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3.5 

Elatsoe

By Darcie Little Badger & Rovina Cai
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger & Rovina Cai digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A National Indie Bestseller
TIME's Best 100 Fantasy Books of All Time
An NPR Best Book of 2020
A Booklist's Top 10 First Novel for Youth
A BookPage Best Book of 2020
A CPL "Best of the Best" Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2020
A Buzzfeed Best YA SFF Book of 2020
A Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2020
An AICL Best YA Book of 2020
A Kirkus Best YA Book of 2020
A Tor Best Book of 2020

PRAISE

"Groundbreaking." —TIME

"Deeply enjoyable from start to finish." —NPR

"Utterly magical." —SyFyWire

"Atmospheric and lyrical...a gorgeous work of art." —BuzzFeed

"One of the best YA debuts of 2020. Read it." —Marieke Nijkamp

FIVE STARRED REVIEWS

★ "A fresh voice and perspective." —Booklist, starred review

★ "A unique and powerful Native American voice." —BookPage, starred review

★ "A brilliant, engaging debut." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "A fast-paced murder mystery." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "A Lipan Apache Sookie Stackhouse for the teen set." —Shelf-Awareness, starred review

A Texas teen comes face-to-face with a cousin's ghost and vows to unmask the murderer.

Elatsoe—Ellie for short—lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the ancestral magics and knowledge of its Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals—most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells her otherwise: He was murdered.

Who killed him and how did he die? With the help of her family, her best friend Jay, and the memory great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother, Elatsoe, must track down the killer and unravel the mystery of this creepy town and its dark past. But will the nefarious townsfolk and a mysterious Doctor stop her before she gets started?

A breathtaking debut novel featuring an asexual, Apache teen protagonist, Elatsoe combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, haunting illustrations, fantasy elements, and is one of the most-talked about debuts of the year.

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1477 Reviews

3.5
Rolling on the Floor Laughing Face“Ace representation in the main character, who is an indigenous teenager in a United States where magic and folk tales are real = compelling read on its own. The story happens after the MC's cousin is murdered - and his spirit wants her to track down his killer. It's a fantastic story about a teenager who is determined to get to the bottom of things, but doesn't shy away from what she experiences as an indigenous person. This encompasses not only the struggles she faces, but her family ties and their history with the land. Oh, and it has the best dogs 🐕. TW include: death, racism, and a few spooky bits. I'm going to have to see what else this author has written, her work is fantastic.”
Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes“There’s definitely a reason why this is an award-winning middle-grade/young adult novel. It was such a unique take on fantasy and I love the way it blended all of our favorite creature, stories, and lore into a modern world, while also putting Lipan Apache history and culture in the center of the story. My favorite thing was the fact that we also got to see a main character who is confirmed asexual rather than just inferred. Oh, and there were so many very good dogs 🐶”

About Darcie Little Badger

Darcie Little Badger is an Earth scientist, writer, and fan of the weird, beautiful, and haunting. She is an enrolled member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. Her Locus Award-winning debut novel, <i>Elatsoe</i>, was a National Indie Bestseller, named to over a dozen best-of-year lists, and called one of the Best 100 Fantasy Novels of All Time by <i>TIME</i>. Her second novel, <i>A Snake Falls to Earth</i> was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and received a Newbery Award Honor.

Rovina Cai

Rovina Cai is a freelance illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. She works out of an old convent building that is possibly haunted. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and the Children's Book Council of Australia. Recently she has illustrated books by Patrick Ness and Margo Lanagan. Instagram @rovinacai

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