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Indigenous Reads Rising: Chapter Books |
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I Can Make This Promise
by Christine Day
In a story based on the author's real-life experiences, a girl uncovers a secret that connects her to her Native American heritage, throwing everything she believes about her family into question. A first novel. 35,000 first printing.
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The Sea in Winter
by Christine Day
After an injury sidelines her dreams of becoming a ballet star, Maisie is not excited for her blended family's midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up.
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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.
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The Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
Chronicles the experiences of an Ojibwa girl and her family as they live their lives quietly on an island in Lake Superior in 1847, until the white man comes and begins moving her entire tribe off their land.
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The Case of Windy Lake
by Michael Hutchinson
Four inseparable cousins, known as the Mighty Muskrats, work together to find a missing archeologist on the Windy Lake First Nation.
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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.
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In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
by Joseph Marshall
A mixed-race Lakota youth learns about his Native American heritage through the story of Crazy Horse, in an account that draws on oral traditions to recount his heroic advocacy of his people and how he lead a war party to victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
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Indian No More
by Charlene Willing McManis
In 1957, ten-year-old Regina Petit's Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and forced to leave Oregon, but in Los Angeles her family faces prejudice and she struggles to understand her identity as an Indian far from tribal lands. Includes historical photographs and notes.
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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. 20,000 first printing. Illustrations.
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The Barren Grounds
by David Robertson
When two indigenous foster children find a secret portal to another reality, they encounter Ochek, the only hunter supporting his starving community of Misewa, and the three try to save Misewa before the icy winter freezes everything.
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The Great Bear
by David Robertson
Back at home after their first adventure in the Barren Grounds, Eli and Morgan each struggle with personal issues: Eli is being bullied at school, and tries to hide it from Morgan, while Morgan has to make an important decision about her birth mother. They turn to the place where they know they can learn the most, and make the journey to Misewa to visit their animal friends. This time they travel back in time and meet a young fisher that might just be their lost friend. But they discover that the village is once again in peril, and they must dig deep within themselves to find the strength to protect their beloved friends. Can they carry this strength back home to face their own challenges?
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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.
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Indian Shoes
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Together with Grampa, Ray Halfmoon, a Seminole-Cherokee boy, finds creative and amusing solutions to life's challenges, in a collection of interrelated, heartwarming stories.
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Rain Is Not My Indian Name
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Although six months have passed since her best friend died, Cassidy Rain is far from over it and doesn't like to face the world, yet when her aunt's Indian Camp finds itself in the middle of something ugly, Cassidy Rain decides it's time to come out of her shell and offer her help.
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Sisters of the Neversea
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
In this magical, modern twist on Peter Pan, stepsisters Lily and Wendy are spirited away to Neverland by a mysterious boy and must find a way back to the family they love. 35,000 first printing.
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Healer of the Water Monster
by Brian Young
A debut novel inspired by Native-American culture follows the experiences of a boy whose summer at his grandmother's reservation home is shaped by his uncle's addictions and an encounter with a sacred being from the Navajo Creation Story. 35,000 first printing.
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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 toOklahoma--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.
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Borders
by Thomas King
Adapted into a powerful graphic novel, this story follows a boy and his mother as they are caught in limbo between countries after refusing to identify as either American or Canadian.
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Nonfiction and Biographies
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The Frog Mother
by Brett D. Huson
Book four of the Mothers of Xsan series follows the life cycle of the columbia spotted frog. Learn about why this species is of special significance to the Gitxsan and how Nox Ga'naaw and her offspring are essential to the balance that is life. Science comes alive through vivid illustrations that explore the life cycle of frogs.
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The Wolf Mother
by Brett D. Huson
Introduces young readers to a pack of grey wolves. New pups have just begun to open their eyes, one of which is a striking black female. Every day, her ears grow larger, her eyesight gets sharper, and her legs stretch farther. As she learns to hunt, play, and run with her pack, instinct pulls her to explore beyond her home territory.
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We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know
by Traci Sorell
One dozen kids discuss the historical and contemporary laws, policies, movements and victories that have shaped Native American culture of the past and present, from forced assimilation and tribe nation delegitimization to language revival efforts and the Indian Child Welfare Act. Illustrations.
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If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving
by Chris Newell
Carefully crafted to explore both sides of the event known as the first Thanksgiving, a multi-award-winning museum professional delves into the feast at Plimoth and the history leading up to it.
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Crazy Horse and Custer: Born Enemies
by S. D. Nelson
In 1876, Lakota chief Crazy Horse helped lead his people's resistance against the white man's invasion of the northern Great Plains. One of the leaders of the US military forces was Army Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. The men had long been enemies. At the height of the war, when tribalism had reached its peak, they crossed paths for the last time. In this action-packed double biography, S. D. Nelson draws fascinating parallels between Crazy Horse and Custer, whose lives were intertwined. These warriors were alike in many ways, yet they often collided in deadly rivalry. Witness reports and reflections by their peers and enemies accompany side-by-side storytelling that offers very different perspectives on the same historical events. The two men's opposing destinies culminated in the infamous Battle of the Greasy Grass, as the Lakota called it, or the Battle of the Little Bighorn, as it was called by the Euro-Americans. In Crazy Horse and Custer, Nelson's gripping narrative and signature illustration style based on Plains Indians ledger art, along with a mix of period photographs and paintings, shines light on two men whose conflict forever changed Lakota and US history. The book includes an author's note, timeline, endnotes, and bibliography.
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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.
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