Native Ways of Knowing Book List Young Adult

Updated September 15, 2025
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"All the real Indians died off" : and 20 other myths about Native Americans
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Paper Book
Unpacks the twenty-one most common myths and misconceptions about Native Americans In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed...
All the real Indians died off : and 20 other myths about Native Americans
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Paper Book
Unpacks the twenty-one most common myths and misconceptions about Native Americans In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed...
#Notyourprincess : voices of Native American women
Charleyboy, Lisa
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...
An American sunrise : Poems
Harjo, Joy
Digital file
An American sunrise : poems
Harjo, Joy
Paper Book
In the early 1800s, the Mvskoke people were forcibly removed from their original lands east of the Mississippi to Indian Territory, which is now part of Oklahoma. Two hundred years later, Joy Harjo returns to her family's lands and opens a dialogue with history. In An American Sunrise, Harjo...
Apple : Skin to the core
Gansworth, Eric
Ebook
National Book Award Longlist TIME's 10 Best YA and Children's Books of 2020 NPR's Best Book of 2020 Shelf Awareness's Best Books of 2020 Publishers Weekly's Big Indie Books of Fall Amazon's Best Book of the Month AICL Best YA Books of 2020 CSMCL Best...
Apple : skin to the core : a memoir in words and pictures
Gansworth, Eric
Paper Book
PRINTZ HONOR AWARD NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST A moving memoir-in-verse that chronicles one Native teenager's search for belonging  The term "Apple" is a slur in Native communities across the country. It's for someone supposedly "red on...
Apple in the middle
Quigley, Dawn
Paper Book
Apple Starkington turned her back on her Native American heritage the moment she was called a racial slur for someone of white and Indian descent, not that she really even knew how to be an Indian in the first place. Too bad the white world doesn't accept her either. And so begins her quirky habits...
As long as grass grows : the indigenous fight for environmental justice from colonization to Standing Rock
Gilio-Whitaker, Dina
Paper Book
The story of Native peoples' resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions, and a call for environmentalists to learn from the Indigenous community's rich history of activism Through the unique lens of "Indigenized environmental justice," Indigenous researcher and...
Bad indians : a tribal memoir
Miranda, Deborah A.
Paper Book
Winner, PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Literary Award Winner, 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award, Gold Medal for Autobiography/Memoir Shortlisted for the 2014 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing "Bad Indians stands out as a classic...
The barren grounds
Robertson, David
Other
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...
Becoming kin : an indigenous call to unforgetting the past and reimagining our future
Krawec, Patty
Paper Book
Included in the Lakota People's Law Project Decolonized Reading List for 2025 We find our way forward by going back. The invented history of the Western world is crumbling fast, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec says, but we can still honor the bonds between us. Settlers dominated and...
The birchbark house
Erdrich, Louise
Other
"[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 nineteenth-century Native Americans. Instead of looking out at 'them' as dangers or curiosities, Erdrich,...
The birchbark house
Erdrich, Louise.
Other
"[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 nineteenth-century Native Americans. Instead of looking out at 'them' as dangers or curiosities, Erdrich,...
The birchbark house
Erdrich, Louise.
Other
"[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 nineteenth-century Native Americans. Instead of looking out at 'them' as dangers or curiosities, Erdrich,...
The Birchbark House : Birchbark House
Erdrich, Louise
Ebook
A fresh new look for this National Book Award finalist by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich! This is the first installment in an essential nine-book series chronicling one hundred years in the life of one Ojibwe family and includes charming interior black-and-white artwork done by...
The birchbark house : The Birchbark House Series, Book 1
Erdrich, Louise
Ebook
The National Book Award Finalist! Set on an island in Lake Superior around 1847, Omakayas and her family live on the land her people call the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. Although the "chimookoman," white people, encroach more and more on their land, life continues much as it always has...
Braiding sweetgrass for young adults : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
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...
I can make this promise
Day, Christine
Paper Book
In her debut middle grade novel--inspired by her family's history--Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family's secrets--and finds her own Native American identity. All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how...
I can make this promise
Day, Christine
Ebook
In her debut middle grade novel--inspired by her family's history--Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family's secrets--and finds her own Native American identity. All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she...
I can make this promise
Day, Christine
Ebook
In her debut middle grade novel--inspired by her family's history--Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family's secrets--and finds her own Native American identity. All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she...
I Can Make This Promise
Day, Christine.
Ebook
In her debut middle grade novel--inspired by her family's history--Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family's secrets--and finds her own Native American identity. All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she...
Crazy brave : a memoir
Harjo, Joy
Paper Book
In this transcendent memoir, grounded in tribal myth and ancestry, music and poetry, Joy Harjo details her journey to becoming a poet. Born in Oklahoma, the end place of the Trail of Tears, Harjo grew up learning to dodge an abusive stepfather by finding shelter in her imagination, a deep...
Elatsoe
Badger, Darcie Little
Ebook
A National Indie Bestseller TIME's Best 100 Fantasy Books of All Time An NPR Best Book of 2020 A Booklist's Top 10 First Novel for Youth A BookPage Best Book of 2020 A CPL "Best of the Best" Book A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2020 A Buzzfeed Best YA SFF...
Elatsoe
Little Badger, Darcie
Paper Book
One of TIME Magazine's Top 100 Fantasy Novels of All Time -- Now in Paperback!  A Texas teen comes face-to-face with a cousin's ghost and vows to unmask the murderer. Elatsoe--Ellie for short--lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the...
Everything you wanted to know about Indians but were afraid to ask.
Treuer, Anton
Paper Book
From the acclaimed Ojibwe author and professor Anton Treuer comes an essential book of questions and answers for Native and non-Native young readers alike. Ranging from "Why is there such a fuss about nonnative people wearing Indian costumes for Halloween?" to "Why is it called a 'traditional Indian...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Other
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick! A Printz Medal AND Morris Award Winner! Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Ebook
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick! A Printz Medal AND Morris Award Winner! Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
The great bear
Robertson, David
Paper Book
Eli and Morgan journey once more to Misewa, travelling back in time, in this second book in the Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series. Back at home after their first adventure in the Barren Grounds, Eli and Morgan each struggle with personal issues- Eli is being...
Hearts unbroken
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Paper Book
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. ...
Hearts unbroken
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Ebook
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. When Louise Wolfe's first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects...
If i ever get out of here
Gansworth, Eric
Digital file
"A heart-healing, mocs-on-the-ground story of music, family and friendship." -- Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of TANTALIZE and RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball...
If I ever get out of here : a novel with paintings
Gansworth, Eric
Paper Book
Now in paperback: The debut novel Laurie Halse Anderson praised for "fearlessly laying down the truth" about friendship, poverty, and the joys of rock 'n' roll.Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games,...
An indigenous peoples' history of the United States for young people
Mendoza, Jean
Paper Book
2020 American Indian Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book 2020 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People,selected by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children's Book Council 2019 Best-Of Lists- Best YA Nonfiction of...
An indigenous peoples' history of the United States for young people
Reese, Debbie
Paper Book
2020 American Indian Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book 2020 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People,selected by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children's Book Council 2019 Best-Of Lists- Best YA Nonfiction of...
Man made monsters
Rogers, Andrea L.
Paper Book
18 illustrated horror stories follow one Cherokee family through the atrocities -- supernatural and manmade -- each generation encounters -- ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! Imagine a chilling horror collection that weaves classic monsters like werewolves and...
Mankiller : A Chief And Her People
Mankiller, Wilma Pearl
Ebook
In this spiritual, moving autobiography, Wilma Mankiller, former Chief of the Cherokee Nation and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, tells of her own history while also honoring and recounting the history of the Cherokees. Mankiller's life unfolds against the backdrop of the...
The marrow thieves
Dimaline, Cherie
Ebook
The marrow thieves
Dimaline, Cherie
Other
Winner of the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award (Young People's Literature - Text) Winner of the 2017 Kirkus PrizeWinner of the 2018 Sunburst Award Winner of the 2018 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Winner of the 2018 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit...
The night watchman
Erdrich, Louise
Ebook
WINNER OF THE 2021 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST, NPR, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, KIRKUS, CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich's...
The night watchman
Erdrich, Louise
Digital file
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...
The night watchman
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2021 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST, NPR, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, KIRKUS, CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich's...
Notable native people : 50 indigenous leaders, dreamers, and changemakers from past and present
Keene, Adrienne
Paper Book
An accessible and educational illustrated book profiling 50 notable American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people, from NBA star Kyrie Irving of the Standing Rock Lakota to Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation An American Indian...
The painted drum
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
"Haunted and haunting. . . . With fearlessness and humility, in a narrative that flows more artfully than ever between destruction and rebirth, Erdrich has opened herself to possibilities beyond what we merely see--to the dead alive and busy, to the breath of trees and the souls of wolves--and...
The painted drum
Erdrich, Louise
Ebook
"Haunted and haunting. . . . With fearlessness and humility, in a narrative that flows more artfully than ever between destruction and rebirth, Erdrich has opened herself to possibilities beyond what we merely see--to the dead alive and busy, to the breath of trees and the souls of wolves--and...
The painted drum
Erdrich, Louise.
Paper Book
"Haunted and haunting. . . . With fearlessness and humility, in a narrative that flows more artfully than ever between destruction and rebirth, Erdrich has opened herself to possibilities beyond what we merely see--to the dead alive and busy, to the breath of trees and the souls of wolves--and...
The painted drum : a novel
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
"Haunted and haunting. . . . With fearlessness and humility, in a narrative that flows more artfully than ever between destruction and rebirth, Erdrich has opened herself to possibilities beyond what we merely see--to the dead alive and busy, to the breath of trees and the souls of wolves--and...
Poet warrior : A memoir
Harjo, Joy
Ebook
National bestseller An ALA Notable Book Three-term poet laureate Joy Harjo offers a vivid, lyrical, and inspiring call for love and justice in this contemplation of her trailblazing life. Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet...
Poet warrior : a memoir
Harjo, Joy
Paper Book
Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet laureate, invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road. A musical, kaleidoscopic, and wise follow-up to Crazy Brave, Poet Warrior reveals how Harjo came to write poetry of...
Rain is not my Indian name
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Paper Book
In a voice that resonates with insight and humor, New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith tells the story of a teenage girl who must face down her grief and reclaim her place in the world with the help of her intertribal community. It's been six months since Cassidy Rain...
The round house
Erdrich, Louise
Digital file
The Round House won the National Book Award for fiction. One of the most revered novelists of our time--a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life--Louise Erdrich returns to the territory of her bestselling, Pulitzer Prize finalist The Plague of Doves with The Round House, transporting...
The round house : a novel
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels The Round House won the National Book Award for fiction. One of the most revered novelists of our time--a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life--Louise Erdrich returns to the territory of her bestselling, Pulitzer Prize...
The seed keeper
Wilson, Diane
Ebook
The seed keeper : a novel
Wilson, Diane
Paper Book
A 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Big Reads Selection Winner of the Minnesota Book Award A haunting novel spanning several generations, The Seed Keeper follows a Dakhóta family's struggle to preserve their way of life, and their sacrifices to protect what matters...
The sentence
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
"Dazzling. . . . A hard-won love letter to readers and to booksellers, as well as a compelling story about how we cope with pain and fear, injustice and illness. One good way is to press a beloved book into another's hands. Read The Sentence and then do just that."--USA Today, Four Stars ...
The sentence : a novel
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
"Dazzling. . . . A hard-won love letter to readers and to booksellers, as well as a compelling story about how we cope with pain and fear, injustice and illness. One good way is to press a beloved book into another's hands. Read The Sentence and then do just that."--USA Today, Four Stars ...
Sky Wolf's Call: The Gift of Indigenous Knowledge
Yellowhorn, Eldon
Paper Book
From healing to astronomy to our connection to the natural world, the lessons from Indigenous knowledge inform our learning and practices today. How do knowledge systems get passed down over generations? Through the knowledge inherited from their Elders and ancestors, Indigenous Peoples...
A snake falls to Earth
Little Badger, Darcie
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this breathaking work of Indigenous futurism, Darcie Little Badger weaves an unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She's always felt there was something more out there. She still...
The stone child
Robertson, David
Paper Book
After discovering a near-lifeless Eli at the base of the Great Tree, Morgan knows she doesn't have much time to save him. And it will mean asking for help - from friends old and new. Racing against the clock, and with Arik and Emily at her side, Morgan sets off to follow the trail away from the...
Super Indian
Starr, Arigon
Paper Book
Super Indian Volume One
Starr, Arigon
Paper Book
Super Indian. Volume two
Starr, Arigon
Paper Book
"Hubert Logan was an ordinary Reservation Boy until he ate tainted commodity cheese infused with 'Rezium,' a secret government food enrichment additive. Known as 'Super Indian,' Hubert fights evil forces who would overtake the Reservation's resources and population. Assisted by his trusty sidekicks...
Tales of the mighty code talkers. Volume 1
Starr, Arigon
Paper Book
Tales of the mighty code talkers. Volume one
Starr, Arigon
Paper Book
There there
Orange, Tommy
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * 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. A contemporary classic, this...
There there : a novel
Orange, Tommy
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * 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. A contemporary classic, this...
There there : A novel
Orange, Tommy
Ebook
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * 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. A contemporary classic, this...
There there : a novel
Orange, Tommy
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * 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. A contemporary classic, this...
There there
Orange, Tommy
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * 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. A contemporary classic, this...
Thunderous
Smoker, M. L.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2023 HIGH PLAINS BOOK AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S MIDDLE GRADE!
Treaty words : for as long as the rivers flow
Craft, Aimée
Paper Book
The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty. On the banks of the river that have been Mishomis's home his whole life, he teaches his granddaughter to listen--to hear both...
Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Digital file
Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history. Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the...
Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Ebook
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller! Six Starred Reviews! #1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen...
Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller! Six Starred Reviews! #1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen...
We are dancing for you : native feminisms and the revitalization of women's coming-of-age ceremonies
Risling Baldy, Cutcha
Paper Book
?I am here. You will never be alone. We are dancing for you.? So begins Cutcha Risling Baldy?s deeply personal account of the revitalization of the women?s coming-of-age ceremony for the Hoopa Valley Tribe. At the end of the twentieth century, the tribe?s Flower Dance had not been fully practiced...
Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years Hardcover
Harjo, Joy.
Paper Book
A magnificent selection of fifty poems to celebrate three-term US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's fifty years as a poet. Over a long, influential career in poetry, Joy Harjo has been praised for her "warm, oracular voice" (John Freeman, Boston Globe) that speaks "from a deep and...
When the light of the world was subdued, our songs came through : a Norton anthology of Native nations poetry
Harjo, Joy
Paper Book
United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo gathers the work of more than 160 poets, representing nearly 100 indigenous nations, into one momentous volume. This landmark anthology celebrates the indigenous peoples of North America, the first poets of this country, whose literary traditions stretch back...
All the real Indians died off : and 20 other myths about Native Americans
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Paper Book
Unpacks the twenty-one most common myths and misconceptions about Native Americans In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed...

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