American Indian Growing-Up Stories: Fact and Fiction
Explore captivating American Indian growing-up stories with our curated list of fiction books. Discover authentic narratives and cultural insights in these must-read tales of youth and heritage.
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Rain Is Not My Indian Name
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The next day was my fourteenth birthday, and I'd never kissed a boy -- domestic style or French. Right then, I decided to get myself …
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Good for Nothing
by Michel Noël
The year is 1959, and 15-year-old Nipishish is kicked out of residential school, told by the principal that he's a good-for-nothing who, like all Indians, …
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The Girl with a Baby
by Sylvia Olsen
Because of baby Destiny, Jane dares to demand the best, not just of herself, but of her whole family, while holding on to her Aboriginal …
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My Name is Seepeetza
by Shirley Sterling
Seepeetza must leave her family's ranch and go live at the Indian residential school, where she is forced to deny her native heritage
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A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
by Michael Dorris
Moving backward in time, Dorris's critically acclaimed debut novel is a lyrical saga of three generations of Native American women beset by hardship and torn …
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The Window
by Michael Dorris
When ten-year-old Rayona's Native American mother enters a treatment facility, her estranged father, a Black man, finally introduces her to his side of the family, …
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The Secret of Dead Man's Mine
by Rodney Johnson
Rinnah Two Feathers, a sleuth-minded Lakota Indian in South Dakota, investigates a mysterious stranger poking around a long-abandoned house and stumbles across the secret of …
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The Curse of the Royal Ruby
by Rodney Johnson
Lakota teenager Rinnah Two Feathers returns to investigate a bejeweled foreigner's murder and the disappearance of a priceless ruby.
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Skeleton Man
by Joseph Bruchac
Ever since the morning Molly woke up to find that her parents hadvanished, her life has become filled with terrible questions. Where have her parents …
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Bowman's Store
by Joseph Bruchac
The author shares in this memoir how he came to fully understand, and eventually claim, his Native American heritage, despite his grandparents' unspoken pact to …
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Completing the Circle
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve
Renowned author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve here tells her own story and the story of her family. Also an expert quilter, she recalls her grandmother, …
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Indian Shoes
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
What do Indian shoes look like, anyway? Like beautiful beaded moccasins...or hightops with bright orange shoelaces? Ray Halfmoon prefers hightops, but he gladly trades them …
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Jingle Dancer
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Jenna, a contemporary Muscogee (Creek) girl in Oklahoma, wants to honor a family tradition by jingle dancing at the next powwow. But where will she …
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Green Snake Ceremony
by Sherrin Watkins
As a young girl and her grandfather try to find the right kind of snake for a special Shawnee ceremony, illustrations show what a nearby …
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Lessons from Mother Earth
by Elaine McLeod
Tess's grandmother introduces her to nature's garden.
