Synopsis
Summary
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.
Little Badger weaves together elements of horror, noir, ancestral wisdom, and fantastical elements into an un-put-downable book.
Notable Achievements
Locus Award Winner: Best First Novel; A National Indie Bestseller; Nebula Award Finalist; Lodestar Award Finalist; Ignyte Award Finalist; TIME's Best 100 Fantasy Books of All Time; NPR Best of the Year; Booklist's Top 10 First Novels for Youth; A BookPage Best of the Year; Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best", PNBA Bestseller; Publishers Weekly Best of the Year; Buzzfeed's Best YA SFF of the Year; Shelf-Awareness Best of the Year; AICL Best YA of the Year; NECBA Windows & Mirrors Selection; NEIBA Award Finalist; Tor Best of the Year; Kirkus Best YA of the Year; Publishers Weekly Flying Start; American Indian Youth Literature Award Finalist
Reviews
Publishers Weekly: “Indigenous stories, modern-day technology, and the supernatural successfully blend to build a fast-paced murder mystery in Little Badger’s intriguing solo debut.”
Kirkus Reviews: “Educates about settler colonialism while also entertaining with paranormal twists.”
Booklist: “Little Badger’s stunning, haunting debut brings to the fantasy genre a fresh voice and perspective, weaving in folktales, omens, and urban legends of the protagonist’s Lipan Apache culture.”
Link to Review
Link to Review
Educator Guide
This author study, created by Lakota writer and educator Andrea Page in association with Levine Querido, guides students through two books by Darcie Little Badger, Elatsoe and A Snake Falls to Earth. It includes discussion questions and journal prompts for both books.
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