If I Ever Get Out of Here

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

The Nightwatchman

• a novel by Louise Erdrich that touches on Racism Toward Native Americans, including as a result of the boarding school system
• The Nightwatchman on SuperSummary

Give Me Some Truth

• a young adult novel by Eric Gansworth discussing the themes of Racism Toward Native Americans and The Unifying Nature and Healing Power of Music
• The novel centers on Carson Mastick, a character who appears in If I Ever Get Out of Here, and includes appearances from Lewis.

There, There 

• a novel by Tommy Orange, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, that focuses on the urban Indigenous experience
• This novel includes the theme of Racism Toward Native Americans.
• The motif of powwow dancing in the novel can connect to The Unifying Nature and Healing Power of Music.
• There There on SuperSummary

Other Student Resources

Eric Gansworth

• The author of this novel, Eric Gansworth, is an enrolled member of Onondaga Nation.
• His website includes information about both his other novels and his visual art.

The Kirkus Review of If I Ever Get Out of Here

• provides additional context for the novel

Eric Gansworth Reads Two Poems from Apple: Skin to the Core

• Eric Gansworth’s Apple: Skin to the Core is a memoir in verse, prose, and imagery that connects his experience as an Indigenous person.
• In this video, Gansworth reads two poems from the book.

Teacher Resources

The Earth Memory Compass: Diné Landscapes and Education in the Twentieth Century

• Farina King’s monograph that traces the cultivation of Diné, or Navajo, knowledge by reviewing the history of education among the Diné, including the history of boarding schools
• This book offers a glimpse into the horrors of the boarding school system and encourages analysis of the ways in which education has been used to harm Indigenous peoples.

Native Knowledge 360° Recorded Student Webinars

• video series from the National Museum of the American Indian discussing Indigenous history, activism, and experience