Native American Heritage Month - Older Kids

"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 place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Aski, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek...

She was named Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop. Omakayas and her family live on an island in Lake Superior. Though there are growing numbers of white people encroaching on their land, life continues much as it always has. But the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever-- but that will eventually...

Traces the childhood, friendships and dangers experienced by Buffalo Bird Woman, a Hidatsa Indian born in 1839, whose community along the Missouri River in the Dakotas transitioned from hunting to agriculture.

"As a boy, Chester Nez was taught his native language and culture were useless, but he was later called on to use his Navajo language to help create an unbreakable military code during WWII"-- Provided by publisher.

Lakota chief Crazy Horse and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer had long been enemies when they finally crossed paths for the last time in 1876, as the people of the Great Plains resisted the invasion of their homes. Witness reports and reflections by their peers accompany side-by-side storytelling, revealing different perspectives on the historical events during their intertwined lives.

As a child of two military parents, Deb Haaland moved around a lot when she was young before finally settling in Albuquerque to be near family. But she persisted, studying hard and eventually earning a law degree. An enrolled member of the Pueblo Laguna nation, Deb was one of the first two Native American women to be elected to Congress, where she represented New Mexico's 1st District. In 2021, when the Senate confirmed her as President Biden's secretary...

"Filled with lots of glitter, raised pinkies, and humorous misunderstandings, this second book in the Jo Jo Makoons series--written by Dawn Quigley and illustrated by Tara Audibert--is filled with the joy of a young Ojibwe girl discovering her very own special shine from the inside out. First grader Jo Jo Makoons knows how to do a lot of things, like how to play jump rope, how to hide her peas in her milk, and how to be helpful in her classroom. But...

"On a cloudless summer night, a fox falls to earth and comes across a family of humans. As the seasons change and they move their camp, she follows them, growing ever more intrigued by human ways--and especially by the oldest son, Irniq. When Irniq grows older and sets out hunting on his own, he is surprised to enter his tent one day and find the lamp lit, the tea made ... and a strange woman who says she is his wife. Tired of being alone, Irniq welcomes...

"In this second book in the Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series, Eli and Morgan travel back to Misewa, only to realize they've travelled back farther than expected. At school, Eli is being bullied, and while he tries to hide what's happening to him from Morgan, she knows something is wrong. Morgan herself is also in turmoil when she is given the phone number of her birth mother, and she struggles to know what to do with it. They...

"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...