November is National Native American Heritage Month, and one way we celebrate is through the sharing of stories by and about Native Americans. Whether or not you are Native American, these new titles for teens make for fantastic stories.
Gary Robinson’s book Billy Buckhorn and the Book of Spells launches a series about a Cherokee teen who is struck by lightning, which gives him access to what his medicine man grandfather calls “the old ways.” As he immerses himself in his grandfather’s teachings, he learns his role is to protect his people from supernatural evil.
Joseph Bruchac has been writing Indigenous-centered novels for decades and his first novel, Dawn Land, was re-released this year. Set about 10,000 years ago in what is now eastern Canada and New England, the story follows Young Hunter as he tracks down a mysterious threat with a new technology: the bow and arrow.
Cherie Dimaline’s novel Funeral Songs for Dying Girls tells how Winifred, who lives with her funeral home-operator father near the grave of her mother, spends her nights wandering the graveyard. When someone believes Winifred is a ghost and sets up a ghost tour, she and her father welcome the money but find themselves dealing with more of a carnival than a serious look at Indigenous history–until Winifred meets Phil, the actual ghost of a teen girl who died years before.
In Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Hughie is volunteering at a local haunted house, where he learns that he and others will play Indian ghosts following the worst stereotypes. However, Celeste is a real Native ghost haunting the area, and when a video captures her trying to save girls from a creepy man, Hughie must find a way to help her and the girls as chaos threatens their community.
Indiginerds, a graphic novel featuring nineteen Indigenous creators behind eleven unique stories, follows Indigenous teens throughout North America and shows how important their shared sense of culture is to them, no matter what challenges they face alone.
If you want more short stories, the Legendary Frybread Drive-In offers seventeen loosely connected stories about Indigenous teens discovering a popup diner whenever they need some wisdom.
K.A. Cobell’s thriller Looking for Smoke follows Mara, who is finally invited to a Blackfeet Giveaway where she hopes to make some friends. But one of the other girls is found murdered, and all eyes are on Mara and the other three teens in the group, all of whom had complicated relationships with the murdered girl.
Angeline Boulley’s latest mystery thriller, Sisters in the Wind, follows Lucy as she navigates the foster care system after her father’s death. After learning to trust two people who really do have her interests at heart, she begins to uncover family secrets, including that she has at least one sibling, that she is Ojibwe, and that she has a grandmother and a home where she would be loved.
~posted by Wally B.