Task #17: Read a YA book by an Indigenous author.

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 17th Read Harder task. Sign up for our new Read Harder newsletter to get recommendations for each task delivered straight to your inbox! https://bookriot.com/newsletter/read-...

[Regan]

Darcie Little Badger's books would be a great choice for this (Elatsoe and A Snake Falls to Earth) and would also double for the Ignyte awards prompt.
But, since I've already read both, I'll probably either go with The Firekeeper’s Daughter or Trail of Lightning

[Michelle]

I highly recommend The Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley for this prompt. Ms. Boulley is a member of the Ojibwe community in the U.P.of Michigan.

[Amy J.]

Angeline Boulley has a new book being published in 2023 called Warrior Girl Unearthed. That’s what I’ll probably use.

[Dione]

My pick is A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger. But Elatsoe was also great! I've love a sequel.

[Karen]

I've had these on my TBR for quite a while: How I Became a Ghost and House of Purple Cedar both by Tim Tingle - who is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

[Alex]

I was thinking of Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story for a graphic novel, or finally finishing the poetry collection Apple: Skin to the Core, but everyone recommending A Snake Falls to Earth intrigues me 👀

[Lindsay]

I highly recommend The Marrow Thieves for this prompt!

[Tricia]

I came up with a few options for this:
I Can Make This Promise
Hemlock And Sage: A Coyote & Crow Novel
Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story
The Marrow Thieves

I've already read Firekeeper's Daughter, but highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't yet.

[Elizabeth]

Highly recommend Strangers (the first in a trilogy, which leads into a comic series, all of it slaps, David A. Robertson is Cree, as are the characters in this series) and The Marrow Thieves.

I'm thinking of rereading Marrow Thieves and finally reading its sequel Hunting by Stars which I already have a copy of. There are other books I'm interested in though. I really love Darcie Little Badger's short fiction, so I'm also hoping to finally get to her novels this year.

[Ron]

Discovered that David Treuer came out with a YA edition of his book The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present, so I'll be reading the YA version:


The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee (Young Readers Adaptation): Life in Native America

[chysodema]

Ideas for this prompt:
The Star That Always Stays
Weird Rules to Follow
Spirit Quest
My Name Is Seepeetza
Rain Is Not My Indian Name
Fatty Legs: A True Story
If I Ever Get Out of Here

[Bridget]

Question: do you count re-reads when you do the Read Harder Challenge? I loved Firekeeper's Daughter so much that I honestly plan to read it again in 2023 regardless. If I count it for #17 would that be "cheating" according to your Read Harder code of ethics?

[Matthew]

Bridget wrote: "Question: do you count re-reads when you do the Read Harder Challenge? I loved Firekeeper's Daughter so much that I honestly plan to read it again in 2023 regardless. If I count it ..."

Rereads are totally legit (at least by my personal code of ethics).

[Sean]

Matthew wrote: "Bridget wrote: "Question: do you count re-reads when you do the Read Harder Challenge? I loved Firekeeper's Daughter so much that I honestly plan to read it again in 2023 regardless..."

Agreed. I do it nearly every year.

[Ilana]

I’m going to read one of Whiti Hereaka’s YA books - either Bugs or Legacy

[Judith]

I came across Catching Teller Crow a couple of years ago and planned on reading it then, but didn't get round to it, so might use it this time.

[Karen]

Bridget wrote: "Question: do you count re-reads when you do the Read Harder Challenge? I loved Firekeeper's Daughter so much that I honestly plan to read it again in 2023 regardless. If I count it ..."

Angeline Boulley has a new book coming out in May Warrior Girl Unearthed

I've got one in my pile already that I plan to read Indian No More

[Betty]

Karen wrote: Angeline Boulley has a new book coming out in May Warrior Girl Unearthed

Karen - Thanks for the recommendation! Warrior Girl Unearthed looks excellent. Adding it to my list.

[NancyJ]

YA is hit or miss with me, but I really loved both of these books
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

The Round House might not be marketed as YA, but it has both coming of age and young adult tags. She also has a series for children The Birchbark House.

I want to read more Erdrich books this year.

[Teresa]

I'm read The Birchbox House. I grew up reading The Little House On The Prairie series and this will show the same time period from a Native American pov.

[NancyJ]

Teresa wrote: "I'm read The Birchbox House. I grew up reading The Little House On The Prairie series and this will show the same time period from a Native American pov."

That’s a great approach!

[Tracie Margaret]

Judith wrote: "I came across Catching Teller Crow a couple of years ago and planned on reading it then, but didn't get round to it, so might use it this time."
I read it a few years ago for the challenge and its one of my all time favourite books now.

[M]

Would Tommy Orange's "There, There" qualify for this task? It's no YA novel but it features at least one adolescent character (coming of age).

[Bonnie G.]

very much not YA in any respect. It is very good though. It was my favorite read in 2018 I think (Maybe 2019?)

[Milena]

Margaret wrote: "Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle isn't tagged "YA" anywhere I can find it, but I've just got to read this, and I think it fits because of an NPR ar..."

I really loved this book. At least a few people tagged it as YA on Goodreads.

[Tanu]

Boy from the Mish - Gary Lonesborough

[Lisa]

I read Firekeeper's Daughter last year and it was a great YA book, I thought a lot of the themes were more towards the adult side...I would recommend it.

I am planning on readingHearts Unbroken which is a YA romance. I started it and liked it, but wanted to save it for this challenge :)

When I was in the YA section of my library they had an #ownvoices YA display and I saw the following books that looked good:
The Marrow Thieves
Surviving the City
Fire Song- Adam Garnet Jones
This Place: 150 Years Retold by Katerina Vermeer

There looks like a lot of good picks here. The book this place is a graphic novel of 150 year of history of Canada as seen through the eyes of the Indigenous people,

[Stacey]

Catching a Teller Crow Ambelin Kwaymullina, Ezekiel Kwaymullinae.

Thanks for the recommendation!

[Robin]

Firekeeper's Daughter is my pick for this one!

[Nicolle]

To shape a dragon's breath Moniquill Blackgoose

[Bobby]

Right now I’m leaning toward Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, by Joseph Bruchac.

[Tammy]

Two on my TBR are #Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy and Black Apple by Joan Crate.

And thanks to the person who recommended Fatty Legs: A True Story. My cousin recommended that one to me so it's also on my TBR. (The co-author is indigenous).

[Carole]

Listening to the audiobook The Marrow Thieves. Oh this is such a good story.

Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream.

[Jason]

Reading Jak's Story by Aaron Bell.

[Eleonora]

I just finished Firekeeper's Daughter and it was great!
I learned so much about a culture I didn't know anything about and the character and story were very well developed in my opinion.
The themes are very mature so even if it is a YA book.
I am already waiting for the next book from the author!

[Lisa]

Eleonora wrote: "I just finished Firekeeper's Daughter and it was great!
I learned so much about a culture I didn't know anything about and the character and story were very well developed in my op..."

Yes, Firekeepers Daughter was a great book, but I do think it stretches the YA genre a bit since there are so many adult themes in the book.

[Ron]

I was going to go with The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee (Young Readers Adaptation): Life in Native America

However I've been wanting to read this one more, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People so I'll be doing this instead.

[Briana]

Another prompt I'm super excited for. Walking in Two Worlds, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, and Hearts Unbroken jumped out to me from the Read Harder newsletter, but I saw The Firekeeper’s Daughter mentioned quite a few times in this thread, so I'm intrigued.

Also from this thread, I saw Warrior Girl Unearthed and A Snake Falls to Earth that are now on my TBR

[Sherri]

I read Warrior Girl Unearthed.

[Lauraellen]

this is a cool resource for those looking for Indigenous lit from Oceania: https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/pa...

[Joanna]

I read Elatsoe.

[Sophie]

My book club read Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse for this task. Here are the discussion questions we utilized originally published by The Library Ladies and Eckhart Public Library:

1. Did you like the maps and the character list that were provided for the reader? Did these things make it easier to keep everything straight while you read?
2. Do you think that the world building that Roanhorse did in regards to the Pre-Columbian inspirations was well done?
3. What did you think of the gender representation in this novel?
4. What did you think of the major city and town settings of Tova vs Cuecolla?
5. There are four point-of-view characters in this book - Xiala, Serapio, Nara, and Okoa. Were there any of the characters who stood out to you as your favorite? Did anything that one of these characters did surprise you? Did your opinion on them change throughout the book?
6. Whose perspectives were your favorites? If there was a side story you could explore, whose would you choose?
7. One of the interesting things about the structure of “Black Sun” is that characters who would necessarily be antagonists - like Serapio and Nara - are never quite set up as being “good” or “bad”? Why do you think that Rebecca Roanhorse decided to structure the book this way? What does it say about the world of the book? Do you think she was trying to comment on our world?
8. What are your thoughts on the magical elements and systems in this book?
9. “Black Sun” is the first in a planned trilogy of books. Will you be reading the second book when it comes out? What do you think might happen? What do you hope will happen?
10. If you were making “Black Sun” into a movie or TV show, who would you cast?

[NancyJ]

In one of my groups, the May theme was “indigenous” and I did sort of a deep dive.

For YA, I really liked: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexis, and Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley.

Five Little Indians and Indian Horse are incredibly powerful, but might be too sad for some. I think they’re both taught in many schools now.

For YA fantasy lovers, Elatsoe is very fun and clean, and Trail of Lightning is exciting.

NOT YA, but I really loved Love Medicine, and Heart Berries.

I also recommend Even As We Breathe and Stolen (set in Sweden).

[Martha]

The Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley