The Birchbark House
If you loved The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich, we have some good news. Birchbark House is just the start of a series and there are five more books for you to check out. Below is the full list of titles in the series:
1. The Birchbark House (1999)
2. The Game of Silence (2005)
3. The Porcupine Year (2008)
4. Chickadee (2012)
5. Makoons (2016)
6. The Bone Tribe (2025) — Forthcoming
If you would like to read reviews, critical analysis, and recommendations for children’s and young adult books on, by, and about Indigenous peoples, Dr. Debbie Reese’s blog American Indians in Children’s Literature (with co-editor Dr. Jean Mendoza) is an essential resource. There are curated lists of recommended books
Readers looking for recommendations with similar themes to The Birchbark House by authors other than Louise Erdrich might enjoy the following titles:
The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry by Anna Rose Johnson
Selena Lucy Landry is an orphan living in Michigan in 1912. Lucy is French and Ojibwe and struggles with her new Ojibwe foster family, the Martins. While she may be named after a ship, her father was a sailor who died at sea when she was only 9 years old, instilling a fear of water. To Lucy’s fear, the Martins are lighthouse keepers in Lake Superior and the 6 Martin children don’t take to Lucy’s fantastical storytelling. Feeling lonely and wishing to connect with her father, Lucy begins her own adventure as she seeks to locate a necklace that disappeared when the nearby ship, the Elva Jane, got shipwrecked. However, when it begins to impact the safety of the Martins, Lucy must face her fears and connect with her new foster family.
Under the Mesquite* by Guadalupe García McCall
Lupita is a high school student who has grown up in a tight-knit Mexican-American immigrant family in the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. She is a rising poet and has even landed a spot in a play! Through her memories of when she lived in Mexico and through support from her drama teacher, Lupita needs to now step up with her 7 younger siblings as her mom gets diagnosed with cancer. While it shouldn’t fall upon her, Lupita sees as her mom gets sicker and her dad needs to support the family financially, making her the person in charge at home. But how much can a high school freshman handle mentally when not even her friends can understand? Available through Marina.
*This title is not owned by PGCMLS but can be requested via interlibrary loan.
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
The year is 1880 and Hanna is a young girl who is half white and half Chinese. With her Chinese mother’s passing, Hanna’s white father is now in charge of her education and safety. Needing to move, they travel to Dakota territory where they encounter a perilous journey. However, Hanna and her father now need to deal with their xenophobic neighbors as they try to make a home for themselves and as Hanna tries to become a dressmaker in her father’s shop. Hanna also comes across women of the Ihanktonwan community, learning that there are all kinds of communities and perspectives in this new land.
Little Moons by Jen Storm
Thirteen year old Reanna’s older sister Chelsea went missing on the way home from school a year ago. Her family is in mourning and without any answers. Reanna and her brother go to live with their dad and look for comfort in Ojibwe traditions while their mother moves away to a large city. Reanna deals with grief and feelings of abandonment while feeling a strange presence in the home. Written in graphic novel format.
This Place: 150 Years Retold by multiple authors
This sweeping graphic novel collection of stories by Indigenous creators covers the past 150 years in Canadian history. Each story is centered around an Indigenous person or event of historical significance. The stories include elements of surrealism and fantasy.
As residents of Prince George’s County, we would like to acknowledge that we gather on the traditional lands of the Mattapanient, the Patuxent, the Piscataway, the Moyaone, the Pamunkey, and the past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. This calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.
For a closer look at indigenous land in Maryland, visit the Guide to Indigenous Lands Project, which contains the Guide to Indigenous Maryland, an initiative of the Maryland State Library Agency and Maryland’s public libraries. The app user can learn about the history of local Native and Indigenous peoples and how their heritage influences contemporary life in Maryland. There is also the Guide to Indigenous DC and the Guide to Indigenous Baltimore.
To learn more about the past and present of the Ojibwe people and other Indigenous peoples, you can visit the following websites:
The Ojibwe People | Minnesota Historical Society
Overview — Ojibwe Family History Research — LibGuides at Minnesota Historical Society Library
The Ojibwe: Our Historical Role in Influencing Contemporary Minnesota | MNopedia
How Christian Missionaries Sought to Erase Native American Culture and Identity ‹ Literary Hub
Which Indigenous lands are you on? This map will show you
To learn more about smallpox and how it devastated the Indigenous peoples of the New World, please check out the following resources:
THE HISTORY OF SMALLPOX AND ITS SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD
Native American Smallpox Epidemics in the 17th Century | EBSCO Research Starters
Smallpox: a disease and a weapon
This blog is created by Hannah and Maria in conjunction with the These Books Made Me podcast, a Prince George’s County Memorial Library System production. Check out the corresponding episode on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you normally listen to podcasts.
