Elatsoe

Imagine an America very similar to our own. 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. Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She 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. Darcie Little Badger is an extraordinary debut talent in the world of speculative fiction. We have paired her with her artistic match, illustrator Rovina Cai. This is a book singular in feeling and beauty.

One of TIME Magazine's Top 100 Fantasy Novels of All Time — Now in Paperback!

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, Ellie, 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?

The breathtaking debut novel from Darcie Little Badger features an asexual, Apache teen protagonist—and combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, haunting illustrations, and fantasy elements, in one of the most-talked-about books in years.

AWARDS

Locus Award Winner—Best First Novel
A National Indie Bestseller
Nebula Award Finalist
Lodestar Award Finalist
Ignyte Award Finalist
American Indian Youth Literature Award Finalist

P R A I S E

“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

★ “A fresh voice and perspective.”—Booklist (starred)

★ “A unique and powerful Native American voice.”–BookPage (starred)

★ “A brilliant, engaging debut.”—Kirkus (starred)

★ “A fast-paced murder mystery.”—Publishers Weekly (starred)

★ “A Lipan Apache Sookie Stackhouse for the teen set.” —Shelf-Awareness (starred)

BEST OF THE YEAR

NPR • Buzzfeed • BookPage • Chicago Public Library • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus • Shelf Awareness • Reactor • Booklist

• | Author: Darcie Little Badger, Rovina Cai
• | Publisher: Levine Querido
• | Publication Date: Aug 25, 2020
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Hardback
• | ISBN-13: 9781646140053
• | ISBN-10: 1646140052