Melissa Misenhimer

ETEC 545
Collection Development
Native American Fiction: Middle School & High School Readers
Alexie, Sherman. The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Illus. Ellen Forney. New York: Little,
Brown and Company, 2007. $20.00
Junior decides to leave his school on the rez to go to an all-white school in the
neighboring town so that he can leave behind his Native American heritage. This story is
funny and endearing also show the hardships of being different in a small area. This has
become a classic for Native American fiction and won the National Book Award in 2007.
Bruchac, Joseph. Killer of Enemies. New York: Tu Books, 2013. $9.99
This is a dystopian novel set in the future. The main character, Lozen, is an Apache
hunter who is working to help save her family. Her powers being to grow the more she
hunts and she realizes that she is becoming a legendary Killer of Enemies. Mixing
together traditional Native American culture with futuristic dystopian worlds works for
this young adult novel and still encompasses the traditional themes of family and culture.
It won the American Indian Youth Literature Award from the ALA and was a finalist for
the Mythopoeic Award for Children's Literature. It has also been on multiple reading
lists such as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (ALA) and Top 10 List,
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers (YALSA).
Bruchac, Joseph. Wolf Mark. New York: Tu Books, 2011. $17.95
Luke is seventeen and part of the Abenaki tribe. He is also a Skinwalker which means
that he can pull on a second skin which turns him into a wolf. After his father is
kidnapped, he must put on his second skin to help find him. This is an adventure novel
that pulls upon Brucacs own background of being part of the Abenaki tribe and the idea
of shape shifters in myth and folklore. It won the Westchester Young Adult Fiction
Award.
Dembicki, Matt, ed. Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection. Golden: Fulcrum
Books, 2010. $25.95
Trickster tales are famous in Native American literature and culture as tales of animals
who like to get into trouble and disrupt things. This graphic novel is a collection of short
Trickster tales each written by a different author and illustrator. This brings a big
collection of tales from different Native American tribes and cultures into one volume.
Dembicki edited and compiled the graphic novel as well as illustrating one of the stories.
It was the winner of the Aesop Prize from the American Folklore Society and a finalist
for the Eisner Award.
Edwardson, Debby. My Name is Not Easy. Las Vegas: Amazon Publishing, 2011. $17.99
When Luke, who is a part of the Iupiaq people, is sent to boarding school at Sacred
Heart School, he didnt realize that he would have to leave his name and his culture

Melissa Misenhimer
ETEC 545
behind. It is forbidden to speak native languages at his new school. Edwardson based
this story upon her husband who is Inupiaq. This book discusses the struggles of teens
trying to fit in to a new life as well as stay true to their culture. It was a 2011 National
Book Award Finalist.
Erdrich, Louise. Chickadee. New York: HarpersCollins Publishers, 2012. $16.99
This is the story of two brothers Chickadee and Makoons. They are separated and
Chickadee and his family must travel across the United States to find him. This is the
fourth book in the Birchback House series and continues the story of the Ojibwe family
and the history of Native Americans during the 1800s. It won the Scott ODell Award
for Historical Fiction in 2013.
Gansworth, Erin. If I Ever Get Out of Here. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2013. $17.99
Its not easy going to a predominantly white school when you live on an Indian
reservation and Lewis knows that better than anyone and is used to people being mean to
him for his culture. When Lewis befriends George, a new kid who lives on the Air Force
base, he feels as though he finally has someone he can talk to and they bond over their
love of music. This novel is set in the 1970s and gives a good background to the music,
culture and politics of that time while dealing with the always present themes of
friendship and culture. It won the 2014 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2014
American Indian Library Association's Youth Literature Award, Young Adult Honor
and 2014 Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices.
Tingle, Tim. House of Purple Cedar. El Paso: Cinco Punto Press, 2014. $16.95
This is the story of Rose who is a young girl of the Choctaw tribe in the 1800s. She
retells the story of racism and arson in the Choctaw community of Skullyville where her
classmates were killed in a fire while she escaped. This historical fiction novel describes
the hate and prejudice that Native Americans faced during the 1800s and the loss of their
land and tribes. Tingle brings to light the hardships his people went through while also
using Choctaw spirituality and humor.
Tingle, Tim. How I Became a Ghost. Oklahoma City: The RoadRunner Press, 2013. $18.95
The protagonist in this novel is the ghost of a boy who did not survive the Trail of Tears.
Isaac tells his story of being a Choctaw boy in the 1800s during this time in American
history and what happened to him and his family. This novel is different from most
historical fiction novels as the narrator is a ghost and gives a personal account of the
horrors that happened to Native Americans. It won the American Indian Youth Literature
Award in 2014.

Melissa Misenhimer
ETEC 545
In order to select the nine titles listed above, I started with a simple Google search of Native
American young adult literature. From that point, I was able to find a great blog by Debbie
Reese who is part of the Nambe Owingeh tribe and created the group American Indians in
Childrens Literature (AICL). Her site provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous
peoples in children's and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society.
Scroll down for links to book reviews, Native media, and more. She has quite a few book
reviews and lists for books by Native American authors as well as an AICL award that is given
out. From that point, I was able to choose books that had been listed as either winners of the
AICL award or who were honorable mentions.
After looking through this site, I went to the School Library Journal site as well as on the Young
Adult Library Services Association website and searched for Native American literature. On the
School Library Journal site, I found a book list titled Resources and Kid Lit About American
Indians that was separated into board books, elementary, middle school and high school. On
the YALSA site, there was a section called The Hub which was specifically for teen readers
and it had a book list called Books Outside the Box: Native Americans and had new titles
about Native American culture that teens might be interested in. There were a lot of books listed
on both sites that had to deal with Native American literature so I tried to choose books that had
won awards, were a nominee or were by well-known Native American authors.

Sources
Binns, B.A. "Books Outside The Box: Native Americans." The Hub. YALSA, 20 Aug. 2013.
Web. 8 Apr. 2015. <http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/08/20/books-outside-the-box-nativeamericans/>.
Reese, Debbie. "American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Best Books." American
Indians in Children's Literature (AICL). Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
<http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/p/best-books.html>.
Reese, Debbie. "Resources and Kid Lit About American Indians | Focus On." School Library
Journal. 5 Nov. 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. <http://www.slj.com/2013/11/collectiondevelopment/focus-on-collection-development/resources-and-kid-lit-about-american-indiansfocus-on/#_>.