This is the story of the birth of Navajo twin girls to 13-year-old Helen Tsosie at the Keams Canyon hospital on the Hopi Indian Reservation, their subsequent adoption by Albert and Wilmont Johnson of Chesterfield, Idaho (later of Hyrum, Utah) and attempts to reunite the girls with their birth mother and acquaint them with their Navajo family.

Helen Morgan, daughter of Dan Morgan and Mabel, was born in 1936. She married Frank Tsosie when she was twelve. She gave birth to twin girls in 1950 in Keams Canyon, Arizona. Her daughters were adopted by F. Albert and Wilmont Johnson, without her permission. She married a Mr. Chee and later Bahe Ben, and was the mother of sixteen children.

Helen Keller: Miracle Child is aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts, addressing Literacy.RI.1.2 and Literacy.L.1.1. Readers will be inspired by the gorgeous primary source photographs of Helen Keller and her teacher and mentor, Anne Sullivan. This book should be paired with “Who Was Helen Keller?" (9781448890408) from the InfoMax Common Core Readers Program to provide the alternative point of view on the same topic.

• Details the author’s time living with the Navajo people as a teacher, sheepherder, and doctor and her profound experiences with the people, animals, and spirits • Shows how she learned the Navajo language to bridge the cultural divide • Reveals the miracles she witnessed, including her own miracle when the elders prayed for healing of a tumor on her neck • Shares her fearsome encounters with a mountain lion and a shape-shifting “skinwalker” and how she fulfilled a prophecy by returning as a doctor In 1971, Erica Elliott arrived on the Navajo reservation as a newly minted schoolteacher, knowing nothing about her students or their culture. After a discouraging first week, she almost leaves in despair, unable to communicate with the children or understand cultural cues. But once she starts learning the language, the people begin to trust her, welcoming her into their homes and their hearts. As she is drawn into the mystical world of Navajo life, she has a series of profound experiences with the people, animals, and spirits of Canyon de Chelly that change her life forever. In this compelling memoir, the author details her time living with the Navajo, the Diné people, and her experiences with their enchanting land, healing ceremonies, and rich traditions. She shares how her love for her students transformed her life as well as the lives of the children. She reveals the miracles she witnessed during this time, including her own miracle when the elders prayed for healing of a tumor on her neck. She survives fearsome encounters with a mountain lion and a shape-shifting “skinwalker.” She learns how to herd sheep, make fry bread, and weave traditional rugs, experiencing for herself the life of a traditional Navajo woman. Fulfilling a Navajo grandmother’s prophecy, the author returns years later to serve the Navajo people as a medical doctor in an underfunded clinic, delivering numerous babies and treating sick people day and night. She also reveals how, when a medicine man offers to thank her with a ceremony, more miracles unfold. Sharing her life-changing deep dive into Navajo culture, Erica Elliott’s inspiring story reveals the transformation possible from immersion in a spiritually rich culture as well as the power of reaching out to others with joy, respect, and an open heart.

Text of the play of the story of Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan.

Half Apache and orphaned, Edgar's trials begin on an Arizona reservation at the age of seven when he is run over by the mailman's jeep, after which he is taken from the hospital to a school for delinquents to a Mormon foster family, and eventually to an unexpected home on a quest for the mailman. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.