Novels and Graphic Novels by Indigenous Authors
Listed below are selected novels and graphic novels by Indigenous authors.
Vous trouverez ci-dessous une sélection de romans et de romans graphiques écrits par des auteurs autochtones.
Novels
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Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
by
Publication Date: 2023Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 9 – 12
Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works in the crematorium all her life, close to her mother’s grave. With her sixteenth birthday only days away, Winifred has settled into a lazy summer schedule, lugging her obese Chihuahua around the grounds in a squeaky red wagon to visit the neglected gravesides and nursing a serious crush on her best friend, Jack. -
Calling for a Blanket Dance
by
Publication Date: 2022Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 – 12
Told in a series of voices, Calling for a Blanket Dance takes us into the life of Ever Geimausaddle through the multigenerational perspectives of his family as they face myriad obstacles. His father’s injury at the hands of corrupt police, his mother’s struggle to hold on to her job and care for her husband, the constant resettlement of the family, and the legacy of centuries of injustice all intensify Ever’s bottled-up rage. Meanwhile, all of Ever’s relatives have ideas about who he is and who he should be. -
Warrior Girl Unearthed
by
Publication Date: 2023Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 9 – 12
Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is – the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won’t ever take her far from home, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything. -
The Barren Grounds
by
Publication Date: 2020Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 5 – 8
Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home — until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. -
Where I Belong
by
Publication Date: 2015Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 5 – 9
This moving novel of self-discovery and redemption takes place during the Oka Crisis of the summer of 1990. Having been adopted as an infant, Carrie has always felt out of place, and recurring dreams keep warning that someone close to her will be badly hurt. When she finds out that her birth father is living in Kahnawake, Quebec, she goes there and finally finds a place she truly belongs. -
Firekeeper's Daughter
by
Publication Date: 2021Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 9 – 12
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something.
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Those Who Run in the Sky
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Publication Date: 2017Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 – 12
After a strange and violent blizzard leaves young shaman-in-training Pitu stranded on the sea ice–without his dog team or any weapons to defend himself–he soon realizes that he is no longer in the word that he once knew. The storm has carried him into the world of the spirits, a world populated by terrifying creatures. After stumbling upon a fellow shaman who has been trapped in the spirit world for many years, Pitu must master all of his shamanic powers to make his way back to the world of the living, to his family and to the girl that he loves. -
Strangers
by
Publication Date: 2018Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 – 12
When Cole Harper returns to Wounded Sky First Nation, he finds his community in chaos: a series of murders, a mysterious illness ravaging the population and reemerging questions about Cole’s role in the tragedy that drove him away ten years ago. -
Tilly
by
Publication Date: 2014Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 9 – 12
Tilly has always known she’s part Lakota on her dad’s side. She’s grown up with the traditional teachings of her grandma, relishing the life lessons of her beloved mentor. But it isn’t until an angry man shouts something on the street that Tilly realizes her mom is Aboriginal too–a Cree woman taken from her own parents as a baby. Now she must deal with her mother’s pain, as well as her own. -
The Marrow Thieves
by
Publication Date: 2017Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 8 – 12
Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. -
Fire Song
by
Publication Date: 2018Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 9 - 12
How can Shane reconcile his feelings for David with his desire for a better life? Shane is still reeling from the suicide of his kid sister, Destiny. How could he have missed the fact that she was so sad? He tries to share his grief with his girlfriend, Tara, but she's too concerned with her own needs to offer him much comfort. What he really wants is to be able to turn to the one person on the rez whom he loves--his friend, David. Things go from bad to worse as Shane's dream of going to university is shattered and his grieving mother withdraws from the world. Worst of all, he and David have to hide their relationship from everyone. Shane feels that his only chance of a better life is moving to Toronto, but David refuses to join him. When yet another tragedy strikes, the two boys have to make difficult choices about their future together. With deep insight into the life of Indigenous people on the reserve, this book masterfully portrays how a community looks to the past for guidance and comfort while fearing a future of poverty and shame. Shane's rocky road to finding himself takes many twists and turns, but ultimately ends with him on a path that doesn't always offer easy answers, but one that leaves the reader optimistic about his fate. -
Hunting by Stars: a Marrow Thieves Novel
by
Publication Date: 2021Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 - 12
Years ago, when plagues and natural disasters killed millions of people, much of the world stopped dreaming. Without dreams, people are haunted, sick, mad, unable to rebuild. The government soon finds that the Indigenous people of North America have retained their dreams, an ability rumored to be housed in the very marrow of their bones. Soon, residential schools pop up--or are reopened--across the land to bring in the dreamers and harvest their dreams. Seventeen-year-old French lost his family to these schools and has spent the years since heading north with his newfound family: a group of other dreamers, who, like him, are trying to build and thrive as a community. But then French wakes up in a pitch-black room, locked in and alone for the first time in years, and he knows immediately where he is--and what it will take to escape. Meanwhile, out in the world, his found family searches for him and dodges new dangers--school Recruiters, a blood cult, even the land itself. When their paths finally collide, French must decide how far he is willing to go--and how many loved ones is he willing to betray--in order to survive. An American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book -
Buffalo Dreamer
by
Publication Date: 2024Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 5 - 7
When twelve-year-old Summer visits her family on a reservation in Alberta, Canada, she begins experiencing vivid dreams of running away from a residential school like the one her grandfather attended as a child and learns about unmarked children's graves, prompting her to seek answers about her community's painful past. -
A Perfect Likeness
by
Publication Date: 2021Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 8 - 12
The volume brings together two previously published novellas by Richard Wagamese, Him Standing and The Next Sure Thing, with a foreword from author Waubgeshig Rice. Both stories follow the lives of young men who have dreams for a better future. In their search for fame and fortune, Cree Thunderboy and Lucas Smoke end up on paths where their biggest challenge is staying true to themselves. -
Maggie Lou, Firefox
by
Publication Date: 2023Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 4 - 7
When Maggie turns thirteen, she figures out an ingenious way to make some smokin' good camouflage to wear on her first deer hunt, where she joins a long family tradition. Through it all she is surrounded by her big extended gumbo soup of a family, pestered by annoying younger siblings, and gently guided by her strong female relatives - her mother, her kokom and her ultra-cool cousin Jayda. "Keep taking up space," Maggie's mother says. "You're only making room for the girls behind you." A heroine for today, Maggie Lou discovers that with hard work and perseverance she can gain valuable new skills, without losing one iota of her irrepressible spirit." -- provided by publisher -
Hopeless in Hope (eBook)
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ISBN: 9781774920855Publication Date: 2023Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 - 12
For Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. She's the target of the popular mean girl, and her only friend doesn't want to talk to her anymore. All of it would be unbearable if it weren't for her cat, Toofie, her beloved nohkum, and her writing, which no one will ever see. When Nohkum is hospitalized, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and her younger brother, Marcus. After Marcus is found wandering the neighbourhood alone, he is sent to live with a foster family, and Eva finds herself in a group home. Furious at her mother, Eva struggles to adjust--and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley's diary.
Romans (Novels in French)
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Nipishish. 1, Les déracinés
by
Publication Date: 2023Ages: 9 - 12
1959. Après avoir terminé ses études au pensionnat, Nipishish retrouve avec grand bonheur sa mère adoptive Manie, ses amis, la forêt et les rivières. Mais le jeune orphelin, qui a déjà vécu de dures épreuves, se bute à une nouvelle réalité : Manie et lui doivent habiter dans une réserve. Nipishish n'arrive plus à se sentir chez lui. Lorsque le gouvernement l'oblige à déménager à Mont-Laurier pour fréquenter l'école publique, il entrevoit alors la chance d'une vie meilleure. Un récit poignant sur l'apprentissage d'un jeune Métis en quête de ses origines -
Le fils du Trickster
by
Publication Date: 2023Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 11 - up
Jared, 16 ans, a un solide problème d'alcool, une blonde non binaire vraiment politisée et la mère la plus terrifiante de la planète. Il a aussi le don de se mettre dans le trouble, entre son trafic de biscuits au pot, ses fréquents blackouts et sa grande gueule. Et ça, c'est sans compter les loutres cannibales, les hommes-gorilles, les lucioles philosophes et les soupçons de sa grand-mère, convaincue qu'il n'est pas un être humain, mais le fils de Wee'git, l'esprit qui tourmente sa famille depuis des générations.-- Strong Nations -
Métis
by
Publication Date: 2019Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7-12
Un narrateur nous refait vivre son enfance au coeur de sa famille, à l'époque de Maurice Duplessis. Il est un jeune métis dont le père est Algonquin et la mère est Canadienne. Ses discussions avec ses proches lui font vivre tout ce qu'implique le passage à la modernité au XXe siècle et c'est aussi à cette occasion qu'une part essentielle de l'héritage de ses ancêtres lui est transmis.
Graphic Novels (roman graphiques)
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If I Go Missing
by
Publication Date: 2019Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 – 12
Combining graphic fiction and non-fiction, this young adult graphic novel serves as a window into one of the unique dangers of being an Indigenous teen in Canada today. The text of the book is derived from excerpts of a letter written to the Winnipeg Chief of Police by fourteen-year-old Brianna Jonnie. In her letter, Jonnie calls out the authorities for neglecting to immediately investigate missing Indigenous people and urges them to “not treat me as the Indigenous person I am proud to be,” if she were to be reported missing. -
Surviving the City
by
Publication Date: 2019Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 – 12
Miikwan and Dez are best friends. Miikwan is Anishinaabe; Dez is Inninew. Together, the teens navigate the challenges of growing up in an urban landscape – they’re so close, they even completed their Berry Fast together. However, when Dez’s grandmother becomes too sick, Dez is told she can’t stay with her anymore. With the threat of a group home looming, Dez can’t bring herself to go home and disappears. -
The Scout
by
Publication Date: 2014Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 4 – 9
A search down a wooded path for a well-hit baseball turns into an encounter between Pamela and a veteran soldier standing in front of a monument. The statue commemorates the heroism of Sgt. Tommy Prince, the most decorated Aboriginal soldier in Canada. Pamela is curious, and the veteran is happy to regale her with the story of the expert marksman and tracker, renowned for his daring and bravery in World War II and the Korean War. -
The Chief Mistahimaskwa
by
Publication Date: 2016Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 4 – 6
On her way to school one day, Sarah is relieved to find the book she’d dropped the day before – shortly after an encounter with a bear. But when she opens it, the story within, about the Cree chief Mistahimaskwa, comes alive. It takes Sarah back to the Saskatchewan Plains of 1832, where the young boy who would become the great chief first learns the ways of his people, to the final days of his life.
Part of the Tales from Big Spirit series.
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A girl called Echo, Vol 1: Pemmican Wars
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Publication Date: 2018Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 5 – 12
Echo Desjardins, a 13-year-old Métis girl adjusting to a new home and school, is struggling with loneliness while separated from her mother. Then an ordinary day in Mr. Bee’s history class turns extraordinary, and Echo’s life will never be the same. In the following weeks, Echo slips back and forth in time. She visits a Métis camp, travels the old fur-trade routes, and experiences the perilous and bygone era of the Pemmican Wars.
Also available as an eBook.
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Fire Starters
by
Publication Date: 2016Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 6 – 9
Looking for a little mischief after finding an old flare gun, Ron and Ben suddenly find themselves in trouble when the local gas bar on Agamiing Reserve goes up in flames, and they are wrongly accused of arson by the sheriff’s son. As the investigation goes forward, community attitudes are revealed, and the truth slowly comes to light.
Part of the Debwe Series, which features exceptional Indigenous writing from across Canada.
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The Outside Circle
by
Publication Date: 2015Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 8 – 12
Pete, a young Indigenous gang member, is sent to jail for killing his mother’s boyfriend during a fight. While there, he realizes that he has become a negative influence on his younger brother and decides to turn his life around with the help of traditional Aboriginal healing circles and ceremonies. -
Will I See?
by
Publication Date: 2016Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 9 – 12
May, a young teenage girl, traverses the city streets, finding keepsakes in different places along her journey. While May fights against a terrible reality, she learns that there is strength in the spirit of those that have passed. A story of tragedy and beauty, Will I See illuminates the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Based on the story by Iskwé and Erin Leslie. -
7 generations : a Plains Cree saga
by
Publication Date: 2012Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 7 – 12
Edwin is facing an uncertain future. Only by learning about his family’s past – as warriors, survivors of a smallpox epidemic, casualties of a residential school – will he be able to face the present and embrace the future.
Part of the 7 Generations Series.
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How I survived : four nights on the ice
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Publication Date: 2020Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 6-9
After his snowmobile breaks down halfway across the sea ice on a trip back from a fishing camp, Serapio Ittusardjuat recounts the traditional skills and knowledge he leaned on to stay alive. This harrowing first-person account of four nights spent on the open sea ice--with few supplies and no water--shows young readers the determination and strength necessary to survive in the harsh Arctic climate, even when the worst occurs. -
Mangilaluk : a graphic memoir about friendship, perseverance, and resiliency
by
Publication Date: 2023Niveau scolaire (Grade level): 5 - 12
After running away from residential school, Bernard Andreason and his two best friends begin a harrowing 130-kilometre journey from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, one which only Bernard would survive. In this heartbreaking and beautifully told graphic memoir, Bernard recounts his time in residential school and the tragic journey that took the lives of his two best friends. We then follow Bernard as he returns home, haunted by his past and struggling to find his place. Despite enduring more challenges into adulthood, Bernard never stops pursuing healing and higher learning, and he finds a support network that helps him. His story shows us that the possibility of finding a safe and loving home exists, and it is something every child deserves.
Finding More Resources
To find more resources in this area, try the following:
- Search using the General tab on the UBC Library website to look for material in all UBC Library branches.
- Search using “Search Education Resources” box in the left hand bar on the Education Library website to limit your results to physical materials in the Education Library.
- Use specific search terms, such as
- “First Nations”, “Graphic Novels”, “Juvenile Fiction”, “Indigenous, Aboriginal, Musqueam (or any nation)”, “Indigenous peoples AND Canada AND Residential schools AND Comic books, strips, etc.”, and “Native peoples AND Canada AND Fiction”
- To find lesson plans, include “lesson plans”, “lesson planning”, or “activity programs” in your search terms.
Trouver d’autres ressources
Voici quelques conseils pour trouver d’autres ressources dans ce domaine :
- Sur la page principale du site de la bibliothèque de l’UBC, utilisez la boîte de recherche générale pour rechercher des matériaux à travers toutes les succursales de la bibliothèque de l’UBC.
- Pour limiter vos résultats aux matériels disponibles à la Bibliothèque de l’éducation, visitez le site web de la Bibliothèque de l’éducation et effectuez une recherche à l’aide de la case “Search Education Resources” située dans la bande à gauche de l’écran.
- Remarque : les ressources étant principalement cataloguées en anglais, les termes ci-dessous donnent généralement plus de résultats que les recherches effectuées en français. Vous pouvez filtrer votre liste de résultats par langue dans la barre latérale de gauche.
- Utilisez des termes de recherche spécifiques, tels que
- “First Nations”, “Graphic Novels”, “Juvenile Fiction”, “Indigenous, Aboriginal, Musqueam (or any nation)”, “Indigenous peoples AND Canada AND Residential schools AND Comic books, strips, etc.”, ou “Native peoples AND Canada AND Fiction”
- Pour trouver des plans de cours, incluez “lesson plans”, “lesson planning”, or “activity programs” dans vos termes de recherche.
