Books like Arrow to the Sun
By Gerald McDermott
For the kid drawn to quests and trials of courage, the boy's journey through four kivas of lions, snakes, bees, and lightning turns a search for a father into a test of true belonging. Bold, stately, and reverent, with the hush of ceremony rather than the rush of adventure.
After the gods fail again and again to create lasting humans across five different suns, Quetzalcóatl the Feathered Serpent alone refuses to give up, journeying to the underworld to retrieve the sacred bones of creation.
A rap-inspired tribute moves through the stories of Indigenous heroes past and present — Tecumseh, Sacagawea, Crazy Horse, astronaut John Herrington, NHL goalie Carey Price — all building to one message: we are people who matter.
A young Hawaiian girl named Ano explores her island home through canoes, hawks, and forest lizards, then learns hula — the storytelling dance that carries her people's history — and discovers what aloha truly means.
A restless chicken named Louise leaves the henhouse craving adventure, facing pirates on the high seas, a lion under the big top, and a mysterious stranger in a bustling bazaar.
A biracial girl with red hair and brown skin mixes polka dots with stripes and eats peanut butter and jelly burritos, refusing to pick just one side of who she is.
A pig who dreams of dazzling circus crowds instead of ending up on a dinner plate sets off to become a performer, discovering along the way what makes him truly remarkable.
A poor boy who longs to paint is given a magic paintbrush that brings to life whatever he creates, until a greedy emperor sets out to capture him and claim its power for himself.
A boy named Rudy longs to fly more than anything, so he adopts a wild hawk, hoping their bond will somehow let him join it in the sky.
A little girl named Sasha is captured by a terrible witch named Bony-Legs, who plans to eat her for supper — but a creaking gate, a skinny dog, and a melancholy cat may hold the key to her escape.
A girl so worried about fitting in that she never admits she loves lima beans wakes up one day covered in stripes that keep changing — and can't seem to recognize herself anymore.
A young girl leaves her grandmother's house in Mexico to join her parents and brother in New York, facing a new language, unfair accusations, and the slow work of calling a new place home.
