Author Description

This lyrical and tender debut picture book celebrates the memory of beloved, departed family members, and the power of language to link memory across time.<br/><br/>Instead of saying goodbye in Cherokee, people say donadagohvi (doh-nah-dah-goh-HUVH-ee)—“until we meet again.”<br/><br/>Though Millie has never met her grandfather, his memory leaves a handprint on her life. In her family’s stories and old pictures, she feels his presence.<br/><br/>Her grandfather’s greatest gift of all was words—Tsalagi (Cherokee) words that were kept safe and passed down to her. When Millie speaks these words, she knows he’s listening and feels his love most of all.<br/><br/>From author Christine Hartman Derr (Cherokee) and illustrator Morgan Thompson (Cherokee) comes a life-affirming picture book about our connections to the family that came before us.