Celebrating Indigenous Peoples (Mid-Kids)

Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride.

A boy and his mother refuse to identify themselves as American or Canadian at the border and become caught in the limbo between nations when they claim their citizenship as Blackfoot.

"Nathan, a young Navajo boy from Phoenix, Arizona, goes on an epic hero's journey."--Kirkusreviews.com When Nathan goes to visit his grandma, Nali, at her mobile summer home on the Navajo reservation, he knows he's in for a pretty uneventful summer, with no electricity or cell service. Still, he loves spending time with Nali and with his uncle Jet, though it's clear when Jet arrives that he brings his problems with him. One night, while lost in the...

Left alone by her Indian tribe when they decide to sail to the east, Karana, a young Indian girl, lives on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, where she spends eighteen years, surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance. Year after year she waits for the ship to return but it never does. Finally she realizes she must make a fateful choice: follow her people on her own or remain alone for the rest of her life....

"Lately Nizhoni has been able to detect monsters, like Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company. He's also alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her. When Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says 'Run!', the siblings and Nizhoni's best friend, Davery, are thrust into a rescue mission...

When fourteen-year-old Norvia moves from Beaver Island to Boyne City in 1914, she has to contend with a new school, a first crush, and a blended family, but she also must keep secret her parents' divorce and her Ojibwe heritage. Includes author's note.