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. Rovina Cai is a freelance illustrator. Recently she has illustrated books by Patrick Ness and Margo Lanagan. Elatsoe (Levine Querido) is a story set in a slightly stranger America. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Our heroe, seventeen-year-old Elatsoe, “Ellie,” can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called Elatsoe “Refreshing. Indigenous myths, modern-day technology, and the supernatural successfully blend to build a fast-paced murder mystery.”