Indigo's Bookshelf: Voices of Native Youth

Alexis, 20: I used to go yardsaling with my Grandpa Joe. When people asked what he was looking for, he'd always say, "Oh, just some bric-a-brac." We're at home, doing school/college online, playing video games, driving around town in masks and gloves to pick up stuff the growns. But we're still talking about kidlit & Ya Lit. This is our bric-a-brac! Alexis, 20: I can't afford to buy A GIRL CALLED ECHO, VOLUME 3: NORTHWEST RESISTANCE. The first two volumes, written by Katherena Vermette , illustrated by Scott B. Henderson & color by Donovan Yaciuk, may be my fav books in the Indigenous New Wave. Echo is edgy and her day to day life and historical dream travelling are highly compelling. I looked at the Library website for YA graphic novels with female/femme protagonists. I found the excellent ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL: AN ILLUSTRATED MEMOIR by Robin Ha. I picked it randomly and liked the preview, but it seems right to be reading and celebrating a Asian ...

We are water protectors. Our sacred place is the Everglades. We go tubing down the Ichetucknee and dive in Blue Springs. We fill cups and mugs with water all day long to keep us hydrated and well in the Florida weather. This is our small poem. But Anishinabe/Métis author Carole Lindstrom goes much farther in her lyrical picture book WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS, stunningly illustrated by Tlingit Michaela Goade. Alexis, 20: The book begins with the line: "Water is the first medicine. Nokomis told me." In the glossary, we learn Nokomis means 'Grandmother' in Ojibwe. Ashleigh, 13:  I love that picture of the girl and gramma standing in the water together running it through their fingers. All the different shades of blue from the waves to the sky. Charlie, 17: I like this: "The river's rhythm runs through my veins. Runs through my people's veins." I also like the clear gaze of the Anishinabe girl. She looks directly at the reader. S...

To write about Native nations or tribes or not? That is the question. If you are a non-Native author writing a US historical novel for kids or teens, there are several challenges. One is that Indigenous people have lived/are living in places you describe and called/call them home. (Notice I'm assuming that you're not writing a Native MC. Unless you are Debbie Dahl Edwardson writing MY NAME IS NOT EASY (and you're not) don't try it.) If you don't acknowledge this basic fact in our colliding, brutal histories, you are practicing erasure and will be called out for it. If you do acknowledge it, you most likely will be criticized for not getting everything right.                                                      ...

Alexis, 19: They say never judge a book by its cover. That's definitely true for Andrea L. Roger's brilliant, surprising MARY AND THE TRAIL OF TEARS, A CHEROKEE REMOVAL SURVIVAL STORY. It's one book in the GIRLS SURVIVE series. We applaud Capstone for having Rogers, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, tell this story. It makes all the difference for authenticity and makes this book essential reading in families and schools. Ashleigh, 13: The beginning of Ms. Andrea's book reminded me of MORNING GIRL, by Michael Dorris. That's one of my favorite books and all schools should teach it for Columbus Day. In MARY, we get to see a happy Cherokee family before their removal. That makes them loving of each other and self-confident. It's also a book about sisters, and Mary and Becky remind me of me and Vi. Alexis, 19: Books about the Trail or Tears focus on the genocide, the worst horrors. That's in here. But the novel also shows exactly ho...

There is no doubt about it--Native children's literature and  YA literature, fiction and nonfiction, is having a moment. Every time we turn around, there's another wonderful book at the library or the publication details are announced or there's an exciting blog or interview. Of course, we feel kinship with all Native books meant to lift us up, and give others authentic representation of  every nation and culture. Some Indigenous authors are distant cousins--like Cynthia Leitich Smith, who is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, and recognized this by including a Seminole character in RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME. But when we first heard about FRY BREAD and Kevin Noble Maillard, that was something else. When we discovered he is a member of the Seminole Nation, Mekusukey band and African American, that was something else altogether. Ashleigh, 13: I keep reading this book, over and over. My mom has read it--by herself and then aloud to me and ...