Cherokee Fiction

Queenie meets Frying Plantain in this courageous coming-of-age story, set in the 1990s, about a mixed-race Black girl fighting for recognition in a South Carolina Cherokee community that refuses to accept her ancestry as legitimate. On the rain-swollen banks of the River Etsi in South Carolina...

Brill Jessup just became the first female police chief in Sophie Trace, Tennessee, and is riding on the credentials of a stellar eighteen-year career on the Memphis police force. She may be a pro at finding clues, but she tends to ignore the obvious in her personal life. Her husband, Kurt, is...

A woman ahead of her time, Mary Breydon knew how to get things done. Raised on a Virginia plantation, she learned how to care for livestock, respect her workers, and keep good books. But after her husband is killed, Mary must provide for her young daughter by running a stage coach station on the...

A Native American first contact story and gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse "Thrilling and personal... an important addition to the landscape of science fiction."—Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising "Hole in the Sky is...

A visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women…one of them her sister. There are secrets in the land. As an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd...

It’s 1974 in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and 15-year-old Justine grows up in a family of tough, complicated, and loyal women, presided over by her mother, Lula, and Granny. After Justine’s father abandoned the family, Lula became a devout member of the Holiness Church - a community that Justine at times finds stifling and terrifying. But Justine does her best as a devoted daughter, until an act of violence sends her on a different path forever.

This magnificent novel by one of America’s finest writers is the epic of one man’s remarkable journey, set in nineteenth-century America against the background of a vanishing people and a rich way of life. At the age of twelve, under the Wind moon, Will is given a horse, a key, and a map...

Jeremiah Camp, a.k.a. the Forecaster, can look into the heart of humanity and see the patterns that create opportunities and profits for the rich and powerful. Problem is, Camp has looked one too many times, has seen what he hadn’t expected to see and has come away from the abyss with no hope...

Why are ravens black? Why do screech owl eyes look red in light? How did we get fire? You'll find the answers to those questions in this retelling of a Cherokee pourquoi folktale. The earth was cold and dark, but the animals could see fire coming from the tree on the island. They tried to fly or swim to the island to bring back the fire's heat and light. What happened to some of the animals? Which animal brought it back and how?

Three women uncover the secrets of a Georgia plantation that embodies the intertwined histories of Indigenous and enslaved Black communities—the fascinating debut novel, inspired by a true story, of the National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of All That She Carried...

A Cherokee couple spends their days fishing and making cornmeal. When a giant dog steals their cornmeal, the neighbors all gather to help. Find out how this Cherokee legend explains the creation of the Milky Way.

After surviving a disastrous western expedition, scholar Ethan Kane is violently rerouted by his ruthless patron, Julien Devereaux. New orders, fueled by obsession, send him into the sacred Cherokee Nation in Tennessee (c. 1820-21) on a perilous quest for the "Solakari Heartstone." Amidst rising tensions and the shadow of Indian Removal, Ethan and Captain Rourke's party find a sacred mound desecrated and revered elder Yonaguska vanished. Suspicion points to the sinister U.S. Major Elias Thorne.

Haunted by the blood and bitterness of the Civil War, Houston Ballou escaped from Tennessee on the proud stallion High Fire, followed by his brother, Ruff; his sister, Dixie; and the last four mares from the Ballou farm, one of them heavy with foal. Threatened with extreme danger from either army, they head west to start a new life. Adding to their peril are deserters that stalk the roads. These men would kill for a few coins, more so for valuable horseflesh.

'So engrossing! Betty is a page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story steeped in Cherokee history, told in undulating prose that settles right into you' Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times 'Beautiful and devastating' Observer, Books of the Year 'Breathtaking' Vogue 'A girl comes of age...

Brought to you by Penguin. The astounding and expansive coming-of-age novel about a young woman whose quest to become the first Cherokee astronaut irrevocably alters the fates of the people she loves most. A LITHUB MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025 Steph Harper is on the run. When she was five, her...

It’s going to be “the biggest hoss race in the world”! Homesteaders are set to race on horseback, in gigs and wagons, and even by train to stake their claim in the Cherokee Strip, the last bit of Oklahoma territory opened for settlement in 1893. For 15-year-old Becky Fletcher and her family, it's the Promised Land: their last chance for a farm they can live on free and clear. But no journey to the Promised Land is without trials, and the Fletchers soon run into setbacks. Each difficulty tests Becky’s inclination to further her own and her family's interests at all costs.

Evie hätte nie gedacht, dass sie es überlebt, bei dem monströsen Fae-König Aspen zu leben und seine Gefährtin zu werden. Denn die Fae gelten als natürliche Feinde ihres Volkes und nur eine Hochzeit zwischen den Menschen und Fae wahrt den Frieden. Doch Evie hat sich in Aspen getäuscht – und ihm ihr Herz geschenkt. Als der Rat der Menschen ihre Verbindung für ungültig erklärt und mit Krieg droht, ändert sich alles. Evies Vergangenheit holt sie ein und schürt Zweifel in ihr.

This magnificent novel by one of America’s finest writers is the epic of one man’s remarkable journey, set in nineteenth-century America against the background of a vanishing people and a rich way of life. At the age of twelve, under the Wind moon, Will is given a horse, a key, and a map...

Vann loves his tribal game but he isn’t as skilled as his teammates. With the coach’s encouragement to work together—gadugi—an important Cherokee value, and the help of his best friend Jesse, Vann overcomes his self doubt in this uplifting story of team spirit and collaboration.

Cherokee people have lived in the Great Smoky Mountains for thousands of years. During all this time, they have told stories to each other to explain how things came to be, to pass on lessons about life, and to describe the mountains, animals, plants, and spirits around them. The Origin of the Milky Way and Other Living Stories of the Cherokee collects 26 stories that are great for kids and are still being told by storytellers today.