Special Collections
Indigenous Reads Rising: Young Adult
Description: Indigenous Reads Rising is managed by the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books. The lists are intended to introduce readers and educators to Native books they may not have known about.
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Project 562
by Matika WilburNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A photographic and narrative celebration of contemporary Native American life and cultures, alongside an in-depth examination of issues that Native people face, by celebrated photographer and storyteller Matika Wilbur of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes.&“This book is too important to miss. It is a vast, sprawling look at who we are as Indigenous people in these United States.&”—Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho), author of There ThereLonglisted for the Andrew Carnegie MedalIn 2012, Matika Wilbur sold everything in her Seattle apartment and set out on a Kickstarter-funded pursuit to visit, engage, and photograph people from what were then the 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. Over the next decade, she traveled six hundred thousand miles across fifty states—from Seminole country (now known as the Everglades) to Inuit territory (now known as the Bering Sea)—to meet, interview, and photograph hundreds of Indigenous people. The body of work Wilbur created serves to counteract the one-dimensional and archaic stereotypes of Native people in mainstream media and offers justice to the richness, diversity, and lived experiences of Indian Country.The culmination of this decade-long art and storytelling endeavor, Project 562 is a peerless, sweeping, and moving love letter to Indigenous Americans, containing hundreds of stunning portraits and compelling personal narratives of contemporary Native people—all photographed in clothing, poses, and locations of their choosing. Their narratives touch on personal and cultural identity as well as issues of media representation, sovereignty, faith, family, the protection of sacred sites, subsistence living, traditional knowledge-keeping, land stewardship, language preservation, advocacy, education, the arts, and more.A vital contribution from an incomparable artist, Project 562 inspires, educates, and truly changes the way we see Native America.
Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults
by Robin Wall KimmererISBN 978-1-7284-5898-4 (LB)ISBN 978-1-7284-5899-1 (PB)ISBN 978-1-7284-6066-6 (EB PDF)I could hand you a braid of sweetgrass as thick and shining as the braid that hung down my grandmother’s back. But it is not mine to give, nor yours to take. Wiingaashk belongs to herself. I offer, in her place, a braid of stories meant to heal our relationship with the world.As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer was trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces plants and animals as our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that when we listen to the languages of other beings, we are capable of understanding the generosity of the earth and learning to give our own gifts in return.Adapted by Monique Gray Smith with illustrations from Nicole Neidhardt, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults highlights how acknowledging and celebrating our reciprocal relationship with the earth results in a wider, more complete understanding of our place and purpose.
Walking in Two Worlds
by Wab KinewAn Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual, in the YA fantasy debut from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and the Otherworld series.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.
A Snake Falls to Earth
by Darcie Little BadgerNina 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.Darcie Little Badger introduced herself to the world with Elatsoe. In A Snake Falls to Earth, she draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.
The Marrow Thieves
by Cherie DimalineShortlisted for CBC Canada Reads in 2018Winner of the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award (Young People's Literature - Text)Winner of the 2017 Kirkus PrizeWinner of the 2018 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Young Adult LiteratureWinner of the 2018 Amy Mathers Teen Book AwardWinner of the 2018 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the FantasticA Globe and Mail Best Book"A timely and necessary read ... powerful and endlessly smart, it's a crucial work of fiction for people of all ages." Starred Review - Quill & Quire Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and 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 companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden - but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.
At Midnight
by Dahlia AdlerA dazzling collection of original and retold fairy tales from fifteen acclaimed and bestselling YA writersFairy tales have been spun for thousands of years and remain among our most treasured stories. Weaving fresh tales with unexpected reimaginings, At Midnight brings together a diverse group of celebrated YA writers to breathe new life into a storied tradition. You’ll discover . . .Dahlia Adler reimagining "Rumpelstiltskin,"Tracy Deonn, “The Nightingale,”H. E. Edgmon, “Snow White,”Hafsah Faizal, “Little Red Riding Hood,”Stacey Lee, “The Little Matchstick Girl,”Roselle Lim, "Hansel and Gretel,"Darcie Little Badger, "Puss in Boots,"Malinda Lo, “Frau Trude,”Alex London, "Cinderella."Anna-Marie McLemore, “The Nutcracker,"Rebecca Podos, “The Robber Bridegroom,” Rory Power, “Sleeping Beauty,”Meredith Russo, “The Little Mermaid,”Gita Trelease, “Fitcher’s Bird,”and an all-new fairy tale by Melissa Albert.
The Power of Style
by Christian AllaireStyle is not just the clothes on our backs--it is self-expression, representation, and transformation. As a fashion-obsessed Ojibwe teen, Christian Allaire rarely saw anyone that looked like him in the magazines or movies he sought out for inspiration.
Now the Fashion and Style Writer for Vogue, he is working to change that--because clothes are never just clothes. Men's heels are a statement of pride in the face of LGTBQ+ discrimination, while ribbon shirts honor Indigenous ancestors and keep culture alive. Allaire takes the reader through boldly designed chapters to discuss additional topics like cosplay, make up, hijabs, and hair, probing the connections between fashion and history, culture, politics, and social justice.
Hunting by Stars
by Cherie DimalineFrom the acclaimed author of The Marrow Thieves comes a thrilling new story about hope and survival that New York Times bestselling author Angeline Boulley called “a revelatory must-read”
Years ago, when plagues and natural disasters killed millions of people, much of the world stopped dreaming. Without dreams, people are haunted, sick, mad, unable to rebuild. The government soon finds that the Indigenous people of North America have retained their dreams, an ability rumored to be housed in the very marrow of their bones. Soon, residential schools pop up—or are re-opened—across the land to bring in the dreamers and harvest their dreams.
Seventeen-year-old French lost his family to these schools and has spent the years since heading north with his new found family: a group of other dreamers, who, like him, are trying to build and thrive as a community. But then French wakes up in a pitch-black room, locked in and alone for the first time in years, and he knows immediately where he is—and what it will take to escape.
Meanwhile, out in the world, his found family searches for him and dodges new dangers—school Recruiters, a blood cult, even the land itself. When their paths finally collide, French must decide how far he is willing to go—and how many loved ones is he willing to betray—in order to survive. This engrossing, action-packed, deftly-drawn novel expands on the world of Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning The Marrow Thieves, and it will haunt readers long after they’ve turned the final page.