“Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley
“Firekeeper’s Daughter,” the debut work of Chippewa author Angeline Boulley, tells the story of Daunis Fontaine, a half-white, half-native 18-year-old who witnesses the murder of her friend and gets tangled in a criminal investigation regarding a lethal drug. Daunis goes undercover, using her knowledge of Ojibwe traditional medicine to help track down the source, all while trying to find a balance between responsibility and adolescence. In 2022, “Firekeeper’s Daughter” won the Michael L. Printz Award, which recognizes the best book written for young adults.
“Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: 50 Poems for 50 Years” by Joy Harjo
Joy Harjo is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation who was named the first Native American to serve as United States poet laureate in June 2019. In 2022, she published “Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: 50 Poems for 50 Years,” a collection of 50 poems written throughout her 50-year career. The collection focuses on various aspects of life, including birth, love and loss.
“House Made of Dawn” by N. Scott Momaday
Initially conceived as a series of poems and later adapted into a novel, this historical fiction novel reflects N. Scott Momaday’s experiences in Jemez Pueblo, located in Sandoval County, New Mexico. “House Made of Dawn” highlights a young Native American, Abel, as he is trapped between two worlds: one filled with rich traditions, ancient rites and beautiful land, and the other of a modern, industrialized America. Momaday, who is primarily of Kiowa descent, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “House Made of Dawn” in 1969.
“Ceremony” by Leslie Marmon Silko
Leslie Marmon Silko’s 1977 novel, “Ceremony,” tells the story of Tayo, a half-Pueblo, half-white man, as he returns home from World War II with post-traumatic stress disorder. The novel presents Tayo’s life before, during and after the war. Simultaneously, Silko tells a mythic parallel story of a drought that was sent as a punishment to the Pueblo Nation. In both storylines, the act of ceremonial reunion saves the Pueblo Nation as the drought is brought to an end. Silko, who is of Laguna Pueblo descent, was considered one of the key figures in the First Wave of the Native American Renaissance.
“Stealing” by Margaret Verble
“Stealing” by Margaret Verble, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, tells the story of Kit Crockett, a 9-year-old who is kidnapped and sent to a boarding place that she describes feels more like a prison, where Cherokee, Chickasaw and Comanche girls have to have their hair cut off. This 2023 coming-of-age novel tells a powerful story of a young girl searching to reclaim her freedom.
“My Heart is a Chainsaw” by Stephen Graham Jones
From Midland, Texas, Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfoot Native American whose work primarily focuses on horror, crime and science fiction. His 2021 thriller novel, “My Heart is a Chainsaw,” follows Jade Daniels, who finds an unlikely comfort in horror movies, which is later revealed to be her way of coping with the horrors in her own life. Behind the surface is a story addressing critiques of American colonialism and gentrification, and is the first book in The Indian Lake Trilogy. The book won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel in 2021.
