Sky Dancers

Choices, Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)

John Cloud’s father is a steelworker building skyscrapers in New York City, far away from their home upstate on the Mohawk Reservation.

John Cloud’s father is a steelworker building skyscrapers in New York City, far away from their home upstate on the Mohawk Reservation. When Papa is home on weekends, John Cloud stays close by his father’s side, helping him with his work.

Between weekends John Cloud misses Papa and longs to visit him in the city. One day Mama agrees to take him there. New York City turns out to be busy and noisy, but what really astonishes John Cloud is seeing Papa on a high cross beam of the Empire State Building, the tallest skyscraper in the world. John Cloud feels as if his heart will burst with pride and amazement as he watches his father dance across the sky.

Set in the early 1930s and based on the history of Mohawk steelworkers, Sky Dancers is a warm celebration of family, courage, and the forces of nature. Sensitively told and stunningly illustrated, this is a story for all ages.