Indigenous Authors - Recommended reading for teens

Updated April 9, 2024
W
Winnipeg Public Library
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1

The second chance of Benjamin Waterfalls
Bird, James
Paper Book
A middle-grade novel by James Bird about a boy sent to his Ojibwe family to straighten out his life. Benjamin Waterfalls comes from a broken home, and the quickest fix he's found for his life is to fill that emptiness with stuff he steals and then sells. But he's been caught...
Canadian author.

2

Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller!A Publisher's Lunch Best YA of 2023! An Amazon Best Book of the Year!Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award!A Horn Book Fanfare Title! A BookPage Best...
Also available in Audiobook, eBook and eAudiobook formats.

3

Funeral songs for dying girls
Dimaline, Cherie
Paper Book
After inadvertently starting rumors of a haunted cemetery, a teen befriends a ghost in this brand-new young adult novel exploring grief and belonging by the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Marrow Thieves series. Winifred has lived in the apartment above the...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

4

Pilleurs de rêves
Dimaline, Cherie
Paper Book

Avec Pilleurs de reves, Cherie Dimaline cree un monde dystopique aussi lugubre qu'inquietant, qui ne nous est pourtant pas completement etranger. Elle parvient a tisser des liens troublants entre cet univers fictif et le monde dans lequel nous vivons, presentant une allegorie puissante du colonialisme en Amerique du Nord.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

5

The marrow thieves
Dimaline, Cherie
Paper Book
Winner of the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award (Young People's Literature - Text) Winner of the 2017 Kirkus Prize Winner of the 2018 Sunburst Award Winner of the 2018 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Winner of the 2018 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Young...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats, as well as a Book Club Kit.

6

The summer of bitter and sweet
Ferguson, Jenny
Paper Book
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...
Also available in eBook format.

7

My good man
Gansworth, Eric
Paper Book
BEST OF THE YEAR Kirkus * Boston Globe A literary tour-de-force sure to turn the coming-of-age genre on its head from Printz honoree Eric Gansworth Brian, a 20-something reporter on the Niagara Cascade's City...

8

Those who run in the sky
Johnston, Aviaq
Paper Book
This teen novel, written by Iqaluit-based Inuit author Aviaq Johnston, is a coming-of-age story that follows a young shaman named Pitu as he learns to use his powers and ultimately finds himself lost in the world of the spirits. After a strange and violent blizzard leaves Pitu stranded on...
Also available as a Book Club Kit.

9

Those Who Run in the Sky: Inuktitut
Johnston, Aviaq
Paper Book
This teen novel, written by Iqaluit-based Inuit author Aviaq Johnston, is a coming-of-age story that follows a young shaman named Pitu as he learns to use his powers and ultimately finds himself lost in the world of the spirits. After a strange and violent blizzard leaves Pitu stranded on...

10

Borders
King, Thomas
Paper Book
A stunning graphic-novel adaptation based on the work of one of Canada's most revered and bestselling authors On a trip to visit his older sister, who has moved away from the family home on the reserve to Salt Lake City, a young boy and his mother are posed a simple question with a not-so...
Also available in eBook format.

11

Harvest house
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Paper Book
NSK Neustadt Laureate and New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith delivers a thrilling cross-genre follow-up to the acclaimed Hearts Unbroken. Deftly leading readers to the literary crossroads of contemporary realism and haunting mystery, Cynthia...

12

A snake falls to Earth
Little Badger, Darcie
Paper Book
Newbery Honor Winner National Indie Bestseller National Book Award Longlist Minneapolis Star Tribune Best of the Year Publishers Weekly Best of the Year Kirkus Best the Year Apple Best of the...

13

The ghost collector
Mills, Allison
Paper Book
Ghosts aren't meant to stick around forever... Shelly and her grandmother catch ghosts. In their hair. Just like all the women in their family, they can see souls who haven't transitioned yet; it's their job to help the ghosts along their journey. When Shelly's mom dies suddenly,...

Also available in eBook format.

14

Strangers
Robertson, David
Paper Book
A talking coyote, mysterious illnesses, and girl trouble. Coming home can be murder... When Cole Harper gets a mysterious message from an old friend begging him to come home, he has no idea what he's getting into. Compelled to return to Wounded Sky First Nation, Cole finds his...
Also available in eBook format.

15

Reckoner Rises. 2, Version control
Robertson, David
Paper Book
After finding out Mihko reinstated the Reckoner Initiative in Breakdown, Cole and Eva confronted Mihko head-on. But when Eva stumbles across a secret laboratory, she finds her worst nightmares come to life. After a vicious battle with Mihko's newest test subject leaves Cole close...
Also available in eBook format.

16

Surviving the city. Vol. 2, From the roots up
Spillett-Sumner, Tasha
Paper Book
Dez's grandmother has passed away. Grieving, and with nowhere else to go, they're living in a group home. On top of everything else, Dez is navigating a new relationship and coming into their identity as a Two-Spirit person. Miikwan is crushing on the school's new kid Riel, but doesn't...

17

Four faces of the moon
Strong, Amanda
Paper Book
On a journey to uncover her family's story, Spotted Fawn travels through time and space to reclaim connection to ancestors, language, and the land--creating a path forward in this essential graphic novel.   In the dreamworld she bears witness to a mountain of buffalo...

18

As I Enfold You in Petals
Van Camp, Richard.
Paper Book
Newly sober, Curtis searches for healing in the ancient cultural practices of his Tłıcho Dene grandfather. But will the Little People answer his call? Curtis has returned to Fort Smith, six weeks sober. He doesn't have any sober friends, his mom's still drinking, and his best...
Also available in eBook format.

19

A girl called Echo. Vol. 4, Road allowance era
Vermette, Katherena
Paper Book
In Road Allowance Era, Echo's story picks up again when she travels back in time to 1885. The government has not fulfilled its promise of land for the Métis, and many flee to the Northwest. As part of the fallout from the Northwest Resistance, their advocate and champion Louis Riel...

Also available in eBook format.

20

Elle s'appelle Echo T.4
Vermette, Katherena.
Paper Book

Echo Desjardins, Metisse de 13 ans, habite Winnipeg, au Manitoba. Lors d'un cours sur l'histoire des Autochtones au debut du 19e siecle, Echo se transporte dans le passee, jusqu'a devenir temoin privilégie de sa propre histoire, l'histoire meconnue des Metis du Canada.

21

The power of style : how fashion and beauty are being used to reclaim cultures
Allaire, Christian
Paper Book
Style 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...
Also available in eBook format.

22

I will see you again
Boivin, Lisa
Paper Book
When the author learns of the death of her brother overseas, she embarks on a journey to bring him home. Through memories and dreams of all they shared together and through her Dene traditions, she finds comfort and strength. The lyrical art and story leave readers with a universal message...
Also available in eBook format.

23

#NotYourPrincess : voices of Native American women
Leatherdale, Mary Beth
Paper Book
Native Women demand to be heard in this stunning anthology. Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #Not...
Also available in eBook format.

24

The woman in the woods and other North American stories
McDonald, Kel
Paper Book
"Enjoyable for reading aloud or sharing around a campfire." -- KIRKUS "Be careful of what you accept from spirits." Loup Garrou, trickster rabbits, and spirits with names that can't be spoken -- the plains and forests of North America...

25

Braiding sweetgrass for young adults : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
Drawing from her experiences as an Indigenous scientist, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer demonstrated how all living things--from strawberries and witch hazel to water lilies and lichen--provide us with gifts and lessons every day in her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass. Adapted for young adults...
Also available in eBook format.

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