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Editorial Content for We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People

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From a fearless, internationally acclaimed activist comes an impassioned memoir about an indigenous childhood, a clash of cultures and the fight to save the Amazon rainforest.

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From a fearless, internationally acclaimed activist comes an impassioned memoir about an indigenous childhood, a clash of cultures and the fight to save the Amazon rainforest.

About the Book

From a fearless, internationally acclaimed activist comes an impassioned memoir about an indigenous childhood, a clash of cultures and the fight to save the Amazon rainforest.

WE WILL BE JAGUARS is an astonishing memoir by an equally astonishing woman. Nemonte Nenquimo is a winner of TIME magazine’s Earth Award, and MS. magazine named this book among the Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2024.

Born into the Waorani tribe of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest --- one of the last to be contacted by missionaries in the 1950s --- Nemonte Nenquimo had a singular upbringing.

She was taught about plant medicines, foraging, oral storytelling and shamanism by her elders. At age 14, she left the forest for the first time to study with an evangelical missionary group in the city. Eventually, her ancestors began appearing in her dreams, pleading with her to return and embrace her own culture. She listened.

Two decades later, Nemonte has emerged as one of the most forceful voices in climate change activism. She has spearheaded the alliance of indigenous nations across the Upper Amazon and led her people to a landmark victory against Big Oil, protecting over a half-million acres of primary rainforest. Her message is as sharp as a spear --- honed by her experiences battling loggers, miners, oil companies and missionaries.

In WE WILL BE JAGUARSNemonte partners with her husband, Mitch Anderson, founder of Amazon Frontlines, digging into generations of oral history, uprooting centuries of conquest, hacking away at racist notions of indigenous peoples, and ultimately revealing a life story as rich, harsh and vital as the Amazon rainforest herself.

Michelle Horton

Michelle Horton is a writer, speaker and advocate living in New York's Hudson Valley. Through the Nicole Addimando Community Defense Committee, she continues to speak out for her sister and the countless other victims of domestic violence criminalized for their acts of survival. DEAR SISTER is her debut memoir.

Jeff Hobbs

Jeff Hobbs is the author of THE SHORT AND TRAGIC LIFE OF ROBERT PEACE, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was made into the 2024 film Rob Peace. He is also the author of SEEKING SHELTER, CHILDREN OF THE STATE, SHOW THEM YOU'RE GOOD and THE TOURISTS. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Kay Chronister

Kay Chronister is the author of THIN PLACES, DESERT CREATURES and THE BOG WIFE. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, The Dark and elsewhere, and has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy awards. Originally from Washington State, she has spent time in Virginia, Cambodia and Arizona. She now lives in Pennsylvania. Kay has a PhD in English from the University of Arizona.

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Carolyn McBride

Carolyn McBride grew up exploring the Potomac River on her dad's Boston Whaler. Her Potomac Shores series is immersed in the places she lives and loves, from South Florida's Intracoastal Waterway to Virginia’s Occoquan River. Like Carolyn, her characters are grandmothers, mothers, wives, daughters, friends, pet lovers and boat captains. Carolyn is a former editor and columnist for National Geographic Traveler and professional copywriter. A graduate of the College of William and Mary, she is completing an MFA in fiction writing.

Amanda Peters

Amanda Peters is a writer of Mi’kmaq and settler ancestry. Her debut novel, THE BERRY PICKERS, was the winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, and was a finalist for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Amazon First Novel Award.

Ariel Lawhon Book Group Event

November 23, 2024

Our last book club pick for the year is BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS, and we are planning a fun evening with a potluck holiday celebration. I am looking forward to seeing what reading Ina Garten's memoir inspired us to plan for food and beverages. I highly recommend the audio edition of this book, which is read by Ina and is about a lot more than food!

I took away a couple of great business lessons. Take a look at your business to see what is worth spending time on, and where you may be spending time that is not valuable. For Ina, it was realizing that she was spending 95% of her time on catering, which brought in 5% of the revenue. This was a BIG revelation. I always kick myself when I see my own version of this and think, How did I not see this sooner? The best part about the holidays  --- after the frenzy of shopping, wrapping and baking --- is the time I have available to think instead of just doing.