Fiction+and+Poetry

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Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene), //The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian// (Little-Brown, 2007): Junior is a budding cartoonist who has lived his whole life on the Spokane Indian Reservation. At the beginning of his freshman year, he decided to transfer to an all-white high school twenty-two miles away. In this book, he explains why he transferred - and what happened next. His story is both funny (it's even got cartoons in it!) and serious. You can listen to an mp3 excerpt from the book at [|Sherman Alexie's official website].
 * Novels**

Margaret Craven, //I Heard the Owl Call My Name// (Doubleday, 1973): This slow, thoughtful book tells the story of Mark Brian, an Anglican vicar who is sent to work in a village in British Columbia. His new parishioners are Kwakiutl Indians, and as he learns about their cultural traditions and spiritual practices, his life and their lives begin to change. But what Mark doesn't know is that he has been diagnosed with a fatal disease, and he doesn't have many years left to live...

Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee (Creek)), //Rain is Not My Indian Name// (HarperCollins, 2001): Cassidy Rain Berghoff lost her best friend the night she turned fourteen. She spent months grieving. Will an invitation to her aunt's Indian Camp - and a chance to use her skills with a camera - force her to re-enter the world she's been hiding from?

Arlene B. Hirschfelder and Beverly R. Singer, eds., //Rising Voices: Writings of Young Native Americans// (Scribner's, 1992): Poems and short essays by Native American teens and pre-teens about their lives and experiences.
 * Poetry and Essays**

Nora Naranjo-Morse (Tewa), //Mud Woman: Poems from the Clay// (University of Arizona Press, 1992): The poems in this book are accompanied by color pictures of the author's clay sculptures, many of which have friendly-looking humanoid forms. You can read a poem from the book [|here].

[|PBS Poetry Series: Joy Harjo]. Joy Harjo (Muscogee Creek) often sings her poems or plays music to accompany them. Read some of her poems and watch video of her performing on this page.

[|PBS Poetry Series: Sherman Alexie]. On this site, you can read five of Sherman Alexie's poems, watch videos of him speaking them, and listen to him talk about his work.

Delphine Red Shirt (Lakota), //Bead on an Anthill: A Lakota Childhood// (University of Nebraska, 1998): Delphine Red Shirt begins this collection of autobiographical essays by saying, "I remember how I once followed an ant home." Her stories include vivid descriptions of everything from ants to art and music, and from homemade "popsicles" to her family's and tribe's spiritual beliefs.

//Smoke Signals// (PG-13, Miramax, 1998): "Though Victor and Thomas have lived their entire young lives in the same tiny town, they couldn't have less in common. But when Victor is urgently called away, it's Thomas who comes up with the money to pay for his trip. There's just one thing Victor has to do: take Thomas along for the ride" (Miramax). Sherman Alexie wrote the screenplay for this movie, which is based on short stories from his semi-autobiographical book //The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven//.
 * Feature Films**

**Want more?**
The NoveList Plus database might be able to help you. NoveList Plus can be accessed through NC LIVE, an electronic resource that is available at all school and public libraries in North Carolina. (You can ask a librarian for a password to access NC LIVE at home, too.) NoveList's Advanced Search allows you to search for authors with specific cultural identities - for example, Cherokee Indian, Ojibwe Indian, or simply Native American. You can also specify whether you want fiction or nonfiction and whether the book needs to have a certain number of pages.

In addition, the Internet Public Library maintains a [|list of Native North American authors]; you can browse authors' last names, book titles, or tribal affiliations. The list is not limited to young-adult authors.