"Based on the popularity of the original Eagle Books series, the Native Diabetes Wellness Program (NDWP) is developing a series of novels for middle schoolers in Native communities. The novel, Coyote and the Turtle's Dream, is the first in a series of three books that will include a four-volume graphic novel based on the same story. The book features characters from the original series, but also expands the characters to include family members, teachers, store owners, other residents of a small reservation town, and an elderly box turtle. Adding to the understanding of type 2 diabetes presented in the original books, Coyote and the Turtle's Dream introduces the character of Arianna, a young girl with type 1 diabetes. To encourage readership and healthy choices among middle schoolers, their families and communities, the novels employ entertainment-education (EE) as a communication strategy. Applying EE principles, the books appeal to middle schoolers by using the genres that have proven successful with this audience--adventure, fantasy, and mystery. The stories use relationships and emotion to lend authenticity and context to the character's motivations and behaviors. EE-based storytelling creates believable characters that can serve as effective role models for healthy living. EE promotes problem-solving at community and individual levels, an extremely important ability for an age group that is exploring its own sense of independence and self-efficacy. Added to this formula is the most important EE element, the seamless interweaving of health and educational messaging into the plot. In Coyote and the Turtle's Dream, type 2 diabetes prevention messages about healthy eating, being physically active, and following traditional wisdom become part of the story itself. Moreover, Rain and his friends apply both Native and western science to avert the disruption of the reservation's ecology, an implicit metaphor for maintaining metabolic balance in the human body.

Shipping list no.: 2012-0136-P.