The Sorgho Squad book series by Nate Blum offers an entertaining and educational adventure story for middle-grade readers. The first two books introduce the series' main characters and kick off their globetrotting quest:
Chapter 1: From the Ruins Comes Jowar!
Professor Sorgho and his apprentice, Alice Atlas, discover ancient clues that could unlock sustainable solutions to pressing global issues like food insecurity and climate change. To decipher the clues, they must find the lost legendary super-team known as the Sorgho Squad. This fast-paced first installment draws readers into the adventure.
Chapter 2: The Rumors are True...Introducing, Mashilla!
The Sorgho Squad's search leads them to India, where they encounter the brilliant plant geneticist Mashilla. She joins the team on their mission to find the remaining Sorgho Squad members. Mashilla's expertise and ingenuity prove invaluable as their quest continues.
Through an action-packed narrative, the Sorgho Squad series promotes the real-world benefits of sustainable crops like sorghum. Blum's experience in the grain industry lends authenticity to the books' themes of agricultural innovation and food security. Vibrant illustrations and relatable characters make these stories entertaining for kids and adults alike.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
Where did you get the inspiration for these books?
The inspirations for the Sorgho Squad series really are myriad. To begin, I've always enjoyed writing creatively and have long wanted to write a children's book series. Additionally, I am a huge comic book nerd, Amazing Spiderman specifically (I own a complete run of ASM from 1962-current), so that medium definitely informed the format of this series. Finally, through my travels I have seen how imagery and illustrated characters can help to advance education while also being fun.
In particular I recall attending the World Expo in Dubai in 2021. Attendees at this event came from nearly every nation on Earth. Which creates potential linguistic problems in things as simple as informing where restaurants and wash rooms are located. The organizers of this event created a few cartoon characters as 'mascots' which also helped to inform expo-goers of where these services were located. Seeing this approach to overcoming linguistic challenges helped me to fully understand the importance of reaching out to general audiences through the illustrated medium as a tool to provide informative, creative, and entertaining content which can help to advance markets for climate-smart and nutritive products made from sorghum and millets.
Why is it important for students to learn about agriculture and sustainability?
In agriculture it is often said that, "There are 435 careers in Ag. Only two of those are farmer and rancher." So many other industries touch agriculture. From finance to technology to processing to logistics and marketing and more. The better students understand how agriculture does and can touch their lives the better equipped they will be to find professional fulfillment later on in life.
In regard to sustainability: This is a topic that all of us ought to be proactive on. It is important to note that the farmers are the original conservationists. I grew up on a fourth generation farm in Nebraska. I can tell you that agriculture producers view the health of their land and resources as important metrics to ensure the farm can be passed productively to the next generation. That being said, much of agriculture in North America, South America, and Europe have become monoculture cropping systems in the past thirty years. Lack of on-farm grains diversity creates problems in regard to soil health, water conservation, plant diseases and pests, and a decline in biodiversity. Most farmers I talk to tell me they would like to break their monocropping practices by including sorghum in their rotations, but they do not have access to markets for that grain.
Students who learn about sorghum's role in conservation, and the diverse applications of the grain, can help to build new value-added markets. Doing so will drive demand for this healthy and climate-smart grain and provide opportunities for those farmers to diversify their operations through the free market. Sorghum uses 1/3 the water of comparable grains, provides additional biology for soil health due to it's larger root biomass, captures and sequesters more carbon deeper and longer in the soil, and is widely preferred by many bird and pollinator species. Increasing demand for products made with sorghum in the food, fuel, and fiber space is an easy way for non-agricultural stakeholders to directly make a difference in our changing world.
What has been the most surprising thing about the writing process?
I was most surprised by how quickly the books grabbed industry attention. Within two weeks of publishing 'Sorgho Squad Chapter One: From the Ruins Comes Jowar' back in June of 2023, my email and phone messages became overwhelmed. We are continuing to grow, but such immediacy in industry interest was validating. This response is largely due to the quality of the illustrations done by the amazing Jordan Scribner and the pertinence of the topics of healthy foods and conservation.
For more information about Sorghum United and the Sorgho Squad series, please visit sorghumunited.org.
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