Native American History Month Favorites

Here's a list of favorites for the month of November- or for any time! You'll notice many of these are by Joseph Bruchac. I like so much of his work and look forward to reading more and more in the future!

The Arrow Over the Door (secular, early chapter book)... This Revolutionary War story follows the Abenakis.

A Boy Called Slow (Secular, picture book)... This one, about a Sioux boy, made me a bit sad but was overall a good one. 

Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code (Secular, picture book)... Navajo code talkers stories have always fascinated me. 

Code Talker (secular with Christian themes, YA) This WWII fiction reads like a memoir and I loved it! I grew up in Arizona so learned about the importance of Navajo code talkers at an early age.

Finding My Dance (secular, picture book)... This is Ria Thundercloud's story and dancer stories are often a big hit around here. This was no exception! She is of Hochunk and Sandia heritage.

The First Strawberries (secular, picture book)... This one is the Cherokee legend of the first strawberries and was particularly fun to read during a strawberry snack!

Powwow Day (secular, picture book)... Again, anything about dance captures attention around here. This one, about a young Cherokee wishing she could dance with the others, is also a great conversation starter about disability (temporary or otherwise) and inclusion.

Salt (secular, middle grade, novel in verse)... This one is about a friendship between a boy from the Myaamia tribe and a white boy at the start of the War of 1812.

We are the Water Protectors (secular, picture book)... I am really big on taking good care of nature (God's precious creation!!) so I absolutely loved this one. This one features a young girl from the Ojibwe tribe. 

Who Were the Navajo Code Talkers? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... I don't love every book in this series but I did really enjoy this one! 

Great Reads for Hispanic Heritage Month

American Girl: Josefina (secular middle grade)... these books are set in New Mexico in 1824. I like the sweet, age-appropriate dilemmas and the faith + family life in these books but the culture is so rich that it speaks for itself too. We see the culture come alive in food, clothing, speech, day to day tasks, professions, and even holidays. Very well done. I would say that these books are ideal for the 4th through 6th grade crowd. 

A Bear for Miguel (secular, leveled reader)... I really love the message in this one, set in El Salvador, and the great conversation it brought about. 

Chato's Kitchen (secular picture book)... chato the cat lives in a Los Angeles barrio. He invites his new neighbors (a family of mice) to dinner with secret plans of serving them as the main course. Things naturally go awry and this is just a generally fun story. We first encountered it through a Scholastic book DVD in which it is read by Cheech Marin. He has a very distinctive voice and it really brought the story to life. 

Danza (secular, picture book)... This is the biography of dancer Amalia Hernández. I have a lot of dance in my background and just loved this one! 

Echo (secular middle grade)... this is one of my very, very favorite books. This is a World War II story told in three parts. I guess technically four because of the intro and outro. Part one is set in Germany and part two is set in Pennsylvania. Part three is the part that allows this beautiful book a place on this list. Part 3 is set in California and is about a Mexican-American family who agrees to take over the farm of a Japanese-American family while they are in an internment camp. I believe this is the first time I had ever encountered Japanese internment camps in middle grade literature, although I'm sure it exists elsewhere. I love this author and feel like she did such a beautiful job showing this Mexican-American family battling racism in the school system while helping a Japanese-American family battling racism in the form of the World War II spy fear of japanese-americans. I feel like this description is frustrating me though because it breaks this amazing, powerful book down into such a small portion of it. Just read it! I have recommended it to so many people and everyone who has read it has said it was wonderful. I've also enjoyed the music-filled audio book version. 

A Girl Named Rosita... This is a great picture book biography of Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican star of Westside Story. 

Esperanza Rising (secular middle grade)... this depression-era book is by the same author as Echo and I loved it as a kid. Esperanza and her mother have to flee their home in the dark of the night and start life over in a lower station than they previously lived in. Esperanza learns so much in this book and so do we. This author is a master storyteller I cannot recommend enough.

I Love Saturdays y Domingos (secular picture book)... this is a really fun look at bicultural families. This picture book is about a little boy who loves to visit his white, English speaking grandparents on Saturdays and his Spanish speaking grandparents on Domingos (Sundays). This is a very well done story that shows the cultural differences and similarities all tied in a neat little bow about family love.

Juana and Lucas (secular chapter book)... I have only read the first two books of these series and I thought they were fun and cute. I believe there were one or two things I didn't adore but that overall these are clean, wholesome, and fun. These ones are set in Bogota, Colombia and are so filled with fun culture details. 

Mango, Abuela, and Me (secular picture book)... when abuela comes to live with the family, everything changes! Abuela only speaks Spanish so Bridges must be gapped and this story just shows such a beautiful example of love knowing no limits.

Marisol MacDonald Doesn't Match (secular picture book)... Marisol MacDonald is Scottish and Peruvian. This one is another fun look at bicultural families as we see marisol's mixing of her two cultures in such a fun way. This is also a really great look at the fact that each one of us is a unique individual and that being true to who we are is beautiful.

Sisters in Time: Rosa Takes a Chance (Christian middle grade)... this Christian historical fiction series is full of standalone books about different girls set in different time. I have not read all of them and have not approved of every one of them but I did read and love this one. Rosa takes a chance felt a lot like a mixture of Esperanza Rising and Echo from above as it sort of deals with both themes. This one is set during the Dust Bowl and is about a family trying to figure out how to handle that situation as well as an issue of segregation in schools.

Standing Together (Christian nonfiction)... this Christian nonfiction is a memoir about faith and how faith got this couple through the very trying time of Carlos losing his limbs after stepping on an IED and of Rosemarie's determination to be the wife he needed to get through that trying time. The couple is from Puerto Rico and we see bits and pieces of that shine through throughout this memoir. This is not specifically a culture-focused memoir but because their cultural heritage is so strong I felt like it still deserved a spot on this list. 

Sylvia & Aki (secular, middle grade)... This one, much like part of Echo, talks about a Mexican-American family working a Japanese family's farm during their time in a Japanese Internment Camp. This is a true story but it reads like a fiction novel. I really enjoyed this one.  

Tacos for Two (contemporary Christian romance)... this contemporary Christian romance tale is one I really enjoyed because of its fun You've Got Mail vibes. Our main heroine is biracial and is I believe half or one quarter Mexican. She owns a Tex-Mex food truck in Texas and we see a lot of Mexican food culture here. Plus, it's just a really fun read! 

The Three Little Tamales (secular picture book)... this fun picture book is essentially The Three Little Pigs but instead of pigs we are dealing with tamales. This one is set in Texas so we are looking at Tex Mex foodie culture and it's just a generally fun read since we love factured fairy tales. And tamales 😉

Waiting for the Biblioburro (secular picture book)... I really love books about mobile libraries in their various forms and adored this book set in Columbia. This is a fictionalized account of Luis Soriano and his biblio burro, a donkey he used to transport a small mobile library to rural areas. We read this book multiple times when we borrowed it from the library.

Great reads for Black History Month

I have merged previous lists with this one and am now adding all new updates to the same place. Enjoy! 

The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch (Secular, picture book)... This one is a great, short picture book biography that'll fuel a great discussion about slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. 

American Girl’s Addy series (secular, middle grade)- This was my very favorite girl in the American Girl series growing up. My mom helped me make Addy’s doll, Ida Bean, which won me a ticket to my school library’s American Girl tea party. It was my first true glimpse into the horror that was slavery and the fearful courage that had to go with escaping… not to mention the realization that securing freedom did not suddenly make everything okay. I recently re-read the series because I’m always trying to grow my list of books I know I’m for sure okay with my kids reading. I admit it’s of course heavy subject matter but I still think it’s a wonderful series and I’m very grateful to have all six books for my own girls to read when they’re ready. The series is no longer in print but you can find it used and can usually find it through the library, too.

American Girl's Claudie books (secular, middle grade)... There were only two books in this series when i read it so if there are more now you'll have to check them for yourself. I enjoyed these stories though, set during the Harlem Renaissance. 

American Girl's Melody series (secular, middle grade)... I really liked the faith and family values in the first Melody book, set during the Civil Rights movement. I have not yet read book 2 or the Melody mysteries. 

Bad News for Outlaws (secular, picture book)... We were quite fascinated by the story of Bass Reeves, first black US Marshal, during our "wild west" American history unit. This picture book was a hit for my kids. 

Black Cowboy, Wild Horses (secular)... This is an account of Bob Lemmons and it was very well-done. Also a hit during our wild west unit. 

Brave Ballerina (secular, picture book)... We love this short, simple rhyming book about Janet Collins. It's a great way to see the history of race in ballet.  

Breakthrough (secular, upper middle grade, nonfiction)... This is a short, fascinating look at the beginning of heart surgery for blue babies and has an interesting race/segregation component that'll make for an awesome Black History Month read. 

Brown Girl Dreaming (secular, middle grade, novel in verse)- I would classify this as a middle grade memoir in verse! It was well-done and one of the first novels in verse I ever tried. I plan to try other work by this author, too. 

The Gold Cadillac (secular)... Mildred D Taylor is such a fantastic author. I really felt our main protagonist's stress which I think is impressive for such a slim chapter book. 

I Have a Dream (secular, chapter book)- This biography, written for I think the fifth-ish-grade crowd, is so well-done! There were quite a few pictures included but the writing was good and the information shared was perfect for the age group. MLK is quite the inspiration, isn’t he? 

Heart and Soul: the story of America and African Americans- This one is so beautifully written! It looks like a nice, lovely picture book but does contain heavy subject matter so parents will want to read it for themselves before deciding if their children are ready. 

Heroes in Black History: True Stories in the Lives of Christian Heroes (Christian, middle grade)- I read this one on my own and really liked it. It’s been a while since I read it but Ben Carson’s story in particular still resonates with me.

Hidden Figures: Young Reader edition (secular, middle grade)... We loved this space race book! There is a movie I also enjoyed but i haven't yet read the adult version. 

How Do You Spell Unfair? (Secular, picture book)... This is the story of MacNolia Cox and the 1936 National Spelling Bee! 

Mae Among the Stars (secular, picture book)... Love this Mae Jemison picture book and its beautiful illustrations! 

March (secular, YA, graphic novel)... These three graphic novels by John Lewis are painful at times but so inspiring. I added them to our high school list since some illustrations will be uncomfortably graphic for younger readers. 

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (secular, picture book)- This book! We have borrowed this one from the library quite a few times and it always sparks some really awesome discussion. I also love how well it translates her faith into the entire story. If you’re going to talk at all about Harriet Tubman, this one just cannot be missed! 

Ron's Big Mission (secular, picture book)... This is a great look at segregation and the voices it took to fight it on small-scale, local levels. 

Show Way (secular, picture book)... This is such a great look at how quilts were used as a map for escaping slavery. 

Stella by Starlight (secular, middle grade)- I read this one last year and really liked it, about a young girl named Stella accidentally discovering a secret KKK meeting, and all that transpires because of it. This one was probably best for fifth or sixth graders but would also make a great read-aloud.

Uncle Jed's Barbershop (secular, picture book)... I particularly love the loving community spirit in this one, all about segregation and the extremely hard work it took to move forward.  

Under the Tulip Tree (Christian, adult, historical fiction)... this historical fiction was a five-star read for me. This is the story of a young lady from a well-to-do family who lost everything in the Great depression. She takes a journalist job interviewing former slaves despite that not being appropriate for a girl of her social status, at least in her mother's eyes. The interviews of course got painful to read but I felt that the author did a really good job here. My sensitive heart never felt like quitting. I want to say so many things but I also don't want to say anything that will spoil even a bit of this beautiful book. I'll just say again that it was a five-star read for me, how about that?

Up from Slavery (secular, YA/adult... I never read this in high school so I finally read through it last year! I got the TGTB version with its lovely cover. 

What Were the Negro Leagues (secular, middle grade)...  My son got really into baseball for a little while and we both enjoyed this one.

Who was Jackie Robinson (secular, middle grade)... My son got really into baseball for a little while and we both enjoyed this one.

Who Was Jesse Owens (secular, middle grade)... Not my favorite of this series but still a good read. 

You Should Meet: Katherine Johnson (secular, leveled reader)- I admittedly hadn’t heard of Katherine Johnson (a seriously brilliant mind for NASA in the 50s) before this book but this woman was amazing! 

You Should Meet: Misty Copeland (secular, leveled reader)- I definitely knew about Misty Copeland from my dance days so when ballerina-obsessed B chose this as her prize from a recent library event, we came home and read it together right away.