American Indian Authors: Science Fiction and Supernatural

What happens when a vampire arrives on the reservation, or a young girl wakes up to find her parents missing? In these works of science fiction and the supernatural, American Indian youth must confront complex realities about their own identities in order to save themselves and the people they love.

See more titles in the following booklists:

Elatsoe

Illustration of young woman in black and white landscape
Illustrated by: Rovina Cai
Age Level: Young adult (14-18)

Elatsoe — Ellie for short — lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the ancestral magics and knowledge of its Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals—most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells her otherwise: He was murdered. Who killed him and how did he die?

Feral Book 1: Feral Nights

When free-spirited werecat Yoshi sets out to find his missing sister, he's shocked to discover that she's the key suspect in a murder investigation. Meanwhile, sarcastic werepossum Clyde and his human pal Aimee have set out to do a little detective work of their own, sworn to avenge the brutal killing of a friend. When all three are snared in an underground kidnapping ring, they end up on a remote tropical island ruled by a species that's unusual even by shape-shifter standards.

Feral Book 2: Feral Curse

The second installment of New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s thrilling Feral series delivers danger, romance, and suspense in an all new action-packed adventure. The adopted daughter of two respectable human parents, Kayla is a werecat in the closet. All she knows is the human world. When she comes out to her boyfriend, tragedy ensues, and her determination to know and embrace her heritage grows.

Feral Book 3: Feral Pride

The explosive finale to the Feral series by New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith. Anti-shifter sentiment is at an all-time high when Kayla’s transformation to werecat is captured on video and uploaded for the world to see. Suddenly she becomes a symbol of the werebeast threat and—along with fellow cat Yoshi, lion-possum Clyde, and human Aimee—a hunted fugitive. Meanwhile, a self-proclaimed weresnake has kidnapped the governor of Texas and hit the airwaves with a message of war.

Grey Eyes

In a world without time and steeped in ceremony and magic walk a chosen few who hold an ancient power: the Grey Eyes. True stewards of the land, the Grey Eyes use their magic to maintain harmony and keep evil at bay. With only one elderly Grey-Eye left in the village of the Nehiyawak, the birth of a new Grey-Eyed boy promises a renewed line of defence against their only foe: the menacing Red-Eyes, whose name is rarely spoken but whose presence is ever felt.

Healer of the Water Monster

Two people sit at a campfire

When Nathan goes to visit his grandma, Nali, at her mobile summer home on the Navajo reservation, he knows he’s in for a pretty uneventful summer, with no electricity or cell service. Still, he loves spending time with Nali and with his uncle Jet, though it’s clear when Jet arrives that he brings his problems with him. One night, while lost in the nearby desert, Nathan finds someone extraordinary: a Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Story — a Water Monster — in need of help. Now Nathan must summon all his courage to save his new friend.

How I Became a Ghost (A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story)

How I Became a Ghost (A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story)

Told in the words of Isaac, a Choctaw boy who does not survive the Trail of Tears, renowned author Tim Tingle tells tale of innocence and resilience in the face of tragedy. From the book's opening line, "Maybe you have never read a book written by a ghost before," the reader is put on notice that this is no normal book. Isaac leads a remarkable foursome of Choctaw comrades: a tough-minded teenage girl, a shape-shifting panther boy, a lovable five-year-old ghost who only wants her mom and dad to be happy, and Isaac's talking dog, Jumper.

Killer of Enemies

Product Description: Years ago, seventeen-year-old Apache hunter Lozen and her family lived in a world of haves and have-nots. There were the Ones — people so augmented with technology and genetic enhancements that they were barely human — and there was everyone else who served them. Then the Cloud came, and everything changed. In the midst of a post-apocalyptic world, fate has given Lozen a unique set of survival skills and magical abilities. With every monster she takes down, her powers grow, and she connects those powers to an ancient legend of her people.

Lightfinder

Lightfinder is a YA fantasy novel about Aisling, a young Cree woman who sets out into the wilderness with her Kokum (grandmother), Aunty and two young men she barely knows. They have to find and rescue her runaway younger brother, Eric. Along the way she learns that the legends of her people might be real and that she has a growing power of her own.

Robopocalypse: A Novel

Product Description: Not far into our future, the dazzling technology that runs our world turns against us. Controlled by a childlike — yet massively powerful — artificial intelligence known as Archos, the global network of machines on which our world has grown dependent suddenly becomes an implacable, deadly foe. At Zero Hour — the moment the robots attack — the human race is almost annihilated, but as its scattered remnants regroup, humanity for the first time unites in a determined effort to fight back. Note: Author Daniel Wilson is a tribally enrolled Cherokee.

Sisters of the Neversea

Sisters of the Neversea

Lily and Wendy have been best friends since they became stepsisters. But with their feuding parents planning to spend the summer apart, what will become of their family — and their friendship? Little do they know that a mysterious boy has been watching them from the oak tree outside their window. A boy who intends to take them away from home for good, to an island of wild animals, Merfolk, Fairies, and kidnapped children, to a sea of merfolk, pirates, and a giant crocodile. A boy who calls himself Peter Pan.

Skeleton Man

Ever since the morning Molly woke up to find that her parents had vanished, her life has become filled with terrible questions. Where have her parents gone? Who is this spooky old man who's taken her to live with him, claiming to be her great-uncle? Why does he never eat, and why does he lock her in her room at night? What are her dreams of the Skeleton Man trying to tell her? There's one thing Molly does know: she needs to find some answers before it's too late.

Spirits Dark and Light: Supernatural Tales from the Five Civilized Tribes

"At once eerie and compelling, sometimes gruesome and always satisfying, this highly readable collection effectively conveys the connection between the natural world and the world of the spirit common in Native American lore. Drawing on stories from the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, an expert storyteller entrances readers with vivid language that conjures up all manner of supernatural creatures, from shape-shifters and tricksters to talking animals and witches." — School Library Journal

Super Indian: Volume 1

Hubert Logan was an ordinary Reservation boy until he ate tainted commodity cheese infused with Rezium, a secret government food enrichment additive. Known as Super Indian, Hubert fights evil forces who would overtake the Reservation's resources and population. Assisted by his trusty sidekicks Mega Bear and Diogi, they fight crime the way they know how — with strength, smarts, and humor.

Super Indian: Volume 2

Super Indian Volume Two contains the further adventures of Hubert Logan, a reservation boy who ate tainted commodity cheese and gained super powers. Hubert becomes Super Indian and fights evil forces that bring danger to the Leaning Oak Reservation. Super Indian and his sidekicks Mega Bear and Diogi face the ruthless Blud KwanTum, a vampire who wants to become a full-blood Indian at any cost.

Tantalize Book 1: Tantalize

Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Tantalize is the first volume in Cynthia Leitich Smith dark fantasy series.

Tantalize Book 2: Eternal

In this vampire romance from award-winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith, Miranda is finally the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated by none other than the King of the Mantle of Dracul, she goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as her personal assistant, has his hands full saving his girl's soul while planning a fast-approaching Death Day gala.

The Marrow Thieves

The Marrow Thieves:

In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors.

The Night Wanderer: A Native Gothic Novel

Product Description: Nothing ever happens on the Otter Lake reservation. But when 16-year-old Tiffany discovers her father is renting out her room, she's deeply upset. Little do Tiffany, her father or even her astute Granny Ruth suspect the truth that their guest is actually a vampire, returning to his tribal home after centuries spent in Europe — but Tiffany has other things on her mind. Fed up and heartsick, Tiffany threatens drastic measures and flees home. There, in the midnight woods, a chilling encounter with the vampire changes everything…for both of them.

The Return of Skeleton Man

Molly thought she'd put her traumatic past behind her when she escaped from Skeleton Man last year. She rescued her parents and tried to get her life back to the way it used to be. She thought her family would live happily ever after and just be normal again. She thought wrong. Skeleton Man is back for revenge — but this time Molly is ready. In this long-awaited sequel to the award-winning Skeleton Man, Joseph Bruchac revisits his most terrifying villain yet.

When a Ghost Talks Listen How I Became a Ghost (A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story)

When a Ghost Talks Listen

Ten-year-old Isaac, now a ghost, continues with his people as they walk the Choctaw Trail of Tears headed to Indian Territory in what will one day become Oklahoma. There have been surprises aplenty on their trek, but now Isaac and his three Choctaw comrades learn they can time travel--making for an unexpected adventure. The foursome heads back in time to Washington, D.C., to bear witness for Choctaw Chief Pushmataha who has come to the nation's capital at the invitation of his dear friend Andrew Jackson.