November is Native American Heritage Month!

Check out these latest additions to the NCLS e-book collection:

If I Ever Get Out of Here, by Eric Gansworth. (Also available in audio, narrated by the author.)

Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him — people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home — will he still be his friend?

Acclaimed adult author Eric Gansworth makes his YA debut with this wry and powerful novel about friendship, memory, and the joy of rock 'n' roll.

The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich. (Audio, narrated by Nicolle Littrell.)

Louise Erdrich's BIRCHBARK HOUSE is reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS. Both provide detailed windows into life in the mid-1800s--Wilder as a white settler of the northern Midwest; Erdrich as an Ojibwa of Lake Superior. In the cycle of one year, the listener becomes familiar with life-sustaining events, such as the maple sugar and wild rice harvests, and is introduced to young Omakayas and her extended family. Nicolle Littrell narrates with a gentle and quiet voice. Her presentation is light and immediate, giving the listener the opportunity to bear witness to each event, whether it be Omakayas talking to her bear brothers and gaining insight into being a healer or Old Tallow telling of the sickness that impacts both Omakayas's and Ojibwa life. Stories from Ojibwa tradition complement the seasonal narrative.

Flying with the Eagle, Racing the Great Bear: Tales from Native North America, by Joseph Bruchac. 

In every American Indian culture, there comes a time in each boy's life when he must walk forth on his own, leave his home and the protection of his family to prove to himself and to his people that he can survive and grow. Traditional stories passed down from father to son were often used to offer examples of the positive qualities of manhood. Flying with the Eagle, Racing the Great Bear is a continent-spanning collection of sixteen such thrilling tales in which young men must face great enemies, find the strength and endurance within themselves to succeed, and take their place by the side of their elders.

Joseph Bruchac is a traditional storyteller and writer whose work often reflects his Abenaki Indian ancestry and his lifelong interest in American Indian history and culture. Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas and Storyteller of the Year from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, he is the author of more than one hundred and twenty books for children and adults.

(All descriptions from OverDrive.)