Cynthia Leitich Smith

A pointed modern-day retelling of Peter Pan (Peter & Wendy by J.M. Barrie). In Smith's retelling, twelve-year-old Wendy is part of a blended family: she shares a father with John (who just graduated high school), Lily (three months younger than Wendy), and Michael (four). John, Lily, and Michael's mother is Muscogee Creek; Wendy and her father are white. They've all been living in Tulsa, but Wendy is about to leave with her father for a summer in New York, and both girls are concerned about show more their parents' marriage and what a divorce would mean for their sisterhood and friendship.

Belle and Peter fly through the window into the middle of the drama, whisking Wendy and Michael (and his beloved stuffed toy Nana Bear) off to Neverland, and leaving Lily and Peter's shadow behind. Desperate to bring her family back together, Lily overcomes her fear of flying and lets Peter's shadow guide her to Neverland, which is surrounded by a veil that keeps it off the grid. While Peter brings Wendy and Michael to the Home Under the Ground where the Lost live, Lily meets up with another Native kid, Daniel. The Native kids - who Peter calls "Injuns" - live together and try avoid both Peter and the pirates. Neverland and the Neversea are also home to Merfolk, Fairies, and various animals, though Peter has been killing off the animals, much to Queen Mab's fury.

Peter has become cruel; even his shadow (his conscience) has abandoned him, and Belle is beginning to turn against him too, realizing it was a mistake to bring him to Neverland in the first place. The balance of Neverland is off and must be restored - by banishing the humans. Lily, Wendy, and Michael want to return home and bring the other Native kids and the Lost with them - but they face many obstacles.

The parallels to how white people have treated Native Nations people and the land are likely obvious even to young readers, and could prompt rich discussion.

Quotes

Fairy dust tends to magnify the human personality (46)

It occurred to the shadow that Peter almost always underestimated others, especially those he dismissed as mere girls. (51)

"My favorite story? My favorite story is the story of me!" (Peter to Wendy, 59)

As much as he'd longed for a storyteller, Peter was overwhelmingly enamored with himself. (60)

Belle's frustration with Peter had been building for decades. (67)

"Peter, our history did not begin with you!" (Belle to Peter, 71)

Knowledge had always comforted Lily. (75)

When an idea was too huge, too scary, Lily shut it out as much as she could for as long as she could. (113)

Peter was a bully, and bullies were never soothed for long. (129)

"That's what stories do. They bring families together." (Peter to Wendy, 130)

He depended on the [fairy] dust to fly. But most of all, Peter needed it to stay young, to stay a boy forever. And apparently, he hadn't absorbed enough to do without more. (182)

For worse and better, humans were defined by the actions they took, reflected by the shadows they cast. (191)

As you may have noticed, Peter seldom arrived at the right answers, in part because he tended to ask the wrong questions of the worst sources. (208)

If only he hadn't harmed so many who he could've loved instead....All his life, Peter had longed to play the hero, yet he had become the villain somehow. (227)

...growing up changed everything. It could take away the people you loved. (247)

Belle of Neverland believed in herself. (270) show less

The titular food truck’s imagined travels link the entries in this anthology by celebrated and up-and-coming Native authors.

Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In feels both familiar and original—a mystical community space that can appear anywhere, serving as the perfect liminal meeting space for Indigenous people across North America. From Oklahoma to Alaska, Hawai‘i to Manitoba, the stories cross our borders. In the 18 entries, which encompass both poetry and prose as well as show more different genres, readers meet a variety of Native people—gamer, athlete, musician—from a diverse range of communities, including Black Natives. The emotional core of the book feels deftly balanced, ranging from touching moments of magical connection with loved ones to emotional explorations of feelings like grief, and regular teenage awkwardness and crushes. A date goes awry, there’s a tornado to deal with alone, and a cousin to reconnect with. Across the board, the authors write lifelike characters; even when the setting is fantastical, the well-wrought characterizations are rooted in realism. A major strength of this collection is that it offers the perfect gateway to discovering the writing of noted authors, including Eric Gansworth, Darcie Little Badger, Andrea L. Rogers, Cheryl Isaacs, Brian Young, Jen Ferguson, Byron Graves, Angeline Boulley, David A. Robertson, and editor Smith, among others. Obvious thought and care went into the crafting and arranging of the stories, with expertly executed callbacks to previous entries.

Superlative. (glossary, contributor bios) (Anthology. 13-18)

-Kirkus Review show less

When Louise Wolfe's boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. She'd rather spend her senior year with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, an ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper's staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director's inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in show more their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey. But 'dating while Native' can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey's? show less

After her first kiss with her best friend Galen in the first minutes of the New Year, and her birthday, Cassidy Rain goes home, only to learn the next morning that Galen is dead. Six months later, Rain is still grieving, having shut herself off from former friends. Reluctantly, she agrees to take photos for her soon-to-be sister-in-law's newspaper, teaming up with a college student known as "the Flash" to write and shoot a story on a Native American heritage program for youth. Rain is show more surprised to see her ex-second-best-friend and only Black girl in their small Kansas town; Queenie has just discovered her own Native American heritage. Rain started out impartial about the summer program, but when Galen's mom wants to cut it (partly to make the current mayor look bad), she comes to its defense.

At home, Rain's older brother Fynn and his white girlfriend Natalie have gotten engaged, and Rain realizes that Natalie is pregnant. Rain's mother was killed by a lightning strike six years ago, her father works on an air force base in Guam, and her grandpa is vacationing in Las Vegas.

Quotes

Mom had always said to consider new opportunities carefully, even if they might make me uncomfortable at first. (43)

I felt ashamed by how much I didn't know [about my family heritage]. (73)

It was as close as I had come to what everyone said was the right ritual, the right thing to do, but it didn't feel right to me. (85)

When I'd finally picked up my camera again, I'd used it as a wall instead of as a window. (126) show less