February is American Heart Month, and hosts Brad Clonch and Quin Tran offer tips for a heart-healthy lifestyle and bring awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. For more information, visit HeartTruth.gov.

It's also "I Love to Read" Month! The Chickasaw Press, Leaning Pole Press and White Dog Press offer publications that feature the tribe's history and culture for all ages to enjoy across a variety of creative genres.

Gina DiDesidero joins us to talk about her new novel, "Undrowned," an enemies-to-friends tale inspired by traditional Chickasaw stories, available at ChickasawPress.com. DiDesidero also shares her journey from studying ecology and teaching biology to writing and how she incorporates storytelling into her parenting approach. It’s through storytelling that she feels togetherness is created, and her experience in the Peace Corps is where she fell in love with community.

"To me, I feel that respect is my first layer of what it is to be Chickasaw. I have a great deal of respect for all living things – plants and animals and people," DiDesidero says. "I see the connectedness and the way that how one biome affects another. I feel that's one of the deepest connections to my heritage."

This "I Love to Read" Month, the Chickasaw Reading Program supports young readers with a monthly supply of books. The partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library allows little ones to receive one book per month until their 5th birthday. Call (580) 421-7711 or visit Chickasaw.net.