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New and Beloved Books for National Native American Heritage Month

To commemorate National Native American Heritage Month this November, San Mateo County Libraries has gathered this list of books by Indigenous authors. Explore these new and classic titles this month and beyond! Honoring Indigenous People: We honor and affirm the rights of the Ohlone and the other Indigenous Peoples who call the unceded territories of the San Francisco Bay Area their traditional homeland.

San Mateo County Libraries

12 items

  • Following author Morgan Talty's short story collection, Night of the Living Rez, this novel considers complicated questions about identity and belonging. The narrator is a white man who was raised on the Maine’s Penobscot Reservation until…
    BookPortland, Oregon : Tin House, 2024. — F-TAL
  • “Brilliantly, furiously, magnificently, tragically, the story of America” —Elle Magazine Tommy Orange's modern classic follows a dozen characters on their way to a large intertribal powwow in Oakland. This multi-generational story about…
    BookNew York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. — FICTION Orange T.
  • This latest from prolific horror writer Stephen Graham Jones, this chilling novel is written in the style of an autobiography. The narrator sharing his story? Tolly Driver, a former "good kid." Except, as NPR puts it, "Tolly has a peanut…
    BookLondon ; New York : Saga Press, 2024. — F-JONES, S
  • Becoming Little Shell

    Returning Home to the Landless Indians of Montana

    La Tray, Chris,
    "Both personal and historical, Becoming Little Shell is a testament to the power of storytelling, to family and legacy, and to finding home. Infused with candor, heart, wisdom, and an abiding love for a place and a people, Chris La Tray’s…
    BookMinneapolis, Minnesota : Milkweed Editions, 2024. — 305.8973 L352b
  • "In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) pulls the reader into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged." —HarperCollins
    BookNew York : Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2024. — TEEN Isaacs C.
  • "The interwoven destinies of the people of Meridian will finally be determined in this stunning conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky trilogy." —Simon & Schuster "Roanhorse’s fans won’t…
    BookNew York : Saga Press, 2024. — ROANHORS
  • Chími Nu'am

    Native California Foodways for the Contemporary Kitchen

    Calvosa Olson, Sara,
    "Besides being a creative, accessible cookbook, Calvosa Olson’s work is a call for stewardship of the environment and an introduction to some local foods that have long been part of Native diets. It’s a terrific resource for foragers,…
    BookBerkeley, California : Heyday, [2023] — 641.6 CALVO
  • "Sabrina & Corina is a collection of Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s eleven short stories about Latina people of indigenous ancestry in Denver and in the small fictional town of Saguarita, Colorado. The book is dazzling and groundbreaking. The…
    BookNew York : One World, 2020. — F-FAJ
  • "A finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry and winner of the 2021 American Book Award and Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, Postcolonial Love Poem is the 'exquisite, electrifying' (Publisher’s Weekly) second collection from Mojave…
    BookMinneapolis, Minnesota : Graywolf Press, [2020] — 811.6 DIAZ
  • Braiding Sweetgrass

    Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

    Kimmerer, Robin Wall,
    A contemporary classic. "With deep compassion and graceful prose, Robin Wall Kimmerer encourages readers to consider the ways that our lives and language weave through the natural world. A mesmerizing storyteller, she shares legends from…
    BookMinneapolis, Minnesota : Milkweed Editions, 2020. — 305.8 KIMMERER
  • Never Whistle at Night

    An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

    “This collection gathers together a spine-chilling range of stories from many of the most exciting Indigenous literary voices, celebrating the power of Native imagination.” —Eliza Browning, Electric Literature
    BookNew York : Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023. — F-NEV
  • "Peters beautifully explores loss, grief, hope, and the invisible tether that keeps families intact even when they are ripped apart. A quiet and poignant debut from a writer to watch." —Kirkus Reviews
    BookNew York : Catapult, [2023] — FIC PETERS