With the help of her family, best friend Jay, and ghost dog Kirby, Ellie uncovers secrets surrounding Trevor’s death. When Trevor visits her in a dream and tells Ellie he’s been murdered, she knows she needs to figure out what happened so his spirit and family can be at peace. The inciting incident of the story is when Ellie is informed that her beloved cousin Trevor has died in a mysterious accident, leaving behind his wife and infant son. Woven into the main plot are tales of Six-Great summoning and training the ghosts of ancient animals to serve as guardians for her people. In the book, Elatsoe’s namesake, Six-Great-Grandmother, is legendary for her ghost-calling gift.

For instance, Ellie has the gift of “ghost-calling,” allowing her to raise the ghosts of dead animals, thanks to a skill passed through generations of her family. There are the usual things like high school, best friends, and over-protective parents however, there is also magic and monsters that are shaped by the legends of its peoples – Indigenous and otherwise.

Ellie lives in an altered version of modern-day America. The book follows a seventeen-year-old girl named Elatsoe, or Ellie, who is Native American and grounded firmly in her Lipan Apache tradition and culture. Once I found out the book was about a teenage girl with a pet ghost dog who goes on a journey to investigate the mysterious death of her cousin – I was all in.

It depicts a girl in a hooded jacket surrounded by running white dogs in a painted style. I picked up “ Elatsoe” solely because of the book’s cover, which was illustrated by Rovina Cai. If you are participating in the Manhattan Public Library’s ReadMHK reading program, you can read a book by a Native American author and log it for this month’s theme of “Native Authors.” Looking for a young adult option to fulfill the prompt? I encourage you to check out “ Elatsoe” by Darcie Little Badger, who is an enrolled member of the Lipan Apache tribe of Texas. A great way to learn more about Indigenous cultures is to read books by and about Indigenous peoples. November is Native American Heritage Month, a month dedicated to the history and current culture of the Indigenous peoples of this country. “Elatsoe” by Darcie Little Badger: A Reviewīy Rashael Apuya, Teen Services Librarian

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger