2010 American Indian Youth Literature Award

The 2010 American Indian Youth Literature Award winners were announced at the American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference in January 2010. Author Thomas King and illustrator Gary Clement were the recipients of the Picture Book Award for their book A Coyote Solstice Tale. The Middle School winner is Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer. Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me by Lurline Wailana McGregor took the Young Adult prize.

The American Indian Youth Literature Awards recognize excellence in books by and about American Indians. By identifying and honoring outstanding writing and illustrations in the field of youth literature, the American Indian Library Association encourages authors, illustrators, editors, publishers and tribal entities to create materials that “present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.”

Please visit the Children’s Library to read the 2010 winners!

The 2010 Award Winners

Picture Book

A Coyote Solstice Tale by Thomas King, illustrated by Gary Clement. (Groundwood Books, 2009)

The universal lesson that sharing and being together are more important than things comes from a human child and Coyote in this humorous book.


Middle School Book

Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer. (National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution in association with Council Oak Books, 2008)

Meet Christopher and spend some time with him as he combines his family’s Native traditions with popular 21st century activities.



Young Adult Book

Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me by Lurline Wailana McGregor. (Kamehameha Publishing, 2008)

Torn between her career as a museum curator in California and her family in Hawai’i, Maona Kawelo must make some difficult choices.

Vampires and Werewolves: Young Adult Novels by Native Authors

Are there any vampire books by Native authors? Yes, there are! Fans of the popular book and movie Twilight may also find these exciting stories by American Indians for YA* readers appealing:

The Night Wanderer: A Native Gothic Novel, written by Drew Hayden Taylor (Ojibway) was published in 2007 by Annick Press. It’s a compelling vampire story set on a First Nations community in Ontario where sixteen-year-old Tiffany is dealing with major mixed-up emotions about her exciting new boyfriend, her protective and strict father, and her absent, now pregnant, mother. It’s also about Pierre L’Errant-his 350 years as a vampire roaming the world until he gives into his strong longing to return to his Ojibway village. Well known for his play Toronto at Dreamer's Rock, Drew Hayden Taylor originally wrote this vampire story as a play and later expanded it into an excellent novel. You can read an interview with him about The Night Wanderer on Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog at: http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2008/11/author-interview-drew-hayden-taylor-on.html.



Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek), in addition to her excellent web site and blog, often writes about contemporary American Indian youth. However, Tantalize is very different from her well-known YA book, Rain is Not My Indian Name. A dark fantasy, Tantalize is about Quincie Morris, high school senior, restaurant owner, and vampire who loves a werewolf.

Smith’s latest book is Eternal. From the promotional materials on her web site, it sounds like a winner: “In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages. With diabolical wit, the author of Tantalize revisits a deliciously dark world where vampires vie with angels — and girls just want to have fangs.”

* What are YA books? They are books for young adults. Some YA books can be read and enjoyed by young teens in middle school while others appeal to high school and up readers-mostly due to their mature content.