Native American Culture
Here are some of our favorite books that depict Native American culture for children and teens. 
These books can all be found in the Easy, Juvenile, and Teen sections of the library, unless otherwise noted.  Please note that the titles in the Teen section can be either Teen Middle School or Teen High School.
 
Easy Books
Firefly season by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Firefly Season
by Cynthia Leitich Smith

A Muscogee girl named Piper is grateful for family and summers spent in Cherokee Nation and Muscogee Nation, and when Sumi moves next door, Piper's excited to share stories, and when Piper's family moves away, she dreams up a plan to reunite.
Clack, clack! Smack! : a Cherokee stickball story by Traci Sorell
Clack, Clack! Smack!: a Cherokee Stickball Story
by Traci Sorell

While playing a social game of Cherokee stickball, Vann learns that helping his team win is just as important as being the star player.
Remember by Joy Harjo
Remember
by Joy Harjo

The poignant picture book adaptation of the U.S. Poet Laureate's iconic poem urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into and how everyone on Earth is connected.

 
The Walrus and the Caribou
by Maika Harper

When the earth was new, words had the power to breathe life into the world. But when creating animals from breath, sometimes one does not get everything right on the first try! Based on a traditional Inuit story passed forward orally for generations in the South Baffin region of Nunavut, this book shares with young readers the origin of the caribou and the walrus--and tells of how very different these animals looked when they were first conceived.
Can You Hear the Plants Speak?
by Nicholas Hummingbird

Calling on the legacy of his great-grandparents, an Indigenous plantsman presents this multigenerational story about how one drop of rain, one seed, one plant can renew a cycle of hope and connections—for him and for each of us.
At Our Table
by Patrick Hulse

Celebrating sharing, community, family, food and respect for America's first inhabitants, this lyrical, colorful book shows the countless ways we give to others on Thanksgiving, from preparing food to honoring farmers and Native communities to creating memories with those we love. 
When the Stars Came Home
by Brittany Luby

Moving to the city with his family, Ojiig misses everything they left behind, including the sparkling night sky, until his parents give him a special quilt stitched through with family stories that capture who he is and where he came from. 
What Your Ribbon Skirt Means to Me: Deb Haaland's Historic Inauguration
by Alexis C. Bunten

On March 18, 2021, Pia and the other children at the Indigenous community center were filled with Native pride as they watched Secretary Deb Haaland in her ribbon skirt at the White House becoming the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary.
 
Powwow Day
by Traci Sorell

Unable to dance at the powwow this year due to illness, River feels isolated and alone until she discovers the healing power of community, in this uplifting, contemporary Native American story. 
Still this Love Goes On
by Buffy Sainte-Marie

This tribute to Indigenous communities everywhere brings to life an Academy Award-winning Cree icons song of the same name. Breathtaking illustrations from celebrated Cree-Métis artist Julie Flett combine with Sainte-Marie's vivid lyrics to craft a remarkable piece of art, combining meaningful lyrics with breathtaking illustrations.
Juvenile Books
Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids
by Cynthia Leitich Smith

A volume of interconnected stories and poems set at a Native American Dance for Mother Earth Powwow celebration in Ann Arbor, Michigan, includes contributions by such new and veteran writers as Joseph Bruchac, Dawn Quigley and Traci Sorell. 
The barren grounds by David Robertson
The Barren Grounds
by David Robertson

Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous foster children, discover a hidden portal to another reality called Aski, where they meet the hunter Ochek and a mischievous squirrel Arik, and help them save the starving community of Misewa
Hoop dancer determination by Jake Maddox
Hoop Dancer Determination
by Jake Maddox

For the past two years, since attending a Choctaw Nation powwow with his family, thirteen-year-old Tobias has secretly been teaching himself how to hoop dance, but once his secret gets out, he must decide if he wants to share his dancing at the spring talent show. 
On a Wing and a Tear
by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Close friends Melanie (Muscogee-Odawa) and Ray (Cherokee-Seminole) join Grampa Charlie Halfmoon on a road trip from Chicago to Macon, Georgia, to bring Great-Grandfather Bat, a living legend, to a historic game, facing adventure, danger and a hair-raising mystery along the way.
Blue Stars
by Kekla Magoon

When cousins Riley, who has a way with people, and Maya, a tech wizard, move in with their activist grandma, they get off to a rocky start until they join forces as superheroes to stop their school culture from being threatened by money, power and lies. 
Two Tribes
by Emily Bowen Cohen

Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn't want to talk about him, but Mia can't help but feel like she's missing a part of herself without him in her life. Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma--without telling her mom--to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side.
We Still Belong
by Christine Day

Wesley's hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and asking her crush to the dance) go all wrong--until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at the intertribal powwow.
Who was Jim Thorpe?
by James Buckley

A biography of Native American athlete Jim Thorpe, focusing on how his boyhood education set the stage for his athletic achievements which gained him international fame and Olympic gold medals. This series appeals to reluctant readers as well as middle readers in general.
 
Fancy Pants
by Dawn Quigley

In this second book in the Jo Jo Makoons series, written by an American Indian Youth Literature Honor winning author and illustrated by a Wolastoqey artist, irrepressible first-grader Jo Jo is determined to learn how to be fancy before her aunt's wedding, with her own particular flair.
Wilma Mankiller
by Traci Sorell

Shows how Wilma Mankiller dedicated her life to helping Native Nations and their citizens reclaim their rights, becoming the first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and lists ways readers can follow in her footsteps to make a difference.
 
Teen Books
Legendary frybread drive-in : intertribal stories by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories
by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Featuring the voices of both new and acclaimed Indigenous writers and edited by bestselling Muscogee author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world's best frybread.
Sisters in the wind / :  A Good Morning America Book Club Pick by Angeline Boulley
Sisters in the Wind 
by Angeline Boulley

Ever since Lucy Smith's father died five years ago, 'home' has been more of an idea than a place. She knows being on the run is better than anything waiting for her as a '"ward of the state'. But when the sharp-eyed and kind Mr. Jameson with an interesting her case comes looking for her, Lucy wonders if hiding from her past will ever truly keep her safe. Five years in the foster system has taught her to be cautious and smart. But she wants to believe Mr. Jameson and his 'friend-not-friend', a tall and fierce-looking woman who say they want to look after her. They also tell Lucy the truth her father hid from her: She is Ojibwe; she has--had--a sister, and more siblings, a grandmother who'd look after her and a home where she would be loved. 
Find Her
by Ginger Reno

Twelve-year-old Wren fights to find her missing Cherokee mother, while also navigating a chilling town mystery, a new friendship, and a family in need of healing.
Looking for Smoke
by K.A. Cobell

When a classmate is murdered during a traditional Blackfeet giveaway, Mara, Loren, Brody and Eli, the last people to see her alive, must take matters into their own hands and clear their names—even though one of them may be the killer.
The Unfinished
by Cheryl Issacs

With the black water from a strange pond stalking her every move, Avery must connect to her Indigenous culture to save both her best friend—and longtime crush—and the town when people there begin disappearing, but is forced to make an impossible choice.
Warrior Girl Unearthed
by Angeline Boulley

With the rising number of missing Indigenous women, her family's involvement in a murder investigation and grave robbers profiting off her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry takes matters into her own hands to solve the mystery and reclaim her people's inheritance. 
The Storyteller
by Brandon Hobson

To discover what happened to his mother, one of many Native women who've mysteriously gone missing, anxiety-riddled Ziggy, his sister Moon, and his friends Alice and Corso set out on a mind-bending adventure where he learns the lessons of the Cherokee storytellers.
The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories
by Kel McDonald

A collection of comics reimagines folklore from several North American tribes.
 
Man Made Monsters
by Andrea L. Rogers

Haunting illustrations are woven throughout these horror stories that follow one extended Cherokee family across centuries as they encounter predators of all kinds.
The Star that Always Stays
by Anna Rose Johnson

In 1914, Norvia moves from the country to the city, where her mother forces her to pretend she's not Native American, and when faced with numerous changes and the looming threat of world war, Norvia must find the courage to reveal who she truly is.
Forsyth County Public Library
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