We Still Belong

A thoughtful and heartfelt middle grade novel by American Indian Youth Literature Honor–winning author Christine Day (Upper Skagit), about a girl whose hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples’ Day (and asking her crush to the dance) go all wrong—until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at the intertribal powwow.

In this warm hug of a novel, award-winning author Christine Day assures readers that even with all the very real problems they may face, they are worthy, their voices matter—and they belong.

Today is a big day for Wesley. Her poem about Indigenous Peoples’ Day will be printed in the school newspaper—and she also has a plan to ask her crush, fellow gamer Ryan, to go with her to the school dance.

But from the moment she boards the morning bus, Wesley's day starts to unravel. Between jittery emotions, unexpected encounters, and awkward conversations with her teachers, almost nothing about her day goes according to plan. 

Still, the day has even more surprises in store for Wesley when she attends an intertribal powwow, where she learns some truths that aren’t surprising at all. Including the truth that she is just as brave—and as loved—as she could dream. 

Christine Day (Upper Skagit) is the author of The Sea in Winter and I Can Make This Promise, which was a best book of the year from Kirkus, School Library Journal, NPR, and the Chicago Public Library as well as an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book and a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book