Books that authentically reflect Native American and Indigenous experiences.
In this list:
Middle Grade Fiction Titles | YA Fiction Titles | Nonfiction Titles | Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction Titles
This collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride.
Freaky Friday meets 11 Before 12 in Clairboyance, a middle grade novel with a touch of magic which follows Clara, a girl whose life is turned upside down when she discovers that she has boy-specific ESP abilities.
Edward and Nathan, two Navajo stepbrothers, work with a young water monster named Dew to confront their past and save the world from a monstrous, enormous Enemy that is stealing water from all of the Navajo Nation.
Lucy, a spirited French-Ojibwe orphan, is sent to the stormy waters of Lake Superior to live with a mysterious family of lighthouse-keepers-and, she hopes, to find the legendary necklace her father spent his life seeking.
Six eighth graders in Washington, DC, navigate through the conflict and division sparked by a school assignment focused on their town's Native American mascot.
Ziggy's mother disappeared ten years ago, one of the many Native women who have mysteriously gone missing, and Ziggy believes a secret cave may hold the key--so with his sister, Moon, and friends Alice and Corso, he sets out to find the cave and solve the mystery of his family's origins.
YA Fiction Titles
Turning to the Warriors, a gang on the reservation, Josh, now known as Creeboy, starts down the path to becoming a full gang member--cutting himself off from his friends, family, and community outside the gang. It's harder than ever for Creeboy to envision a different future for himself. Will anything change his mind?
Fourteen-year-old Eva's life is like her shoes: rapidly falling apart. With Nohkum in the hospital, Eva's mother struggles to keep things together and loses custody of Eva and her little brother. As Eva tries to adjust to living in a group home, can she find forgiveness for her mother within the pages of an old diary?
Four teens on the Blackfeet Reservation find themselves the suspects of an investigation when a classmate is found murdered during the annual Indian Days celebrations.
This compelling debut novel tells the relatable, high-stakes story of a young athlete determined to play like the hero his Ojibwe community needs him to be.
Max and Jay have always depended on one another for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, the two Bribri American brothers have learned that the only way to protect themselves and their mother is to stick to a schedule and keep their heads down. But when they hear a classmate in trouble in the woods, instinct takes over and they intervene, only to later grapple with the consequences. Told in alternating points of view using vignettes and poems, author Ari Tison crafts an emotional, slow-burning drama about brotherhood, abuse, recovery, and doing the right thing.
Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent - who isn't to be trusted - set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world - or this place in time. Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.
When the weekend at Pink Mountain Pizza takes several unexpected turns, three teens will have to acknowledge the various ways they've been hurt--and how much they need each other to hold it all together.
Perry Firekeeper-Birch begins to question everything when the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot -will not- stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.
From acclaimed author Anton Treuer comes a novel that's both taut thriller and a raw, tender coming-of-age story, about one Ojibwe boy learning to love himself through the love of his family around him.
Nonfiction Titles
Adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, this new edition includes informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art to reinforce how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth's oldest teachers: the plants around us.
Since the late 1800s, it has been believed that Native American civilization has been wiped from the United States. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee argues that Native American culture is far from defeated--if anything, it is thriving as much today as it was one hundred years ago. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee looks at Native American culture as it exists today--and the fight to preserve language and traditions.
Eric Gansworth tells his story, the story of his family--of Onondaga among Tuscaroras--of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds.
From the acclaimed Ojibwe author and professor Anton Treuer comes an essential book of questions and answers for Native and non-Native young readers alike. Ranging from Why is there such a fuss about nonnative people wearing Indian costumes for Halloween? to Why is it called a 'traditional Indian fry bread taco'? to What's it like for natives who don't look native?
Spanning more than 400 years, this classic bottom-up history examines the legacy of Indigenous peoples' resistance, resilience, and steadfast fight against imperialism. Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity.
This book is an essential resource for young readers to learn about the Reign of Terror against the Osage people--one of history's most ruthless and shocking crimes. In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma, thanks to the oil that was discovered beneath their land. Then, one by one, the Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances, and anyone who tried to investigate met the same end.
This explains the traumatic effects of colonization on young Indigenous people. It includes reflection questions and activities in each chapter to encourage mindfulness and emotional regulation, help build reader self-awareness about wellness and self-care, and what it will take to stop the cycle of intergenerational trauma.
The 12 Indigenous women featured in this book overcame unimaginable hardships--racial and gender discrimination, abuse and extreme poverty--only to rise to great heights.
As a fashion-obsessed Ojibwe teen, Christian Allaire rarely saw anyone that looked like him in the magazines or movies he looked to for inspiration. Now the Fashion and Style Writer for Vogue, he is working to change that--because clothes are never just clothes. Allaire takes the reader through boldly designed chapters to discuss additional topics like cosplay, make up, hijabs, and hair, probing the connections between fashion and history, culture, politics, and social justice.
This award-winning author team reveal how Indigenous knowledge comes from centuries of practices, experiences, and ideas gathered by people who have a long history with the natural world. Indigenous knowledge is explored through the use of fire and water, the acquisition of food, the study of astronomy, and healing practices.
Growing up impoverished and shuttled between different households, it seemed life was bound to take a certain path for Eddie Chuculate. Despite the challenges he faced, his upbringing was rich with love and bountiful lessons from his Creek and Cherokee heritage, deep-rooted traditions he embraced even as he learned to live within the culture of white, small-town America that dominated his migratory childhood.
Graphic Novels
Curtis has returned to Fort Smith, six weeks sober and determined to stay that way. Can he find healing in his grandfather's ancient cultural practices? Notorious bootlegger, Benny the Bank stands in his way. With poison slowly killing him, Benny is uneasy about how he'll be remembered. Can he find a way to make amends?
Navigate through monsters, mysteries, and the will of the gods with two young extraordinary adventurers in fifteenth-century Mesoamerica as they search for a missing father.
On a journey to uncover her family's story, Spotted Fawn travels through time and space to reclaim connection to ancestors, language, and the land. Adapted from the acclaimed stop-motion animated film of the same name, Four Faces of the Moon brings the oral and written history of the Michif, Cree, Nakoda and Anishinaabe Peoples and their cultural link to the buffalo alive on the page.
An ordinary day in Mr. Bee's history class turns extraordinary, when Echo finds herself transported to another time and place--a bison hunt on the Saskatchewan prairie. Join Echo as she visits a Métis camp, travels the old fur-trade routes, and experiences the perilous and bygone era of the Pemmican Wars.
Derived from excerpts of a letter that went viral and also the basis of a documentary film. In her letter, Jonnie calls out the authorities for neglecting to immediately investigate missing Indigenous people and urges them to not treat her as the Indigenous person she is proud to be if she were to be reported missing. Through the illustrations, the artist imagines a situation in which a young Indigenous woman does disappear, portraying the reaction of her community, her friends, the police, and media.
Award-winning artist Nate Powell--the first cartoonist ever to win a National Book Award--has adapted Loewen's classic work into a graphic edition that perfectly captures both Loewen's text and the irreverent spirit of his work. Eye-popping illustrations bring to life the true history chronicled in Lies My Teacher Told Me, and ample text boxes and callouts ensure nothing is lost in translation. The book is perfect for those making their first foray past the shroud of history textbooks, and it will also be beloved by those who had their worldviews changed by the original.
Today's hottest Native American and Indigenous talent make their mark with stories that explore the rich heritage of Marvel's incredible cast of Indigenous characters.
Anishinaabe culture and storytelling meet Alice in Wonderland in this coming-of-age graphic novel that explores Indigenous and gender issues through a fresh yet familiar looking glass.
Inspired by true events, this story shares the awe-inspiring resilience of Elder Betty Ross. At a residential school, Betsy is forced to endure abuse and indignity, but her father's words give her the strength and determination to survive.
Explore the past 150 years through the eyes of Indigenous creators in this groundbreaking graphic novel anthology. Beautifully illustrated, these stories are an emotional and enlightening journey through Indigenous wonderworks, psychic battles, and time travel. See how Indigenous peoples have survived a post-apocalyptic world since Contact.
If Aiyana hears one more traditional Lakota story, she'll scream! More interested in her social media presence than her Native American heritage, Aiyana is shocked when she suddenly finds herself in a magical world-with no cell coverage. Pursued by the trickster Raven, Aiyana struggles to get back home, but is helped by friends and allies she meets along the way.
In Native American traditions, the trickster takes many forms, from coyote or rabbit to raccoon or raven. The first graphic anthology of Native American trickster tales, this brings together Native American folklore and the world of comics. 24 Native storytellers were paired with 24 comic artists, telling cultural tales from across America ranging from serious and dramatic to funny and sometimes downright fiendish.