Elatsoe

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
Publisher: Levine Querido
Published: 08/25/2020
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.54lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781646140053
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.7
Point Value: 11
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 512240 / Elatsoe


Award: Golden Kite - Honor Book
Award: American Indian Youth Literature Award - Honor Book


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2020
Publishers Weekly 06/22/2020
School Library Journal 07/01/2020 pg. 56
Booklist 07/01/2020 pg. 62
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2020
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2020 pg. 73
Shelf Awareness 11/24/2020
Horn Book Magazine 09/01/2020 pg. 98
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2020 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author
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. Her Locus Award-winning debut novel, Elatsoe, was a National Indie Bestseller, named to over a dozen best-of-year lists, and called one of the Best 100 Fantasy Novels of All Time by TIME. Her second novel, A Snake Falls to Earth was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and received a Newbery Award Honor.

Rovina Cai is a freelance illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. She works out of an old convent building that is possibly haunted. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and the Children's Book Council of Australia. Recently she has illustrated books by Patrick Ness and Margo Lanagan. Instagram @rovinacai