With it being Native American Heritage Month, our teen book spotlight this week is on books that are either authored by Native American and Indigenous authors or feature characters representing this heritage!!! These books are amazing and so many of these authors have written more than just the titles that are being featured--so if you like this one there are others you can read as well. Most of the titles featured are standalones so if you want a book that has a beginning, middle, and end these may be a perfect choice or there are some amazing nonfiction options as well (which are some of my favorites)! These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #yanativeamerican as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger--Seventeen-year-old Ellie lives in an alternate Earth where she has the ability to wake and train ghosts to assist her, a trait she inherited from her Lipan Apache grandmother. When her cousin Trevor, who died in a car accident, reveals to her in a dream that he was murdered, Ellie sets out with her ghost-dog Kirby to protect Trevor's family and reveal the truth of what happened.
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley--Half Anishinaabe and half white, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine puts her plans for medical school on hold after her uncle overdoses on meth and her grandmother has a stroke. Sticking around her Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, home, Daunis is dealt further tragedy when she witnesses her best friend's murder by her meth-addicted boyfriend. Using her knowledge of chemistry, and fueled by rage against what's happening to those on the reservation, Daunis begins an investigation into the components of a deadly circulating form of the drug, who's dealing it, and how she can protect those in her community from it.
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline--In a world where most people have lost the ability to dream, a fifteen-year-old Indigenous boy who is still able to dream struggles for survival against an army of "recruiters" who seek to steal his marrow and return dreams to the rest of the world.
Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth--Memoir by the author explores issues of Native American identity, using verse and other poetic forms and reclaiming the native slur "apple," in which one is accused of being red on the outside and white on the inside. Discusses the author's experiences growing up on the reservation, his struggles with understanding his mixed tribal heritage, and reconciling his own participation in the erasure of his culture.
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz--Offers a young reader adaptation of the 2014 work which chronicles the centuries of persecution faced by indigenous peoples of the United States at the hands of the American government, including genocidal programs, corrupt policy-making, and the seizing of indigenous lands. Includes maps, photographs, sidebars, points for discussion, and a recommended book list.
#NotYourPrincess by Lisa Charleyboy--Contains a collection of nearly forty poems written by Native American women from tribes across the nation. Includes colorful artwork.