Kids, Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day

What are you doing on the second Monday in October? I hope you'll take some time to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day! Any time is a great time to learn about both the history of Native Americans and how their many cultures are surviving and thriving today. It's also great to have an excuse to dive into some fictional stories about indigenous people who live all across this great land. Here are some of my recent favorites.

The Used-to-be Best Friend: JoJo's life on the fictional--but totally recognizable--Pembina Ojibwe reservation is full of confusion. Follow along as JoJo tries to figure out who her best friend really is, whether she is good at art, how to bring a cat to school. And she teaches some Ojibwe and Michif words along the way!

I Can Make This Promise: Edie finds a box in her attic outside of Seattle, filled with pictures of another girl named Edith who looks just like her. Who is it? What has her mother, who is Native American but was adopted, know about their history? This story balances Edie's quest to find herself with the painful history of how Native children were forcibly separated from their families.

Indian No More: Regina's family is forced to move from the Grand Ronde reservation to LA when the government decides her tribe no longer exists. But what does that mean for Regina at age 10? How can she stop being Indian when it's her family, her history and her life? How come nobody in her new neighborhood understands?  This is another fantastic read all about figuring out how to be yourself even when it's complicated.

Sisters of the Neversea: Fly along to Neverland with Lily Roberts, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, who follows her stepsister, Wendy Darling, and brother, Michael who have been lured there by Peter Pan. Discover the truth about Peter and the residents of Neverland in this retelling of the classic. Readers will find out more about characters they loved (or hated) in the original and see Neverland from a different perspective.