Ancestor Approved

Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride.

Native families from Nations across the continent gather at the Dance for Mother Earth Powwow in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In a high school gym full of color and song, people dance, sell beadwork and books, and celebrate friendship and heritage. Young protagonists will meet relatives from faraway, mysterious strangers, and sometimes one another (plus one scrappy rez dog).

They are the heroes of their own stories.

Featuring stories and poems by:

Joseph Bruchac

Art Coulson

Christine Day

Eric Gansworth

Carole Lindstrom

Dawn Quigley

Rebecca Roanhorse

David A. Robertson

Andrea L. Rogers

Kim Rogers

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Monique Gray Smith

Traci Sorell,

Tim Tingle

Erika T. Wurth

Brian Young

In partnership with We Need Diverse Books