Years ago, while working in the Rapid City school system, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve met two Lakota boys who had befriended an Asian immigrant student.

Driving Hawk Sneve was struck by how much the friends identified with each other and looked out for each other. "Sharing was so natural to both cultures," she said.

More than a decade later, the Rapid City author has turned that experience into her most recent book, "Lana's Lakota Moons."

"Lana's Lakota Moons" is set in Rapid City and tells the story of two young Lakota girls, Lori and Lana. When the two girls become friends with a Hmong girl in their school, the friendship opens the door to their respective cultures.

"They become aware of their own culture as well as the other," Driving Hawk Sneve said. "The likenesses and the differences, and she becomes an adopted sister."

"Lana's Lakota Moons" is Driving Hawk Sneve's newest book of fiction. Her last book, "The Bad River Boys," came out in 2004.

Sneve, the daughter of an Episcopal pastor, grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. She got her first taste of literary encouragement early on.

"I had teachers in elementary school that recognized I had some potential. … They encouraged me to write," she said.

Those teachers ensured that Driving Hawk Sneve always had plenty of books around her, but it was a book in her father's church that really opened her eyes to the world and prompted her interest in storytelling. "The Book of Knowledge," an encyclopedic book filled with tales, both real and fiction, enthralled Driving Hawk Sneve.

"They were fascinating," she said. "(The book) had a lot of myths and legends from all over the world."

Driving Hawk Sneve went on to obtain her bachelor's and master's degrees from South Dakota State University in Brookings. She taught at various South Dakota schools, including the Rapid City School district for 12 years. She retired in 1995.

"Lana's Lakota Moon" is being released through the University of Nebraska Press and will be available at local bookstores. Driving Hawk Sneve also is awaiting the fall 2008 release of her new Christmas book, based on her own childhood on the Rosebud Reservation.

Other new books

Several area writers have published works this year, including poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Here are three new books on the shelves from regional writers.

"Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters" by Paul Goble

Rapid City author Paul Goble has written and illustrated "Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters," his most recent book based on American Indian themes.

"Tipi" explores the process by which tipis are created and adorned. Goble's colorful illustrations show the various designs that decorate tipis and explains their meanings. Author Mike Cowdrey calls the book "… the best resource for painted-tipi imagery ever published."

Goble has written and illustrated 35 children's books and been the recipient of the Caldecott Medal.

"Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters" is published by World Wisdom press. The 120-page book sells for $21.95 paperback and $26.95 hardcover. It can be bought at Prairie Edge, Waldenbooks and Borders.

"Father's Curse" by Eric Lochridge

Poet Eric Lochridge is the author of "Father's Curse," a chapbook that was published in February by FootHills Publishing of Kanona, N.Y. (www.foothillspublishing.com). The 19 poems in it were written and revised repeatedly between 1992 and 2006. Thematically, the book explores the lingering effects of divorce from childhood on into fatherhood.

Lochridge's poetry has appeared in Free Lunch, Slipstream, Diagram, Main Channel Voices, The Mid-America Poetry Review and Writer's Journal, among others.

Lochridge is a copy editor with the Rapid City Journal.

"Father's Curse" can be bought for $6 at www.foothillpublishing.com or by contacting Lochridge at 721-9212 or at ericedits@rushmore.com.

"Searching for Italy in America's Rural Heartland" by Celeste Calvitto

Rapid City freelance journalist Celeste Calvitto recently published her new book, "Searching for Italy in America's Rural Heartland."

The book tells the stories of Italian immigrants who, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, came to the United States to work in the coal mines, railroads and farms.

Focusing on the rural rather than the urban immigrant experience, "Searching for Italy" is a journey to small communities in six states - Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana -and, through dozens of interviews with immigrants and their descendants, provides a glimpse into the past.

Calvitto is a former reporter for the Rapid City Journal.

"Searching for Italy in America's Rural Heartland," published by Vantage Press in New York, is $14.95 and can be ordered by calling toll-free, 1-800-882-3273. The author also has a Web site, www.searchingforitaly.com, which has detailed information about the book.