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by G.M. DiDesidero

Removed from their homelands, their cultures systematically reprogrammed in boarding schools, Indigenous peoples have resisted cultural genocide for centuries. So, what do Young Adult Indigenous books have to say? Turns out, a lot. Travel by fairy ring in an immersive magical fantasy steeped in Apache lore or catapult into a harrowing mystery at a Blackfeet reservation centered on the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) crisis. You’ll meet paranormal sleuths and self-conscious VR-gamers. You may even take the Red Lake Warriors to the state championship. These Indigenous YA books aren’t just irresistible fiction—they inform and empower. Ready to dive in? Pick a title and tag your book-club bestie!

Indigenous YA Books

Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger

A prequel to Elatsoe, Sheine Lende is a fantasy adventure set in a world steeped in Apache lore and centered on Ellie’s grandmother, Shane. With the help of dogs living and ghost, Shane and her mother conduct search and rescue missions for missing people, but the story picks up when Shane’s mother and a local boy vanish after stepping through a fairy ring. Determined to find them, Shane embarks on a supernatural journey with the help of her brother, friends, and her estranged grandfather. Expect the sort of sweeping, lyrical storytelling that makes Elatsoe a fantasy classic.

Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell

Mara, new to the Blackfeet reservation, steps into a traditional giveaway ceremony to honor a missing girl, only to become a murder suspect. Last to see Samantha alive, Mara and teens Loren, Brody, and Eli become persons of interest in the investigation, and each has their own complicated history with Samantha. Cobell layers Blackfeet culture into each character’s point of view. This is a thriller with teeth and unexpected twists, but it’s also an important call to action. In her debut, K. A. Cobell weaves a heartbreaking mystery around the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis.

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Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Harvest House is Cynthia Leitich Smith’s richly layered paranormal mystery. Readers are pulled into a haunted attraction wrapped in local myth and prejudice when Hughie Wolfe signs up to help at his town’s Halloween haunted-house fundraiser—Harvest House. Hughie is offended by the racist portrayal of a vengeful “Indian maiden,” which takes center stage after reports of threats on Indigenous girls and strange goings-on at the crossroads begin to circulate. Hughie and his friends decide to investigate, unearthing the tragic truth. The result is a spooky, edge-of-your-seat mystery featuring the voice of a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman from beyond the grave.

Rez Ball by Byron Graves

After losing his brother Jaxon in a car accident, Ojibwe teen Tre Brun throws himself into basketball as a way to cope with grief and honor his brother’s legacy. If he wants a spot in the NBA, he’ll have to lead the Red Lake Warriors to their first state championship. Balancing stereotypes, underage drinking, school, and the weight of expectations on Minnesota’s Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation, Tre struggles to find footing on and off the court. Partially framed as a documentary, Byron Graves’s Rez Ball delivers a gritty, authentic sports drama and coming-of-age story that will have readers cheering every hard-won victory.

Walking in Two Worlds by Wab Kinew

Kinew, a bestselling Canadian author and politician, takes a fresh spin on the coming-of-age story with a YA fantasy twist. Bugz, Cree teen on a Canadian reservation, is painfully insecure IRL, but online she’s a superstar warrior. Enter Feng, a Chinese-Canadian gamer who connects with Bugz despite his online ties to white-supremacist group Clan:LESS. Together, Bugz and Feng struggle to navigate their online and real identities, but when a betrayal tests their loyalties, worlds collide. Walking in Two Worlds creatively explores the struggle to reconcile Indigenous identity with a society that has systematically targeted it for cultural genocide.

Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline

In this sequel to The Marrow Thieves, humanity has lost the ability to dream—everyone except Indigenous people. Governments and vigilante groups now hunt Indigenous people for bone marrow, believed to cure the physical and mental decay of dreamlessness. When French** is snatched from his found family and thrown into a marrow extraction facility, he reunites with his long-lost brother. Mitch, now a government agent, pressures French to join the agency. French pretends to cooperate, avoiding marrow extraction, but is forced to make horrible choices to prove his loyalty. Cherie Dimaline’s Hunting by Stars is a harrowing tale blending dystopian stakes with the colonial erasure of Indigenous cultures.

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Set a decade after Firekeeper’s Daughter, this suspenseful narrative centers on Perry Firekeeper-Birch, the niece of Daunis Firekeeper. After a car accident lands her a summer internship cataloguing museum artifacts, Perry discovers that the remains of Ojibwe ancestors in university archives, including the Warrior Girl, were stolen from their graves and kept from repatriation due to legal loopholes favoring the non-Indigenous. Simultaneously, more Ojibwe women in her community go missing. Mounting injustices drive Perry to action. Part mystery, part heist, each chapter vividly portrays the systemic factors fueling the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic at the core of Warrior Girl Unearthed.

A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson

Indigenous teens Molly, Hank, and Tray have been inseparable since childhood. Then a climbing accident leaves Molly’s brother Hank with a traumatic brain injury. It wasn’t Tray’s fault, but she blames him. The trio’s high school graduation hike along the Pacific Crest Trail was the plan for so long that, despite the resentments, they set out, Hank joining later. The landscape and challenges of the trail provide catalysts for confronting their relationships and diverse traumas. The result is an introspective slow burn of reconciliation. A Constellation of Minor Bears takes an open-hearted look into the post-traumatic adult futures we never planned as teens.

The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs

The Unfinished is part campfire tale, part thriller. When high-school athlete Avery drinks from a black pond deep in the forest, she unwittingly unleashes an ancient evil—a gelatinous black water monster. Avery has heard stories of Unfinished beings but never believed them. Now, it even haunts her tea, taking eerie shapes. When her crush, Key, disappears, Avery is forced to reconnect with her Mohawk heritage and the elders she’s ignored in search of answers. This debut is a chilling ghost story dripping with Mohawk lore that YA horror readers will devour.

Bonus: Indigenous Crossover Titles

The next three titles aren’t technically YA, but hear me out: the middle grade quest hooks teens and adults alike, while the New Adult picks bring the messy romance, high stakes, and moral complexity older YA readers find irresistible. Whether you’re craving sweet or savory, these crossover reads belong on your TBR.

Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young

While not strictly YA, Brian Young’s middle grade debut (an American Indian Youth Lit Award winner) reads like a Navajo creation story come to life. Eleven-year-old Nathan gets lost in the desert one night and bumps into Diné lore. A Holy Being from the Navajo creation story—the fearsome Water Monster—needs his help. What follows is a tender, magical quest. Nathan must summon powerful medicines like courage, hope, and even water monster songs to heal the Water Monster, his land, and his family.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

In a world where dragonriding is a status symbol, Anequs, a young Indigenous woman from the island of Masquapaug, bonds with a newly hatched dragon, despite the fact that her people haven’t had dragonriders in generations. She’s swept into an elite Anglish academy where colonial rules dictate everything, from how dragons are trained to how she’s expected to behave. Refusing to abandon her culture or values, Anequs speaks out against the system built to erase her. To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is a social commentary on colonial foundations and delivers an original take on the magic school genre.

Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse

In this scintillating finale of Rebecca Roanhorse’s New Adult “Between Earth and Sky” trilogy, war is on the horizon. Serapio, Carrion King and avatar of the Crow God, reigns over the eclipsed city of Tova, though prophecy warns that winning the war may require losing everything. He’s determined to ensure that doesn’t include Xiala. Meanwhile, returning to Teek with her fading Song, Xiala tries to save her people from the threats and demands of violent invaders. And Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, practices dreamwalking to spare Tova from the fire she’s seen. A masterpiece of Mesoamerican myth and political intrigue, factions collide and fates are decided in Mirrored Heavens.

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The listicle has been put together by G.M. DiDesidero, a debut Chickasaw author. G.M. grew up knowing she had Chickasaw roots and marveling at her Grandpa Cutchentubby’s name, but not having a personal connection to her tribe. Then, the Chickasaw Nation calendars came in the mail. The calendars opened a daily window into a vibrant, living community. Inspired to read every tribal story she could find, DiDesidero discovered a profound connection with her heritage through storytelling. Today, DiDesidero is proud to say Chikasha saya.