Congratulations to all of the 2024 American Indian Youth Literature Award honorees! These are the Medalists and Honor books in the Middle Grade (and chapter books) category.

Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley (illustrated by Tara Audibert)

Jo Jo Makoons Azure is a spirited seven-year-old who moves through the world a little differently than anyone else on her Ojibwe reservation. It always seems like her mom, her kokum (grandma), and her teacher have a lot to learn--about how good Jo Jo is at cleaning up, what makes a good rhyme, and what it means to be friendly.

Even though Jo Jo loves her #1 best friend Mimi (who is a cat), she's worried that she needs to figure out how to make more friends. Because Fern, her best friend at school, may not want to be friends anymore...

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Bookworm central Summer Reading 2021

Today we're continuing our feature of Discovering Chapter Books for our 2021 Summer Reads! Stay tuned next week for our top picks in Chapter Books. Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley,Kondo and Kezumi: Visit Giant Island by David Goodner,Doggo and Pupper by Katherine Applegate

As you can tell by the corner of this book, my kids got a hold of Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-be-Best Friend by @dawn.a.quigley , illustrated by @tara_the_moxyfox, before I could even take a photo of it! This is one of the only issues with promoting children’s books - trying to keep my kids hands off to them! 😂 Wanna know the coolest part? Jo Jo is one of the FIRST Native chapter book protagonists ever! Big thanks to @HarperKids for sending this our way! This book is available now for purchase! ✨ I would love to hear a good memory you have with a friend ❤️ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Jo Jo Makoons Azure is a spirited seven-year-old who moves through the world a little differently than anyone else on her Ojibwe reservation. It always seems like her mom, her kokum (grandma), and her teacher have a lot to learn—about how good Jo Jo is at cleaning up, what makes a good rhyme, and what it means to be friendly. Even though Jo Jo loves her #1 best friend Mimi (who is a cat), she’s worried that she needs to figure out how to make more friends. Because Fern, her best friend at school, may not want to be friends anymore… :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: #JoJoMakoons #HarperKids #HarperCollins #WeNeedDiverseBooks @WeNeedDiverseBooks #BooksAndPlants #Plants #PlantsAndBooks #Collaboration #BookPhotography #Bookstagram #Bookstagrammer #BookBlogger #BookLover #BookNerd #PTMBooks #ReadersOfInstagram #BooksOfInstagram #BooksOfIG #InstaBooks #Books #BookReaders #NativeBooks #KidsBooks #ChapterBooks @harpercollins (at Saint Joseph, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQedfuEr7K0/?utm_medium=tumblr