Indigenous, Native American, First Nations, & Australian Aboriginal
The Brave
Author: James Bird
Description: The Brave is a contemporary middle grade novel about a neurodiverse biracial Native American boy who was raised by his alcoholic white father. When he is kicked out of yet another school, his father sends him to live with his Indigenous Ojibwe mother on a reservation in Minnesota. There he finds community, friendship, and family and learns that he is okay just the way he is.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenouse #biracial #maleprotagonist #neurodiverse #contemporary #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Bird, J. (2020). The brave. Feiwel & Friends.
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Killer of Enemies
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Description: Killer of Enemies is a supernatural story about an Apache girl who has the power to kill monsters and becomes a hero.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #apache #dystopian #indigenousmythology #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Bruchac, J. (2013). Killer of Enemies. Tu Books.
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My Name Is Not Easy
Author: Debby Dahl Edwardson
Description: My Name Is Not Easy is a contemporary novel about a Native Alaskan boy whose traditional I’nupiaq name is not easily pronounceable by the white people he meets. So, when he begins attending a boarding school hundreds of miles away from his Arctic village, he decides to go by a non-Native name. At his new school, he is not allowed to speak his language and has a hard time fitting in.
Include: #nativeamerican #indigenous #nativealaskan #inupiaq #maleprotagonist #contemporary
Citation: Dahl Edwardson, D. (2011). My Name Is Not Easy. Skyscape.
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I Can Make This Promise
Author: Christine Day
Description: I Can Make This Promise is a contemporary novel about a biracial Native American girl whose Indigenous mother was adopted by a white family. When a mysterious box is found in her attic with a photo of a girl who looks just like her and who has her same name, the protagonist and her friends decide that they need to solve the mystery of who the woman is. This is a book about what happened to so many families before the Indian Welfare Act of 1978, when so many Indigenous families had their children taken away from them.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenouse #biracial #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Day, C. (2019). I can make this promise. HarperCollins.
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The Marrow Thieves
Author: Cherie Dimaline
Description: The Marrow Thieves is a dystopian novel set in a future where the protagonist has to escape and find a way to survive hunters who are trying to steal Indigenous people’s bone marrow because it gives them the ability to dream.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #firstnations #dystopian #maleprotagonist #trauma #youngadultliterature
Citation: Dimaline, C. (2017). The Marrow Thieves. Dancing Cat Books.
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He Who Dreams
Author: Melanie Florence
Description: He Who Dreams is a contemporary novel about a Native American teen boy who has a busy life of school, soccer, friends, and family. One day he stumbles across an indigenous dance class that quickly becomes something he is passionate about. After attending a pow wow and seeing the dancers, he realizes that his dream is to be an amazing dancer like they are. He must decide if he is willing to tell his family and friends about his passion so that he can join the nearest indigenous dance class for boys which is in their neighboring big city’s Native Cultural Center.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #canadian #firstnations #cree #maleprotagonist #contemporary #dance #youngadultliterature
Citation: Florence, M. (2017). He who dreams. Orca Book Publisher.
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Dreaming In Color
Author: Melanie Florence
Description: Dreaming In Color is a contemporary novel about a Native American teen girl who gets accepted into a prestigious art high school. She loves to incorporate her culture and her beadwork into her paintings. She has to deal with a group of students who think that she only got accepted to the school because she is native.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #canadian #firstnations #cree #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #art #youngadultliterature
Citation: Florence, M. (2020). Dreaming in color. Orca Book Publisher.
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The Missing
Author: Melanie Florence
Description: The Missing is a contemporary novel about a Native American teen whose best friend has disappeared. Even though her best friend’s family is painting her friend as a run away, she knows that is not the case. Girls in her community have been going missing. Another girl at her school was found dead in a river and the protagonist is sure that it is not a suicide. Will she find the killer?
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #canadian #firstnations #cree #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #youngadultliterature
Citation: Florence, M. (2016). The missing. Lorimer.
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Give Me Some Truth
Author: Eric Gansworth
Description: Give Me Some Truth is a novel about two teens living on a reservation, both wanting to push back against tradition, make their own way, and maybe fall in love. The male protagonist dreams of being in a band, traveling to New York, and winning a battle of the bands. However, his brother’s push back against racist comments at a restaurant lead to protests that he can’t help but be a part of. The female protagonist recently moved back to the reservation and has dreams of doing conceptual art rather than her family’s traditional style.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #tuscarora #maleprotagonist #femaleprotagonsit #youngadultliterature
Citation: Gansworth, E. (2018). Give Me Some Truth. Arthur A. Levine Books.
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If I Ever Get Out Of Here
Author: Eric Gansworth
Description: If I Ever Get Out of Here is a story set in the 1970s about poverty and a Tuscarora boy’s interracial friendship with a white boy and his love of Beatles songs.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #tuscarora #maleprotagonist #historical #youngadultliterature
Citation: Gansworth, E. (2013). If I Ever Get Out of Here. Arthur A. Levine Books.
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Fire Fight
Author: Jacqueline Guest
Description: Fire Fight is a contemporary novel about a Native American girl who is part Navajo part Stoney Nakoda. On the run to avoid being put into foster care, the protagonist joins a new community where she gets a part time job, volunteers for the forestry service, and meets a boy who she begins having feelings for. She must hid her identity while helping solve the mystery of a slew of forest fires that are spreading through the area.
Includes: #nativeamerican #navajo #stoneynakoda #indigenouse #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #youngadultliterature
Citation: Guest, J. (2015). Fire fight. 7th Generation.
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Becoming Kirrali Lewis
Author: Jane Harrison
Description: Becoming Kirrali Lewis is a historical novel about an Australian Aboriginal transracial adoptee teen in 1985 who moves to Melbourne to attend university. During the course of her first year of university, she meets other aboriginal students for the first time, learns about the stolen generation, searches for and then meets her biological parents who teach her about aboriginal history and activism in the 1960s-1980s.
Includes: #australian #australianaboriginal #aboriginal #indigenous #femaleprotagonist #historical #transracialadoptee #youngadultliterature
Citation: Harrison, J. (2015). Becoming Kirrali Lewis. Magabala Books.
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Hearts Unbroken
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Description: Hearts Unbroken is a contemporary novel about a Native American teen going through the drama of high school and first love. She is actively involved in her school newspaper and her community. The novel deals with prejudices against Native Americans and other people of color. This book (though set many years later) centers around the cousin of the protagonist in Rain Is Not My Indian Name.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #youngadultliterature
Citation: Leitich Smith, C. (2018). Hearts Unbroken. Candlewick Press.
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Rain Is Not My Indian Name
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Description: Rain Is Not My Indian Name is a contemporary novel set in the early 2000s about a Native American teen who recently lost her best friend in a car accident. In an effort to get out more, she starts taking photos of her aunt’s Indian summer camp in their small mid-west town for the local newspaper. She must decide how much she wants to let herself get involved with her intertribal community. The novel deals with prejudices against Native Americans and other people of color, especially in rural communities.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #youngadultliterature
Citation: Leitich Smith, C. (2001). Rain is not my Indian name. Heartdrum.
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Elatsoe
Author: Darcie Little Badger
Description: Elatsoe is the story of a Lipan Apache asexual teen girl. She lives in an alternate version of America where Native and Indigenous magic, monsters, legends, and knowledge are always present. She works with her cousin and the ghost of her dog to solve the murder of your cousin.
Includes: #indigenous #lipanapache # apache #LGBTQIA #femaleprotagonist #magic #asexual
Citation: Little Badger, Darcie. (2020). Elatsoe. Levine Querido.
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Apple In The Middle
Author: Dawn Quigley
Description: Apple In The Middle is a contemporary novel about a biracial Native American girl who turns her back on her heritage when someone calls her a racial slur. However, she reluctantly agrees to spend the summer with her Native American relatives on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in northern North Dakota. She quickly learns that a lot of the things that she thinks about her own community are actually stereotypes rather than truth.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenouse #biracial #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Quigley, D. (2018). Apple In The Middle. North Dakota State University Press.
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Race to the Sun
Author: Rebecca Roanhorse
Description: Race to the Sun is a middle grade fantasy novel about a 7th grade Navajo girl whose father has gone missing. She and her friends must pass a series of trials to get the help from the Diné Holy People to save her father’s life.
Includes: #nativeamerican #navajo #indigenous #indigenousmythology #fantasy #femaleprotagonist #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Roanhorse, R. (2020). Race to the sun. Rick Riordan Presents.
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Trail of Lightning
Author: Rebecca Roanhorse
Description: Trail of Lightning is a novel set in a dystopian future where most of the world has drowned because of climate change. This has caused the Navajo gods and heroes of legend to return to the land. Not only do gods and heroes of legend return, but so too do monsters. The protagonist is a monster hunter and goes on an adventure to solve a mystery about the monsters.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #navajo #indigenousmythology #dystopian #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Roanhorse, R. (2018). Trail of Lightning. Saga Press.
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Storm of Locusts
Author: Rebecca Roanhorse
Description: Storm of Locusts is the sequel to Trail of Lightning. It is a novel set in a dystopian future where most of the world has drowned because of climate change. This has caused the Navajo gods and heroes of legend to return to the land. Not only do gods and heroes of legend return, but so too do monsters. The protagonist is a monster hunter and goes on an adventure to solve a mystery about the monsters. In this book, the protagonist has to fight a mysterious cult, led by a figure out of Navajo legend called the White Locust.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #navajo #indigenousmythology #dystopian #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Roanhorse, R. (2019). Storm of locusts. Saga Press.
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Strangers
Author: David A. Robertson
Description: Strangers is the first book in a dystopian mystery trilogy about an Indigenous First Nations teen. The protagonist deals with anxiety and panic attacks. He, his aunt, and his grandmother left the reservation and moved to the city when he was 7 years old after the deaths of his parents and other members of his community. He returns to his reservation only to find death and destruction caused by murders and a mysterious illness. He must find his purpose and find a way to save his community.
Includes: #nativeamerican #firstnations #indigenous #mentalhealth #anxiety #panicattacks #dystopian #indigenousmythology #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Robertson, D.A. (2017). Strangers. HighWater Press.
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Surviving The City
Author: Tasha Spillett & Natasha Donovan
Description: Surviving The City is a short contemporary graphic novel about two Canadian First Nations teens who are best friends. The book shares landmarks that are important to the remembrance of lost indigenous women, discusses social services and family separation, highlights the berry fast which is a tradition where girls abstain from eating berries for a year after they have their first period and then are celebrated as becoming women, and it deals with indigenous activism.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #canadian #firstnations #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #graphicnovel #youngadultliterature
Citation: Spillett, T. & Donovan, N. (2019). Surviving The City #1. HighWater Press.
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Songs That Sound Like Blood
Author: Jared Thomas
Description: Songs That Sound Like Blood is a contemporary novel about an Australian Aboriginal teen who is the first in her family to go to university. Moving away from her small town to the big city, she joins an Aboriginal music program, falls in love with another female Maori student, comes out to her family and community, joins a televised singing competition, and fights to save the Aboriginal music program at her university.
Includes: #australian #australianaboriginal #aboriginal #indigenous #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #poverty #LGBTQIA #youngadultliterature
Citation: Thomas, J. (2016). Songs that sound like blood. Magabala Books.
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The Lesser Blessed
Author: Richard Van Camp
Description: The Lesser Blessed is a contemporary coming of age novel about a Native American, Dogrib Dene (Tłı̨chǫ), teen boy growing up in a small northern Canadian town. When a Native Métis teen moves to town, the two become close. This story deals with drugs, sex, and abuse but is ultimately hopeful.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #firstnations #Métis #Dogrib(Tlicho)Dene #Tłı̨chǫ #maleprotagonist #trauma #abuse #contemporary #youngadultliterature
Citation: Van Camp, R. (201=04). The lesser blessed. Douglas & McIntyre.
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Indian No More
Author: Charlene Willing McManis & Traci Sorell
Description: Indian No More is a historical middle grade novel about a 10-year-old Umpqua Native American girl in 1957. She has lived her whole life on the Grand Ronde reservation until the federal government signs into law a bill that says that her tribe no longer exists. After the bill passes, her father signs her family up for the Indian Relocation program and they move from a reservation to Los Angeles where she meets people of different races and ethnicities for the first time and faces racism because of her native identity. Luckily she has her family, her grandmother, and their traditions to help her through.
Includes: #nativeamerican #umpqua #indigenouse #femaleprotagonist #historical #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Willing McManis, C. & Sorell, T. (2019). Indian no more. Tu Books.
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Crazy Horse's Girlfriend
Author: Erika T. Wurth
Description: Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend is a contemporary novel about a Native American teen in Colorado. The story deals with poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse and the protagonist’s dreams of a chance to escape Denver someday.
Includes: #nativeamerican #indigenous #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #poverty #youngadultliterature
Citation: Wurth, E. T. (2014). Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend. Curbside Splendor Publishing.
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