Some of you may look at the books on the Not Recommended list and say to yourself "Really?! You set a high bar!" or something like that. Keep in mind that I read within a larger context than just one book. John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, for example, has one passage about Native people. We could argue about its merit (as took place in the comments!) but I read such passages within a societal context that continues to publish books and media that misrepresent Native peoples. It isn't just one book. It is lots of little bits in lots of books. It adds up to a whole lot of misrepresentation.
Recommended
- Anderson, Laurie Halse. (2014). The Impossible Knife of Memory. Young adult, published by Viking.
- Angutinngurniq, Jose. (2012). The Giant Bear: An Inuit Folktale. Picture book, published by Inhabit Media.
- Boney, Roy. (2014). We Speak in Secret. Comic book, published by Indigenous Narratives Collective.
Bruchac, Joseph. (2014). Killer of Enemies. Young adult, published by Tu Books.Update on Sep 30 2023: I (Debbie Reese) no longer recommend Bruchac's work. For details see Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?- Charleyboy, Lisa and Mary Leatherdale. (2014). Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. Young adult, published by Annick Press.
- Christopher, Danny and Mia Pelletier. (2014). A Children's Guide to Arctic Birds. Nonfiction picture book, published by Inhabit Media.
- Flett, Julie. (2014). We All Count. Picture book, published by Native Northwest.
- Flynn, K.V. (2014). On The Move. Middle grade/Young adult, published by Wynnpix Productions.
- Gansworth, Eric. (2014). If I Ever Get Out Of Here. Middle grade, published by Arthur A. Levine.
- Kalluk, Celina. (2014). Sweetest Kulu. Picture book, published by Inhabit Media.
- Leitich Smith, Cynthia. (2014). Feral Curse. Young adult, published by Candlewick.
- Lindstrom, Carole and Kimberly McKay. (2013). Girls Dance Boys Fiddle. Picture book, published by Pemmican Press.
- Minnema, Cheryl. (2014). Hungry Johnny. Picture book, published by Minnesota Historical Society Press.
- Montileaux, Donald F. (2014). Tasunka: A Lakota Horse Legend. Picture book, published by South Dakota State Historical Society.
- Robertson, Sebastian. (2014). Rock & Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story. Picture book, published by Henry Holt.
- Robinson, Gary. (2014). Son Who Returns. Middle grade, published by 7th Generation.
- Rodgers, Greg. (2014). Chukfi Rabbit's Big Bad Bellyache: A Trickster Tale. Picture book, published by Cinco Punto Press.
- Shuck, Kim. (2013). Rabbit Stories. Young adult, published by Poetic Matrix Press.
- Starr, Arigon. (2012). Super Indian. Graphic novel, published by Wacky Productions Unlimited.
- Starr, Arigon. (2014). Annumpa Luma: Code Talker. Comic book, published by INC Comics.
- Stroud, Virginia. (1994). Doesn't Fall Off His Horse. Picture book, published by Dial.
- Tingle, Tim. (2014). How I Became A Ghost. Middle grade, published by Roadrunner Press.
- Tingle, Tim. (2014). House of Purple Cedar. (2014). Young adult, published by Cinco Puntos.
- Tingle, Tim. (2014). No Name. (2014). Middle/young adult, published by 7th Generation.
- Treuer, Anton. (2012). Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask. Nonfiction, published by Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Wurth, Erika. (2014). Crazy Horse's Girlfriend. Young adult, published by Curbside Splendor.(Note from Debbie: Due to questions during 2021 regarding Wurth's claims to being Native, I am no longer recommending anything by Erika Wurth.)
Not Recommended
- Block, Francesca Lia. (2014). Teen Spirit. Young adult, published by HarperCollins.
- Bouwman, H.M. (2008). The Remarkable and Very True Story of Lucy and Snowcap. Middle/young adult, published by Marshall Cavendish.
- Bow, Erin. (2013) Sorrow's Knot. Young adult, published by Arthur A. Levine Books.
- Carter, Forrest. (1987) The Education of Little Tree. Young adult, published by University of New Mexico Press.
- Colfer, Eoin. (2013) The Reluctant Assassin. Young adult, published by Disney Hyperion.
- Fichera, Liz. (2013) Hooked. Young adult, published by Harlequin Teen.
- Fitzgerald, Michael. (2013). Children of the Tipi: Life in the Buffalo Days. Nonfiction picture book, published by Wisdom Tales Press.
- Floca, Brian. (2013) Locomotive. Picture book, published by Atheneum.
- Forman, Gayle. (2009) If I Stay. Young adult, published by Dutton Books.
- Handford, Martin. (1987) Where's Waldo. Picture book, published by Little, Brown.
- Gibson, Julia Mary. (2014) Copper Magic. Young adult, published by Starscape/Macmillan.
- Goble, Paul. (1978). The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. Picture book, published by Bradbury Press.
- Green, John. (2012) The Fault in Our Stars. Young adult, published by Dutton Books.
- Hawke, Jay Jordan. (2014). Pukawiss: The Outcast. Young adult, published by Harmony Ink Press.
- Healey, Karen. (2011). Guardian of the Dead. Young adult, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
- Heller, Rebecca. (2013) Falling Rock. Picture book, published by Amazon Digital Services.
- Kalman, Maira. (2014) Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything. Picture book, published by Penguin Books.
- Kann, Victoria. (2014). Pinkalicious: Thanksgiving Helper. Picture book, published by HarperFestival.
- Karas, G. Brian. (2014) As An Oak Tree Grows. Picture book, published by Penguin.
- King, A. S. (2010) Please Ignore Vera Dietz. Young adult, published by Alfred A. Knopf.
- Kirkpatrick, Katherine. (2014) Between Two Worlds. Young adult, published by Wendy Lamb Books.
- Krensky, Stephen. (1991) Christopher Columbus. Early reader, published by Random House.
- Lake, Nick. (2015) There Will Be Lies. Young adult, published by Bloomsbury USA.
- Limbaugh, Rush. (2013) Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims. Elementary/junior high, published by Threshold Editions.
- Nordgren, Carl. (2014) Anung's Journey: An Ancient Ojibway Legend as told by Steve Fobister. Middle/young adult, published by Light Messages Publishing.
- Osborne, Mary Pope. (2002). Thanksgiving on Thursday. Early reader, published by Random House.
- Parry, Rosanne. (2014). Written in Stone. Middle grade, published by Random House.
- Paulsen, Gary. (1969) Mr. Tucket. Middle grade, published by Funk & Wagnalls.
- Prelutsky, Jack. (2008) It's Thanksgiving. Early reader, published by Harpercollins.
- Sappenfield, Heather. (2015) The View From Who I Was. Young adult, published by Flux.
- Shusterman, Neal and Michelle Knowles. (2012) Unstrung: An Unwind Story. Young adult, published by Simon and Schuster.
- Shusterman, Neal. UnWholly. (2012) Young adult, published by Simon and Schuster.
- Shusterman, Neal. UnSouled. (2014) Young adult, published by Simon and Schuster.
- Sis, Peter. (1991) Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus. Picture book, published by Knopf.
- White, E.B. (1973) Stuart Little. Middle grade, published by Harper Row.
4 comments:
Why is Pinkalicious in your recommended list? If you click the title and read the original review you say not recommended.
Thanks, Anonymous! I've moved it to the not recommended list. That was one of the errors made due to bleary eyes!
The "Teen Spirit" link goes to the wrong page.
Thanks, Truth Unleashed, for noting the wrong link for TEEN SPIRIT. I fixed it.
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