Bribri American brothers, Max and Jay, have always depended on each other for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, they have learned that the only way to protect themselves, as well as their mother, is to keep their heads down and adhere to a strict schedule. But after intervening when a classmate gets into a fist fight, resulting in the school’s star soccer player being beat to a pulp by both brothers’ hands, they must grapple with the realization that they may be more like their father than they thought. In order to move forward, they will have to reach back to their Bribri roots.
Young Adult (ages 14-18)
Material appropriate for young adults
Rez Ball
Debut novelist, Byron Gtaves, tells the story of Tre Brun who finds solace and purpose on the basketball court of the Red Lake Reservation high school team, despite grappling with the persistent ache of losing his older brother, Jaxon, to tragedy. When Jaxon’s former teammates extend a hand of camaraderie, Tre views this opportunity as a chance to honor his Ojibwe heritage and pursue his ambition of leading his team to their inaugural state championship.
Winner of the American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award and the William C. Morris Debut Award from the American Library Association.
Forward Me Back To You
Told in separate voices, Kat and Robin leave Boston on a church mission to help combat human trafficking in India while Kat recovers from a sexual assault and Robin seeks his birth mother.
Patron Saints Of Nothing
When seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero learns sis Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more.
Wings In The Wild
When a hurricane exposes Soleida’s family’s secret sculpture garden, the Cuban government arrests her artist parents, forcing her to escape alone to Central America where she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy, and together they work to protect the environment and bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba.
Daughters Of Oduma
Sixteen year old Dirt, a retired elite female fighter, must enter the South God Bow tournament to protect her found family of younger sisters and their beloved Mud Fam.
Borderless
Caught in the cross hairs of gang violence, seventeen-year old fashion designer, Maya, and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US-Mexico border.
Spice Road
When she learns that her brother is spreading the nation’s secret spice magic to outsiders, sixteen-year-old Shield warrior Imani sets out on a dangerous mission to find him, discovering secrets that lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes and in her own heart.
If I Go Missing
If I Go Missing is a graphic novel based on a letter written by 14 year old Brianna Jonnie to the Winnipeg Police Service. This graphic novel begins with a quote from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the right of Indigenous women and children to be free from all forms of violence and discrimination. Citing statistics and information on murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, this is an open letter to understand how missing people are treated differently especially Indigenous women and girls by society and men and boys in particular. It is also a call on police services, media and communities to exhaust all efforts to find Indigenous girls and to do this as soon as possible because it is not about the colour of one’s skin, socio-economic status, or legal guardianship but details that humanize those who go missing that matters.
Voices Of The People
Through poems that capture the essence of each person’s life, acclaimed Native American writer Joseph Bruchac introduces readers to famous indigenous leaders from The Peacemaker in 1000 A.D. to modern day dancer Maria Tallchief and Cherokee chief Wilma Mankiller. Each poem is illustrated by a modern-day tribally enrolled artist.