Legendary Frybread Drive-In

“Superlative.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“There’s a lot of warmth and gratitude to revel in…Various characters thread through each other’s stories, allowing many of the players more depth and nuance had they only been in one tale, and encouraging the readers to make the thematic connections in cultural identities that are both individually specific and community-wide.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“17 Indigenous writers create a web of entertaining, intertwined stories in this uplifting and unusual anthology, ideal for the YA reader who longs for connection and authenticity. Themes of displacement and loneliness, as well as the importance of connection to family, friends, and tribe, permeate the entries, making the collection relevant and accessible for teen readers of any background. As Cheryl Isaacs says in “Heart Berry,” “One way or another, Sandy June’s never fail[s].” – Shelf Awareness

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the bestselling, acclaimed author of books for all ages, including Firefly Season, Jingle Dancer, Indian Shoes, On a Wing and a Tear, Sisters of the Neversea, the Blue Stars series, Rain Is Not My Indian Name, Harvest House, and Hearts Unbroken, which won the American Indian Youth Literature Award. Cynthia is also the anthologist of Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids and Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories. She has been honored with the American Library Association’s Children’s Literature Lecture Award and has been named the NSK Neustadt Laureate. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books, and served as the Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair on the faculty of the MFA program in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Denton, Texas.

Darcie Little Badger is an award-winning Lipan Apache author with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy novels of all time. Elatsoe also won the Locus award for Best First Novel and is a Nebula, Ignyte, and Lodestar finalist. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Nebula and Ignyte Award, as well as a Newbery Honor, and is on the National Book Awards longlist. Darcie lives with her husband in Texas.

Karina Iceberg holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her debut picture book, A Good Hide, publishes with Heartdrum in January 2026. Her work has appeared in two anthologies: Legendary Frybread Drive-In, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Onward: Climate Fiction to Inspire Hope, edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter. Karina is a member of the Aleut (Unangax^) and Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) Nations of Alaska.

Andrea L. Rogers is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with an MFA in creative writing. Andrea lives and writes in the Boston Mountains in Arkansas.

Cheryl Isaacs can often be found running through the Carolinian forest of southwestern Ontario, where she has fearlessly enjoyed the trails for years. Her Kanyen’kéha culture often appears in her writing. Her first novel was The Unfinished.

Christine Hartman Derr is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She’s a graduate from VCFA’s Writing for Children MFA program, where she was selected as a DEI Fellow and a Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellow. Her work includes themes on identity, belonging, and sharing the Cherokee language. Originally from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Christine lives in Tennessee with her spouse, children, and a rambunctious crew of lovable pets.

Brian Young is an author and filmmaker and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He grew up on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Brian earned his BA in film studies at Yale University and his MFA in creative writing at Columbia University. Brian currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

K. A. Cobell, Staa’tssipisstaakii, is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she spends her time writing books, chasing her kids through the never-ending rain, and scouring the inlet beaches for sand dollars and hermit crabs. Looking for Smoke is her debut novel.

Jen Ferguson is Michif/Métis and white, an activist, an intersectional feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD in English and creative writing.

Byron Graves is Ojibwe and Lakota and was born and raised on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, where they played high school basketball. When they aren’t writing, they can be found playing retro video games, spending time with their family, or cheering on their beloved Minnesota Timberwolves. Rez Ball was their debut novel; Medicine Wheels is their second book.

DAVID A. ROBERTSON is an author, editor, and speaker on Indigenous issues, mental health and freedom of expression. His books include the novel The Theory of Crows, the memoir Black Water, the picture books When We Were Alone and On the Trapline, and the middle-grade series the Misewa Saga. He has won awards such as the TD Canadian Children’s Literary Award, the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction, the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award and has been shortlisted for many others. He was the writer and host of the podcast Kiwew, which won the 2021 RTDNA Prairie Region Award for Best Podcast. In 2023, the University of Manitoba honoured him with a doctor of letters for his contributions to the arts. David A. Robertson is a member of Norway House Cree Nation. He lives in Winnipeg.