The series will consider three novels that tell of Native Americans crossing from their traditional cultures into the westernized world.

Topics considered will be how and why Native Americans leave their land, how they are perceived once they are living away from the reservation, and if there are any consequences when they return home.

The series is as follows:

“Tracks” by Louise Erdrich: From 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28. Erdrich explores the clash between the Anishinaabe culture and white men encroaching on their land. Nanapush and Fleur struggle to find a place in the world off the reservation, then to find a home when they return. Readers will also hear from Pauline, a young girl of mixed heritage, who tells of her conversion to Catholicism and leaving behind her Anishinaabe beliefs.

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie: From 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12. Alexie’s story centers on Junior, a teenage boy who leaves his reservation school for a white school where the only other Indian is the school’s mascot. Junior tries to fit in with his white school friends, but questions how much of being Indian is lost in his assimilation.

“Caleb’s Crossing” by Geraldine Brooks: From 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9. In 17th century Massachusetts, Caleb, a young Wampanoag Indian, is the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. The author weaves Caleb’s story of studying in the white man’s world with that of his friendship with Bethia, a daughter of a Puritan farmer.

FMI, register, request books: 207-743-5309, ext. 1; www.norway.lib.me.us.

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