November is Native American Heritage Month
Preschool
Clack, Clack! SMACK! A Cherokee Stickball Story
by Traci Sorell, illustrations by Joseph Erb
Vann loves playing his tribe's stickball game, but he's not as skilled as his teammates. Vann stumbles, and he tries and fails to score. How can he help his teammates win?
Exciting and fast-paced, Clack, Clack! SMACK! reminds readers that sportsmanship and being a team player is just as important as being the star. Information in the back of the book explains the origins of Cherokee stickball.
¡No dejes que la Paloma conduzca el autobús!/Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
(pre-K to grade 2)
by Mo Willems
Cuando un conductor de autobús hace una pausa en su ruta, un voluntario muy improbable aparece para ocupar su lugar: ¡una paloma! Pero nunca antes habías conocido a uno como este. Mientras la Paloma suplica y engatusa a lo largo del libro, a nos niños les encantará poder responder y decidir su destino.
When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place: una paloma! But you have never met one like this before. As the Pigeon pleads, wheedles, and begs his way through the book, children will love being able to answer back and decide his fate.
Primary (Kindergarten–Grade 2)
Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills
by Billy Mills and Donna Janell Bowman, illustrations by S. D. Nelson
Billy Mills was once an orphan on the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation. But before his father was called to the ancestors, he told Billy how to conquer his suffering: You have broken wings, son. You have to dig deeper, below the anger, the hurt, the self-pity. The pursuit of a dream will heal you.
Despite poverty, racism, and severe health challenges, Billy raced toward his goal of becoming an Olympic athlete, inspired by his Indigenous ancestors who stood strong when the odds were against them.
This autobiographical tale of Billy Mills's awe-inspiring flight to a record-breaking gold medal, breathtakingly illustrated by award-winning Lakota artist S. D. Nelson, is a soaring testament to Billy's legacy and the Lakota prayer We are all related.
Birdsong
by Julie Flett
When Katherena and her mother move to a small town, Katherena feels lonely and out of place. But when she meets an elderly woman artist named Agnes, who lives next door, her world starts to change.
Katherena and Agnes share the same passions for arts and crafts, birds, and nature. But as the seasons change, can Katherena navigate the failing health of her new friend?
Intermediate (Grades 3–5)
Fatty Legs
by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, illustrations by Liz Amini-Holmes
Eight-year-old Margaret Pokiak has set her sights on learning to read, even though it means leaving her village in the high Arctic. Her father, faced with unceasing pressure, finally agrees to let her make the five-day journey to attend school, but he warns Margaret of the terrors of residential schools. At school, Margaret soon encounters the Raven, a black-cloaked nun with a hooked nose and bony fingers that resemble claws. The Raven immediately dislikes the strong-willed young Margaret. Intending to humiliate her, the heartless Raven gives gray stockings to all the girls — all except Margaret, who gets red ones. In an instant, Margaret is the laughingstock of the entire school. In the face of such cruelty, Margaret refuses to be intimidated and bravely gets rid of the stockings. Although a sympathetic nun stands up for Margaret, in the end, it is this brave young girl who gives the Raven a lesson in the power of human dignity.
Complemented by archival photos from Margaret Pokiak-Fenton's collection and striking artworks from Liz Amini-Holmes, this inspiring first-person account of a plucky girl's determination to confront her tormentor will linger with young readers.
Indio no más/Indian No More (grades 3–8)
by Charlene Willing McManis with Traci Sorell
Cuando la tribu Umpqua de Regina es eliminada legalmente y su familia debe mudarse de Oregón a Los Ángeles, ella emprende una búsqueda para comprender su identidad como india a pesar de estar tan lejos de casa.
When Regina's Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and her family must relocate from Oregon to Los Angeles, she goes on a quest to understand her identity as an Indian despite being so far from home.
Middle School (Grades 6–8)
The Storyteller
by Brandon Hobson
Ziggy has ANXIETY. Partly this is because of the way his mind works and how overwhelmed he can get when other people (especially his classmate Alice) are in the room. And partly it's because his mother disappeared when he was very young, making her one of the many Native women who mysteriously have gone missing. Ziggy and his sister Moon want answers, but nobody around can give them.
Once Ziggy gets it into his head that clues to his mother's disappearance may be found in a nearby cave, there is no stopping him from going there. Along with Moon, Alice, and his best friend, Corso, he sets out on a mind-bending adventure where he will discover that his story is tied to all the stories of the Cherokees who have come before him.
Ziggy might not have any control over the past — but if he learns the lessons of the storytellers, he might be able to better shape his future and find the friends he needs.
Borders
by Thomas King, illustrations by Natasha Donovan
Borders is a masterfully told story of a boy and his mother whose road trip is thwarted at the border when they identify their citizenship as Blackfoot. Refusing to identify as either American or Canadian first bars their entry into the U.S. and then their return into Canada. In the limbo between countries, they find power in their connection to their identity and each other.
Borders explores nationhood from an Indigenous perspective and resonates deeply with themes of identity, justice, and belonging.
High School (Grades 9–12)
Creeboy
by Teresa Wouters
Turning to the Warriors, a gang on the reservation, Josh, now known as Creeboy, starts down the path to becoming a full gang member — cutting himself off from his friends, family, and community outside the gang. It's harder than ever for Creeboy to envision a different future for himself. Will anything change his mind?
Zac y Mia/Zac and Mia
by A. J. Betts
«Cuando era pequeño, creía en Papá Noel y en el monstruo del Lago Ness. Ahora creo en la ciencia y en los antibióticos».
Eso dice Zac durante un agotador tratamiento contra la leucemia en Australia. Luego conoce a Mia, la paciente de cáncer enfadada en la habitación de al lado. Una vez que son liberados, los dos adolescentes no pueden olvidarse el uno del otro, aunque intentan retomar sus vidas normales.
"When I was little, I believed in Santa and the Loch Ness monster. Now I believe in science and antibiotics."
So says Zac during a grueling leukemia treatment in Australia. Then he meets Mia, the angry, not-at-all-stoic cancer patient in the room next door. Once released, the two teenagers can't forget each other, even as they try to resume normal lives.
Books in Spanish
Opuestos (desde preescolar hasta 2do grado)
by Ana Palmero Caceres
Ranas que suben e iguanas que bajan, pájaros que vuelan y tortugas que nadan bajo el mar son algunos de los conceptos opuestos básicos de este libro que invita al juego a partir de una ingeniosa reinterpretación de los patrones geométricos presentes en las cestería de la etnia ye'kuana, habitantes del corazón de la selva amazónica.
Frogs that go up and iguanas that go down, birds that fly and turtles that swim under the sea are some of the basic opposite concepts in this book that invites you to play through an ingenious reinterpretation of geometric patterns present in the basketry of the Ye'kuana ethnic group, inhabitants of the heart of the Amazon jungle.
To access the books on our monthly MPS Reads book lists, visit your school library or local library, or go online to Sora* (formerly OverDrive) and log in with your MPS student ID number.
*Some titles are not available through Sora.