20 Books by Indigenous Authors - from Toddlers to Teens!
This list includes titles by Indigenous authors sure to please kids of all ages!
The stone child
Robertson, David, 1977- author
2022
Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids
2021
A collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride.
Apple in the middle
Quigley, Dawn.
2018
Apple Starkington turned her back on her Native American heritage the moment she was called a racial slur for someone of white and Indian descent, not that she really even knew how to be an Indian in the first place. Too bad the white world doesn't accept her either. After her wealthy father gives her the boot one summer, Apple reluctantly agrees to visit her Native American relatives on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in northern North Dakota for the first time. Bouncing in the middle of two cultures, Apple meets her Indian relatives, shatters Indian stereotypes, and learns what it means to find her place in a world divided by color.
Berry song
Goade, Michaela, author, illustrator
2022
As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back.
The everlasting road
Kinew, Wab, 1981- author
2023
"Losing herself in the Floraverse after the death of her brother, young Indigenous girl Bugz finds the boundaries between the virtual and real worlds blurring when she creates a Waawaate bot in honor of her brother that grows in powers beyond her control."-- Provided by publisher.
Finding my dance
Thundercloud, Ria, author
2022
"In her debut picture book, professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage"-- Provided by publisher.
Fry bread : a Native American family story
Maillard, Kevin Noble, author
2019
Using illustrations that show the diversity in Native America and spare poetic text that emphasizes fry bread in terms of provenance, this volume tells the story of a post-colonial food that is a shared tradition for Native American families all across the North American continent. Includes a recipe and an extensive author note that delves into the social ways, foodways, and politics of America's 573 recognized tribes.
Healer of the water monster
Young, Brian (Brian Lee), author
2021
A novel inspired by Navajo 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.
Hearts unbroken
Smith, Cynthia Leitich, author
2018
When Louise Wolfe's boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. She'd rather spend her senior year with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, an ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper's staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director's inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey. But 'dating while Native' can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey's? -- adapted from jacket.
Keepunumuk : WeeAachumun's Thanksgiving story
Greendeer, Danielle, author
2022
Wampanoag children listen as their grandmother tells them the story about how WeeAachumun (the wise Corn) asked local Native Americans to show the newcomers how to grow food to yield a good harvest--Keepunumuk--in 1621.
Man made monsters
Rogers, Andrea L., author.
2022
Haunting illustrations are woven throughout these horror stories that follow one extended Cherokee family across the centuries and well into the future as they encounter predators of all kinds in each time period.
Remember
Harjo, Joy, author
2023
"Picture book adaptation of US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's iconic poem, Remember"-- Provided by publisher.
A snake falls to earth
Little Badger, Darcie, 1987- author
2021
Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She's always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories. Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he's been cast from home. He's found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake. Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli's best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven't been in centuries. And there are some who will kill to keep them apart
Stone River crossing
Tingle, Tim, author
2019
When Martha Tom crosses the Bok Chitto River into the slave-owning plantation in Mississippi territory she meets Lil Mo, an enslaved boy whose mother is about to be sold, so Martha convinces Lil Mo's family to cross the river and be free.
The storyteller
Hobson, Brandon, author.
2023
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.
This Indian kid : a Native American memoir
Chuculate, Eddie D., author
2023
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.
This place : 150 years retold
2019
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.
Tiger Lily and the secret treasure of Neverland
Dimaline, Cherie, 1975- author.
2023
"Tiger Lily is enjoying being thirteen, spending time with her grandmother and exploring alongside her horse and her friends. Then Tiger Lily uncovers a plot by two of Captain Hook's pirates, who are searching for a mysterious, powerful treasure. Determined to protect Neverland, Tiger Lily sets out on a very grown-up mission: find the treasure first, and keep it out of the pirates' reckless hands. As her journey takes her from Mermaid Lagoon to the Lost Boys' hideaway and beyond. Tiger Lily will need to become the brave leader she has wanted to be. Can she save her home and the people she loves before it's too late?"-- Provided by publisher.
Walking in two worlds
Kinew, Wab, 1981-, author
2021
Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe. Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma. But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.
We still belong
Day, Christine, 1993- author.
2023
"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"-- Provided by publisher.