Fiction

Words bawling…Melody howling…Fierce Voice rising

Iz has everything she's ever wanted: she’s found the foster home of her dreams and is attending the prestigious music school she moved heaven and earth to get into. But secrets from her past keep threatening to spill into the present, and Iz is sure that her newfound loved ones will abandon her if they learn of her terrible history.

Despite these fears, Iz does her best to settle into her new life. Hoping to give at-risk children the musical experiences she longed for when she was little, she joins with her classmates and Teo (the boy she sort of kissed and then ghosted all summer) to start a musical outreach program at the community centre she used to go to.

She isn’t quite prepared for the chaotic group of children she’s paired with. And she’s even less ready for Skye, an angry foster kid who challenges everything Iz holds dear, gets a little too close for comfort, and has her own terrible secret.

To help Skye, Iz must make a dreadful choice—a decision that could free them both from their demons or completely destroy everything Iz has fought so hard for. Is raising her voice worth the risk?

Fierce Voice is the sequel to the White Pine Award nominee Iz the Apocaylpse.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 12 to 18.

This book is part of The Métier Quartet series.

Additional Information
280 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

Ánte’s life has been steeped in Sámi tradition. It is indisputable to him that he, an only child, will keep working with the reindeer. But there is something else too, something tugging at him: his feelings for his best friend Erik have changed, grown into something bigger. Ánte is so aware of Erik and his body in relation to his own; everything he does matters so much. What would people say if they knew? And how does Erik feel? And Erik’s voice just the push of a button away. Ánte couldn’t answer, could he? But how could he ignore it? Fire From the Sky will warm your heart as Ánte experiences the magical, soul-combusting feeling of first love.

Reviews
[STAR] “A rare and triumphant look at what it means for queerness to stay put, with all the messiness and pain that entails… A fresh voice and a setting that’s pure fire.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Fire From the Sky is a superb account of one boy’s struggle to be himself. Åstot does an exemplary job invoking Sami culture, and an especially good job of capturing Ante’s turbulent emotions, dramatically ratcheting up tension, as it is often agony for Ante to be around the friend he's so in love with. Much of Ante’s experience is universal, and empathic readers will hope urgently for his happiness.” —Booklist

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 13 - 18.

Translated by Eva Apelqvist.

Additional Information
216 pages | 5.50" x 8.25" | Paperback

A Native American first contact story and gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse

"Thrilling and personal... an important addition to the landscape of science fiction."—Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising

"Hole in the Sky is mind-bending… indigenous knowledge collides with science fiction in a thrilling page-turner."—Sterlin Harjo, filmmaker and writer of Reservation Dogs

On the Great Plains of Oklahoma, in the heart of the Cherokee Nation, a strange atmospheric disturbance is noticed by Jim Hardgray, a down-on-his-luck single father trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Tawny. At NASA’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, astrophysicist Dr. Mikayla Johnson observes an interaction with the Voyager 1 spacecraft on the far side of the solar system, and she concludes that something enormous and unidentified is heading directly for Earth. And in an undisclosed bunker somewhere in the United States, an American threat forecaster known only as the Man Downstairs intercepts a cryptic communication and sends a message directly to the president and highest-ranking military brass: “First contact imminent.”

Daniel H. Wilson’s Hole in the Sky is a riveting thriller in the most creative tradition of extraterrestrial fiction. Drawing on Wilson’s unique background as both a threat forecaster for the United States Air Force and a Cherokee Nation citizen, this propulsive novel asks probing questions about nonhuman intelligence, the Western mindset, and humans’ understanding of reality.

Reviews
“Incredible... Hole in the Sky is not only a thrilling, brilliant page-turner, its pages also turned me into the kind of reader I always want to be—deeply involved and curious about the world and the story unfolding before me, as if by magic—the kind of reader who can’t stop reading, who dreads the book coming to an end even while I can’t stop making my way toward it, who goes back and starts all over to figure out how it was done. Here we have a highly original premise about alien contact—no small feat unto itself—which also manages to seamlessly fold in Indigenous lives and knowledge. Every character here is alive, and there are so many stunning sentences I had to stop underlining. The story is killer. I love it. Run don’t walk to read this book.”—Tommy Orange, New York Times bestselling author of There There and Wandering Stars

“Hands down one of the best books I’ve read in a couple of years. Daniel H. Wilson has crafted a technotradish ride into the future in the most harrowing and engaging ways imaginable. Tightly tuned, sharply researched, and warm in all the best ways, you’ll want to clear your schedule because this is a sit-down-and-read-the-whole-thing-right-now kind of book. Bravo, Mr. Wilson!”—Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., bestselling co-editor of the Never Whistle At Night series

“This book doesn’t whisper. It roars from the edges of space, memory, and grief. Hole in the Sky is Indigenous sci-fi at its rawest: part cosmic threat, part broken father-daughter elegy, part fever dream of classified government failures. The humanity here is bruised, sharp-tongued, and holding on. And the fear? It’s in the blood. This one gets under your skin and stays there.”—Shane Hawk, bestselling co-editor of the Never Whistle at Night series

Additional Information
288 pages | 6.35" x 9.54" | Hardcover 

Homecoming is a poetry collection that reflects our human journey as we grow and learn, and author’s personal journey through childhood, marriage, divorce, parenthood, and parents’ old age, as well as the author’s quest to reclaim and celebrate her Native heritage. The poems in Homecoming are grouped according to the four directions of the Medicine Wheel: East for Beginnings, South for Innocence, West for Going Within, North for Elder and Wisdom, plus three poems for the Centre, the Great Mystery.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Modern Indigenous Voices series.

Additional Information
88 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback 

New poems from award-winning storyteller and poet Joseph Dandurand.

Prolific Kwantlen writer Joseph Dandurand offers his latest poetry collection, following The Punishment and The East Side of It All, which was shortlisted for the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Building on his legacy as a skilled storyteller, Dandurand continues to write about trauma, love, grief and forgiveness. These poems are about the streets, the East Side, self-pity, spirits and Dandurand’s people, the Kwantlen. As the jury of the 2022 Latner Writers’ Trust Award wrote, “his quotidian reflections read like parables, with startling economy.” After putting this collection down, don’t be surprised to find yourself saying “thank you,” too.

Additional Information
102 pages | 5.50" x 8.00" | Paperback

When a young girl goes missing, the ghosts of the past collide with her family’s secrets in a mesmerizing Native American Southern Gothic

When six-year-old Laurel Taylor vanishes without a trace, her family is left shattered, struggling to navigate the darkness of grief and unanswered questions. As their search turns to despair, Laurel’s older sister, Nadine, begins experiencing nightmares that blur the line between dream and reality, and she becomes convinced that Laurel’s disappearance could be connected to other family tragedies. Guided by her elders, Nadine sets out to uncover whether laying the ghosts to rest is the key to finding her sister and healing her fractured family.

Carson Faust captivates in this chilling literary debut that confronts the specter of colonization and the generational scars it leaves on Native American families. Steeped in Indigenous folklore and drawing from the author’s own family history, If the Dead Belong Here examines what it means to be haunted—both by the supernatural and by terrors of our own making. Faust crafts a powerful, kaleidoscopic tale about the complicated legacies of violence that shape our present, the importance of honoring our past, and the resilience of a family—and a people—determined to heal from old wounds.

Reviews
“If the Dead Belong Here is a thunderclap of a novel—fierce, lyrical, and unrelentingly intimate. Carson Faust writes across time, bloodline, and grief with mythic authority and needlepoint precision. This is a story about hauntings both literal and inherited, a child gone missing, and the women who carry everything that came before. Faust doesn’t just bend form—he breaks it open. Because what needs to be carried here won’t fit inside a neat arc or a clean ending. This book doesn’t offer closure—it offers witness: to generational grief, to girls who vanish and those who are left to search, to the slow violence of silence, to the ways history seeps into the body and stays. What it asks in return is that you stay too.”—Morgan Talty, national bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez

“Carson Faust’s powerful debut novel swept me away with its glorious prose, compelling characters, and compassionate heart. Faust’s story charts a course of horror and loss, with moments so terrifying I had to turn on an extra light to keep reading. Yet the structural refrain that underpins this wonder of a book always returns to love. I gladly surrendered to the ferocious brilliance of this multi-generational tale, admiring the courage of young Nadine who is a ‘student to the dead.’ What lingers is the thought that perhaps we all are . . .”—Mona Susan Power, author of A Council of Dolls

“If the Dead Belong Here reminds us to listen to the songs of the night and hold our loved ones close. Intergenerational grief and loss run through the story’s DNA, but this is also a novel about intergenerational wisdom, strength, and endurance. It’ll captivate you, scare you, and—if you let it—might offer more than a little healing. In this shimmering, heart-filled debut, Carson Faust establishes himself as a rare and special voice.”—Kelli Jo Ford, author of Crooked Hallelujah

"If The Dead Belong Here offers a riveting mystery and beautifully complex characters who linger long after reading. Expect a steady-handed untangling of intergenerational trauma. Expect prose that is both haunted and thrumming with life. With this hypnotic, humid, love-wrought saga, Carson Faust debuts as a literary force."—Monica Brashears, author of House of Cotton

“A terrifying, heartfelt debut about communal responsibility, about what we owe to each other and our dead loved ones. The Crowe sisters leap off the page with their wisdom and candor, and the novel’s formal experiments radiate with brilliance. Faust teaches us that there are hauntings that can save us, if we’re brave enough to listen.”—Alejandro Heredia, author of Loca

Additional Information
400 pages | 6.33" x 9.33" | 1 family tree | Hardcover 

Flow into a new season in one of Canada’s most celebrated literary landscapes, with Leaf Counter. A lyric decolonial romp through the Ontario’s famed Prince Edward County, Aginjibagwesi (Spinus tristis) draws us through the poetics of the land and the struggles of the poet as decolonizer in this new epic border-crossing collection. Golden witness to the timelessness of land and spirits, Leaf Counter criss-crossed the lands around Ameliasburgh, its ghosts, heroes, and even the poets of Purdy’s A-Frame. Leaf Counter knows of sorrow, struggle, and wends a tale in a braided narrative as he scans "light and steeple” and sees timeless men at the centre and edges of the order of things, Simon Girty, Al Purdy, Charles Bukowski, and even Bret Hart, move and shift in time and place. Leaf Counter is our celestial, Lenape, winged guide of legend and myth. And through his spring enumeration of all things, we garner an understanding of the famed Canadian poet Al Purdy and the lands that he grew from. Witness the collapse of the old repressive order through the eyes of the poet and movements of the mighty little bird.

Additional Information
148 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

Featuring the voices of both new and acclaimed Indigenous writers and edited by bestselling Muscogee author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world’s best frybread.

The road to Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-In slips through every rez and alongside every urban Native hangout. The menu offers a rotating feast, including traditional eats and tasty snacks. But Sandy June's serves up more than food: it hosts live music, movie nights, unexpected family reunions, love long lost, and love found again.

That big green-and-gold neon sign beckons to teens of every tribal Nation, often when they need it most.

Featuring stories and poems by: Kaua Mahoe Adams, Marcella Bell, Angeline Boulley, K. A. Cobell, A. J. Eversole, Jen Ferguson, Eric Gansworth, Byron Graves, Kate Hart, Christine Hartman Derr, Karina Iceberg, Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, David A. Robertson, Andrea L. Rogers, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Brian Young.

Reviews
"There's a lot of warmth and gratitude to revel in...Various characters thread through each other’s stories, allowing many of the players more depth and nuance had they only been in one tale, and encouraging the readers to make the thematic connections in cultural identities that are both individually specific and community-wide." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"17 Indigenous writers create a web of entertaining, intertwined stories in this uplifting and unusual anthology, ideal for the YA reader who longs for connection and authenticity. Themes of displacement and loneliness, as well as the importance of connection to family, friends, and tribe, permeate the entries, making the collection relevant and accessible for teen readers of any background. As Cheryl Isaacs says in "Heart Berry," "One way or another, Sandy June's never fail[s]." — Shelf Awareness

"The literary conceit that unifies these stories is a magical “NDN Country” frybread drive-in that serves up Native comfort food and wisdom, a “collective dream” where young people in need of connection or healing find themselves among an intertribal community of all ages...many stories mention historical events and all of them touch on family heritage, they also feel quite of-the-moment." — Horn Book Magazine

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 13+.

This collection of interconnected stories features voices of new and acclaimed Indigenous writers.

Additional Information
352 pages | 5.50" x 8.25" | Hardcover 

Maddy’s Sash, by Marion Gonneville, with illustrations by Kate Boyer, is the story of a young girl who connects with her Métis roots while she spends time with her Moshôm, Kohkom and their special dog Max. Maddy has many adventures at her grandparents’ farm in northern Saskatchewan, including an exciting berry picking adventure, a dramatic canoe trip, and a rollicking barn dance.

Educator Information
Chapter book.

Additional Information
10 Chapters: 88 pages | Hardcover 

A gripping work of auto-fiction / biography and memoir resulting in historical accountability. Divided into two parts; starting at the turn of the 20th century leading into the 1980's.

Filled with wisdom, grit and honesty, this is the journey of a Métis teenager overcoming personal grief, witnessing the pain of others, and experiencing the healing power of a Grandma’s love.

At times harrowing and instead of succumbing to self-pity Mary will rise above her presumed narrative with courage and love as her Grandma takes Mary under her wing to guide her into the mature woman she will become.

Educator Information
To learn more about this work, such as how the duck character and situation were developed, visit the author's website: https://ritajasperart.com/2025/10/14/the-bus-ride-was-just-ducky/.

Additional Information
250 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback

To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself.

At rock bottom following her daughter’s death, ex–Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation where he was raised, but the tribe needs a new marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home.

In the past decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some have ended up dead, others just…gone. Now local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save.

Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her.

What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.

Reviews
"Mask of the Deer Woman shines an important spotlight on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis while folding a compelling mystery into a heartfelt journey of grief, identity, and reconnection." —Vanessa Lillie, USA Today bestselling author of Blood Sisters

“A beautifully written tale about the Indigenous girls who disappear twice, once in life and once in the news. Clever, elegant and utterly compelling, Mask of the Deer Woman is a brilliant exploration of identity and the struggle of being separated from one’s culture. Hypnotic and beguiling, I was hooked from the first sentence.”—Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author of These Still Black Waters

"A thriller that dreams are made of—thoroughly engrossing, riveting, an absolute pleasure.  The work of a rare, singular talent."—Chris Mooney, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Walk in My Combat Boots

“Spotlighting the real life crisis of Native women and girls who are abducted and murdered at an astonishing rate, Laurie L. Dove presents a vital story of danger, corruption, and a fraying thread of hope in Indian Country. Full of mystery, suspense, and an enthralling dose of Native mythology, Mask of the Deer Woman is both a propulsive thriller and a much-needed call to action."—Nick Medina, author of Indian Burial Ground

“Laurie Dove masterfully tells a suspenseful story with a complex protagonist who straddles the worlds between the living and the dead and her dual heritages. A compelling read.”—Iris Yamashita, author of City Under One Roof
 
“Mask of the Deer Woman is a creepy, atmospheric page-turner and a thoughtful exploration of identity and belonging. Dove's detailed descriptions plunge the reader into the world of an Oklahoma reservation and its troubled inhabitants. Above all, this immersive debut is an ode to women's resilience and the powerful bonds between mothers and daughters."—K.T. Nguyen, author of You Know What You Did

Additional Information
336 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Hardcover 

By the celebrated author of Canada Reads Finalist Indian Horse, a stunning new novel that has all the timeless qualities of a classic, as it tells the universal story of a father/son struggle in a fresh, utterly memorable way, set in dramatic landscape of the BC Interior. For male and female readers equally, for readers of Cormac McCarthy, Thomas King, Russell Banks, and general literary.

Franklin Starlight is called to visit his father, Eldon. He's sixteen years old and has had the most fleeting of relationships with the man. The rare moments they've shared haunt and trouble Frank, but he answers the call, a son's duty to a father. He finds Eldon decimated after years of drinking, dying of liver failure in a small town flophouse. Eldon asks his son to take him into the mountains, so he may be buried in the traditional Ojibway manner.

What ensues is a journey through the rugged and beautiful backcountry, and a journey into the past, as the two men push forward to Eldon's end. From a poverty-stricken childhood, to the Korean War, and later the derelict houses of mill towns, Eldon relates both the desolate moments of his life and a time of redemption and love and in doing so offers Frank a history he has never known, the father he has never had, and a connection to himself he never expected.

A novel about love, friendship, courage, and the idea that the land has within it powers of healing, Medicine Walk reveals the ultimate goodness of its characters and offers a deeply moving and redemptive conclusion.

Wagamese's writing soars and his insight and compassion are matched by his gift of communicating these to the reader.

Reviews
“In Medicine Walk, Wagamese manages the nuances of betrayal and redemption with uncommon artistry. It is a breathtaking novel of sorrow, hope and polished steel.” – Thomas King

“A deeply felt and profoundly moving novel, written in the kind of sure, clear prose that brings to mind the work of the great North American masters; Steinbeck among them. But Wagamese's voice and vision are also completely his own, as is the important and powerful story he has to tell.” – Jane Urquhart

“Medicine Walk recounts the mythic journey of an estranged father and son who are searching for reconciliation and love. Richard Wagamese’s novel renders the Canadian wilderness with staggering insight and beauty. The same can be said for his understanding of the fragility, wildness and resilience of the human heart. Magnificent.” – Lisa Moore

“Medicine Walk is a masterpiece, a work of art that explores human interconnectedness with a level of artistry so superb that the personal becomes eternal.” – National Post

“A moving story…. Wagamese balances the novel’s spiritual and political subtexts with sly humour, sharp, believable dialogue and superb storytelling skills. Medicine Walk is a major accomplishment from an author who has become one of Canada’s best novelists.” – Toronto Star

“This is very much a novel about the role of stories in our lives, those we tell ourselves about ourselves and those we agree to live by…. Wagamese understands that the stories we don’t tell are as important as the ones we do….But Medicine Walk is also testament to the redemptive power of love and compassion.” – Globe and Mail

“One of the finest novels of the year…. Medicine Walk is not only a graceful book, it is a novel of grace, of coming to terms with hidden truths, of coming to know the secrets behind forbidding appearances, of finding the humanity within strangers.” – Vancouver Sun

“An essential read…. Superbly written.” – Now Magazine (NNNN)

Educator & Series Information
This edition of Medicine Walk is part of the Kanata Classics series, which celebrates timeless books that reflect the rich and diverse range of voices in Canadian literature. 

Grades 10-12 BC English First Peoples resource for units on Childhood, Place-Conscious Learning, and Family.

Additional Information
256 pages | 5.50" x 8.25" | Paperback 

Mother, Can I Say it Now? is a compelling collection of poems that delve into the beauty and depth of Indigenous poetry. It reflects the essence of everyday life and captures the spirit of belonging. The poems in this collection explore themes of identity, culture, and connection to the land. They offer a unique perspective that resonates with readers from all walks of life. From The Next Pretend-Indian to Things Abandoned in the Night, each poem tells a story that is both compelling and thought-provoking. These captivating verses are a tribute to the resilience and creativity of Indigenous voices.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Modern Indigenous Voices series.

Additional Information
88 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback 

Lights. Cameras. Hockey!

The school year is finally over and Eloise and Leon are back in Matimekush for the summer. But this school break will not be like any other, thanks to a hockey movie being filmed in the community! Is it possible that Leon will be in the movie? Will Eloise, who is interested in directing, participate in the project? Summer will be busy with twists and turns of all kinds for Leon, Eloise and their friends. It's the summer of possibilities!

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 10 to 14.

Translated by Kateria Aubin Dubois, a freelance translator and a prolific beadworker. Her beadwork can be found under her Indigenous name, Nisnipawset. Kateri is from the Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nation. She lives with her husband, two children and a fluffy cat in Terrebonne, Quebec.

This is the third book in the Nish series.

Additional Information
240 pages | 5.00" x 7.75" | Paperback

you are only here

to learn from those who came before

and make space

for those who come after

Procession: a line of people moving in the same direction; a formal ceremony or celebration, as in a wedding, a funeral, a religious parade. Bestseller and Governor General's Award-winner katherena vermette's third collection presents a series of poems reaching into what it means to be at once a descendant and a future ancestor, exploring the connections we have with one another and ourselves, amongst friends, and within families and Nations.

In frank, heartfelt poems that move through body sovereignty and ancestral dreams, and from '80s childhood nostalgia to welcoming one's own babies, vermette unreels the story of a child, a parent, and soon, an elder, living in a prairie place that has always existed, though looks much different to her now. This book is about being one small part of a large genealogy. A lineage is a line, and the procession, whether in celebration or in mourning, is ongoing. procession delves into what it means to make poems and to be an artist, to be born into a body, to carry it all, and, if you're very lucky, age.

be a good ancestor

be a good kid

Reviews
"The poems in procession are remarkable: spare but generous, both grounded and skillfully drawn. With her signature musicality, insight, and wit, vermette reminds us that we - like our bodies and the earth, like our histories and our shared, threatened future - are essentially, impossibly intertwined." -Chimwemwe Undi, Governor General's Award-winning author of Scientific Marvel?

Additional Information
112 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback