To walk the sky How Iroquois steelworkers helped build towering cities

Here, a descendant of one of the 75 workers who died in the 1907 collapse of the Quebec Bridge pays eloquent tribute to the first generation of Mohawk "skywalkers" who came out of the Caughnawaga (later Kahnawà:ke) reserve in Canada to become sought-after construction workers for bridges and skyscrapers all over North America. Along with scenes of rugged workers posing atop or strolling along narrow steel I beams suspended over rivers and city buildings, Lewis captures a sense of the occupation's dangers with views of mourning families in the wake of the bridge's fall, spidery steel memorials, and climactically, heaps of tangled wreckage from the 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center towers. "Skywalkers volunteered to dismantle what their fathers and uncles had built decades before," the author writes of that catastrophe. "They understood all too well how mangled beams broke hearts." Along with additional details about the Quebec Bridge project and Mohawk society, Buckley closes with a partial tally of landmark buildings and other structures erected with significant help from "the courageous Native Americans who, even today, walk the sky."

Mohawk author and PW contributor Buckley (First Woman Cherokee Chief), making her picture book debut, and Lenni-Lenape artist Lewis (Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem) honor the contributions of Iroquois steelworkers, known as "skywalkers" for their ability to balance atop narrow beams in construction sites. This well-contextualized work starts "in the days of great-great-grandfathers," when Mohawks from eastern Canada's Caughnawaga reserve couldn't find work outside it. An agreement between a bridge company and tribal elders ensured employment for Caughnawagans, who eventually earned better wages working atop the bridge: "The bosses called them skywalkers, astonished by the Mohawks' steadfast balance.... Most of all, they took great pride in creating a legacy of landmarks." Historical vignettes detail a 1907 bridge collapse that killed 33 skywalkers from Caughnawaga, and discuss how following 9/11, skywalkers "volunteered to dismantle what their fathers and uncles had built decades before." Today, skywalkers continue to work on sky-high structures, "building a future on steel beams high in the air." Graceful language honors skywalkers throughout this stirring telling, while fluidly rendered watercolor illustrations in a desaturated color palette employ sweeping perspective and scale. Extensive back matter includes an author's note. Ages 4--8. (Jan.)■

Buckley (Kahnawá:ke Mohawk) and Lewis (Lenni-Lenape) pay tribute to the courage and perseverance of Iroquois steelworkers. Known as "skywalkers" for their ability to fearlessly balance on the beams of bridges under construction, the first of these laborers were Mohawks from the Caughnawaga reserve in eastern Canada. In the face of staggering economic oppression, skywalkers earned wages that enabled them to feed their families. Their achievements brought honor as well as heartbreak to their communities: first in 1907, when 33 Mohawk skywalkers were killed during the construction of a bridge across the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Then, in 2001, skywalkers (whose ancestors famously built the Twin Towers in New York City) "volunteered to dismantle what their fathers and uncles built decades before" in the aftermath of 9/11. Today, Indigenous skywalkers--including women--continue this proud tradition of sky-high steel work. Lewis' impressionist watercolors reverently depict skywalkers' triumphs and tragedies; his dramatic, cinematic angles and perspectives will have readers gasping in wonder. By turns solemnly reverent and enthusiastic, Buckley's elegant text will leave young people keenly aware of the historical and present-day significance of these groundbreaking workers, as well as their strength and resilience. Extensive backmatter speaks to Buckley's own skywalking family and further explores Mohawk history. Awe-inspiring. (glossary, a sample of buildings constructed by skywalkers, note from Heartdrum author-curator Cynthia Leitich Smith)(Informational picture book. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.