Indigenous Novels, Indigenized Worlds: Exploring the Indigenization of Fictional Worlds

The fictional worlds created by many contemporary American and Canadian Indigenous novelists for young people provide unique access to the lived experiences of Indigenous people, past, present, and future and the often inaccessible worlds they inhabit. Readers age 10-16 will gain many insights about Indigenous people and themselves―Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers alike―through sustained immersion in fictional worlds where Indigenous people are foregrounded, active, autonomous, respected, and valued.

Don K. Philpot is a teacher, teacher educator, and writer. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the topics of instructional methodologies, content area reading, reading and writing instruction, and children’s literature in south central Pennsylvania.