SIMON J. ORTIZ is a Puebloan writer of the Acoma Pueblo tribe, and one of the key figures in the second wave of what has been called the Native American Renaissance. Ortiz has published many books of poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction, but The People Shall Continue is his only book for young readers. His writing focuses on modern people's alienation from others, from oneself, and from one's environment--urging humanity to reconnect the wisdom of ancestral spirits and with Mother Earth. Ortiz lives in Tempe, Arizona.