Menlo School Library: Native Voices: Fiction

Novels in the Menlo Library

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Publication Date: 2021-03-16

Angeline Boulley's debut novel, Firekeeper's Daughter, is a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, perfect for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
Publication Date: 2023-05-02

Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history.
Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Publication Date: 2023-04-11

Deftly leading readers to the literary crossroads of contemporary realism and haunting mystery, Cynthia Leitich Smith revisits the world of her American Indian Youth Literature Award winner Hearts Unbroken. Gripping and evocative, Harvest House showcases a versatile storyteller at her spooky, unsettling best.
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson
Publication Date: 2022-05-10

In this complex and emotionally resonant novel about a Métis girl living on the Canadian prairies, debut author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make up a person--and the sweetness that can still live alongside the bitterest truth.
The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson
Publication Date: 2023-05-02

From National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson, a kaleidoscopic middle-grade adventure that mixes the anxieties, friendships, and wonders of a Cherokee boy's life with Cherokee history and lore.
My Good Man by Eric Gansworth
Publication Date: 2022-11-01

"A sprawling work, part commentary and chorus, part excavation of generational trauma, circling back and starting over as his protagonist stumbles toward adulthood. Gansworth drops gems of sharp dialogue as his story lurches toward big truths." -Minneapolis Star Tribune
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Publication Date: 2017-09-01

Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The Indigenous people of North America are being harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his friends struggle to survive as they make their way north.
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko; Larry McMurtry (Introduction by)
Publication Date: 2006-12-26

The great Native American Novel of a battered veteran returning home to heal his mind and spirit More than thirty-five years since its original publication, Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of Native American literature, a novel that is itself a ceremony of healing.
The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson
Publication Date: 2021-08-31

Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home - until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom.
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger; Rovina Cai (Illustrator)
Publication Date: 2020-08-25

A breathtaking debut novel featuring an asexual, Apache teen protagonist, Elatsoe combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, haunting illustrations, fantasy elements, and is one of the most-talked about debuts of the year.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner) by Sherman Alexie
Publication Date: 2007-09-12

Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, this book is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac
Publication Date: 2005-03-17

This deeply affecting novel honors all of those young men, like Ned, who dared to serve, and it honors the culture and language of the Navajo Indians.
How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle
Publication Date: 2013-06-18

A Choctaw boy tells the story of his tribe's removal from its Mississippi homeland, and how its exodus to the American West led him to become a ghost -- one able to help those left behind.
Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Publication Date: 2018-10-09

Winner of an American Indian Youth Literature Award New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith turns to realistic fiction with the thoughtful story of a Native teen navigating the complicated, confusing waters of high school -- and first love.
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth
Publication Date: 2013-07-30

Acclaimed adult author Eric Gansworth makes his YA debut with this wry and powerful novel about friendship, memory, and the joy of rock 'n' roll.
Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner by Tim Tingle
Publication Date: 2013-08-01

Danny Blackgoat is a teenager in Navajo country when soldiers burn down his home, kill his sheep and capture his family. During the Long Walk of 1864, Danny is labeled a troublemaker and given the name Fire Eye. Set in troubled times, Danny Blackgoat is the story of one boy's hunger to be free and be Navajo.
The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich
Publication Date: 1998-04-01

From the award-winning author of Love Medicine comes a vibrant tale of abandonment and sexual obsession, jealousy and unstinting love--a 40-year saga brimming with original and powerful characters.
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Publication Date: 1993-11-17

The first book in Erdrich's Native American tetralogy that includes The Beet Queen, Tracks, and The Bingo Palace is an authentic and emotionally powerful glimpse into the Native American experience--now resequenced and expanded to include never-before-published chapters.
Tracks by Louise Erdrich
Publication Date: 2017-08-29

Tracks is a tale of passion and deep unrest. Over the course of ten crucial years, as tribal land and trust between people erode ceaselessly, men and women are pushed to the brink of their endurance--yet their pride and humor prohibit surrender. The reader will experience shock and pleasure in encountering characters that are compelling and rich in their vigor, clarity, and indomitable vitality.
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Publication Date: 2002-06-03

In this story of a young Ojibwa girl, Omakayas, living on an island in Lake Superior around 1847, Louise Erdrich is reversing the narrative perspective used in most children's stories about 1800s Native Americans. Instead of looking out at 'them' as dangers or curiosities, Erdrich, drawing on her family's history, wants to tell about 'us', from the inside.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Publication Date: 2021-03-23

Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich's grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.
There There by Tommy Orange
Publication Date: 2018-06-05

A wondrous and shattering award-winning novel that follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. It is fierce, funny, suspenseful, and impossible to put down--full of poetry and rage, exploding onto the page with urgency and force.
Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie
Publication Date: 1996-09-01

In the 111-year life of the Spokane Indian reservation, not one person has arrived by accident-until the day the black stranger appears with nothing more than the suit he wears and the guitar slung over his back. From reservation bars to small-town taverns, from the cement trails of Seattle to the concrete canyons of Manhattan, Thomas and his Coyote Springs bandmates careen through ancestral nightmares and rock-and-roll dreams, sounding chords of celebration and survival as timeless as their tribe.
Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson
Publication Date: 2019-06-04

Sequoyah, a fifteen-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his mother's years of substance abuse, Sequoyah keeps mostly to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface. At least until he meets seventeen-year-old Rosemary. Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American background and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah's feelings toward Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both.
Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer
Publication Date: 2022-10-18

"Readers will be left with a rich image of Mia's world and the family and people that surround her as well as a strong sense of how culture and class impact people's experiences. A touching exploration of identity and culture."--Kirkus

Short Stories in the Menlo Library

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
Publication Date: 2022-07-05

Set in a Native community in Maine; Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy. In twelve striking, luminescent stories, author Morgan Talty--with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight--breathes life into tales of family and a community as they struggle with a painful past and an uncertain future.
Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers; Jeff Edwards (Illustrator)
Publication Date: 2022-10-04

Making her YA debut, Cherokee writer Andrea L. Rogers takes her place as one of the most striking voices of the horror renaissance that has swept the last decade. Horror fans will get their thrills in this collection - from werewolves to vampires to zombies - all the time-worn horror baddies are there. But so are predators of a distinctly American variety - the horrors of empire, of intimate partner violence, of dispossession. And so too the monsters of Rogers' imagination, that draw upon long-told Cherokee stories - of Deer Woman, fantastical sea creatures, and more. Alongside each story, Cherokee artist and language technologist Jeff Edwards delivers haunting illustrations that incorporate Cherokee syllabary.
Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie
Publication Date: 2003-05-07

Sherman Alexie is one of today's most captivating and popular writers -- The Nation has called him "a master of language, writing beautifully, unsparingly, and straight to the heart." Now with Ten Little Indians he offers nine poignant and emotionally resonant new stories about Native Americans who, like all Americans, find themselves at personal and cultural crossroads, faced with heart-rending, tragic, sometimes wondrous moments of being that test their loyalties, their capacities, and their notions of who they are and who they love.
Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Publication Date: 2020-04-07

Kali Fajardo-Anstine's magnetic story collection breathes life into her Latina characters of indigenous ancestry and the land they inhabit in the American West. Against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado-a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite-these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives- with caution, grace, and quiet force.

Graphic Novels in the Menlo Library

Movements and Moments by Sonja Eismann (Editor); Maya (Editor); Ingo Schoningh (Editor)
Publication Date: 2022-11-15

An ambitious feminist anthology chronicling Indigenous rebellions around the world. Indigenous Peoples all over the world have always had to stand their ground in the face of colonialism. While the details may differ, what these stories have in common is their commitment to resistance in a world that puts profit before respect, and western notions of progress before their own. These stories were selected from an open call across 42 countries to spotlight feminist movements and advocacies in the Global South.
Surviving the City by Tasha Spillett; Natasha Donovan (Illustrator); Donovan Yaciuk (Illustrator)
Publication Date: 2018-11-30

Miikwan and Dez are best friends. Miikwan is Anishinaabe; Dez is Inninew. Together, the teens navigate the challenges of growing up in an urban landscape--they're so close, they even completed their Berry Fast together. However, when Dez's grandmother becomes too sick, Dez is told she can't stay with her anymore. With the threat of a group home looming, Dez can't bring herself to go home and disappears. Miikwan is devastated, and the wound of her missing mother resurfaces.
The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories by Kate Ashwin (Editor); Kel McDonald (Editor); Alina Pete (Editor)
Publication Date: 2022-04-05

Loup Garrou, trickster rabbits, and spirits with names that can't be spoken--the plains and forests of North America are alive with characters like these, all waiting to meet you in this collection of folklore retold in comics! This fifth volume of the "Cautionary Fables and Fairytales" anthology series features updated takes on ancient stories from tribes spanning the continent, bursting with bedside tales that are thrilling, chilling, and most of all inspiring.
Borders by Thomas King; Natasha Donovan (Illustrator)
Publication Date: 2022-01-18

From two celebrated Indigenous creators comes a powerful graphic novel about a family caught between nations. A masterfully told story of a boy and his mother whose road trip from Alberta to Salt Lake City is thwarted at the border when they identify their citizenship as Blackfoot. Refusing to identify as either American or Canadian first bars their entry into the US, and then their return into Canada. In the limbo between countries, they find power in their connection to their identity and to each other.
Trickster by Matt Dembicki (Editor); Joseph Bruchac (Introduction by)
Publication Date: 2021-05-03

All cultures have tales of the trickster--a crafty creature or being who uses cunning to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. He disrupts the order of things, often humiliating others and sometimes himself. In Native American traditions, the trickster takes many forms, from coyote or rabbit to raccoon or raven. The first graphic anthology of Native American trickster tales, Trickster brings together Native American folklore and the world of comics.
Pemmican Wars by Katherena Vermette; Scott B. Henderson (Illustrator); Donovan Yaciuk (Illustrator)
Publication Date: 2018-03-01

Echo Desjardins, a 13-year-old Métis girl adjusting to a new home and school, is struggling with loneliness while separated from her mother. Then an ordinary day in Mr. Bee's history class turns extraordinary, and Echo's life will never be the same.

More Titles to Explore

Novels:

A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power (coming to the Menlo Library collection soon)

Stealing by Margaret Verble

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford

White Horse: A Novel by Erika T. Wurth

Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline

Apple in the Middle by Dawn Quigley

Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon

Johnny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

When Two Feathers Fell From the Sky by Margaret Verble

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

The Removed by Brandon Hobson

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples

Even as We Breathe by Annette Saubooke Clapsaddle

You Who Enter Here by Erika Wurth

Chenoo by Joseph Bruchac

Short Stories:

Cheyenne Madonna by Eddie Chuculate

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

The Beadworkers by Beth H. Piatote]

Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction

A Calm and Normal Heart by Chelsea T. Hicks

American Indian Stories, Legends, and Other Writings by Zitkala-Sa

Firesticks: A Collection of Stories by Diane Glancy

Graphic Novels/Comics:

Soldiers Unknown by Chag Lowry, Illustrated by Rahsan Ekedal

Come Home, Indio by Jim Terry

This Place: 150 Years Retold by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm and others

Moonshot: An Indigenous Comics Collection by Hope Nicholson

7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga by David Robertson and Scott Henderson

The Outside Circle by Patti Laboucane-Benson and Kelly Mellings

If I Go Missing by Brianna Jonnie and Neal Shannacappo