Tales for Young Readers
By Ginger Reno
"A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest."
- C.S. Lewis
Scroll to Explore
Read More Books
CHECK OUT MY BOOKS!
FIND HER
Holiday House - Middle Grade Novel
Five years, three months, and twelve days.
That’s how long Wren’s mother has been missing.
One of hundreds of Native Americans considered missing or murdered in Oklahoma. Sometimes it seems like Wren and her grandmother are the only people still looking. Even more frustrating, Wren's overprotective father won't talk about it.
Wren refuses to give up, though. And an opportunity to find lost pets seems like a real way to hone her detective skills. But everything changes when one of the missing pets is found badly hurt. Soon, there are others.
With help from an unlikely friend, Wren vows to unmask whoever is behind the animal abuse. If she can do this, maybe she can do the same for her mother's case. She'll just have to keep it secret from her father who will certainly put an end to all her sleuthing if he finds out.
Find Her explores the crisis of missing Indigenous women from the perspective of a sensitive young Cherokee girl who yearns to find her mother, while also navigating a chilling town mystery, a new friendship, and a family in need of healing.
An Edgar Award Nominee
An Oklahoma Book Award Winner
A Jane Addams Children's Book Award Finalist
A Rise: A Feminist Book Project Top 10 Title
Named to the Oklahoma Sequoyah Masterlist
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Shortlisted for MPIBA's Reading the West Book Award
SPIRIT SHADOW
Holiday House - Picture Book
An Indigenous child discovers her heritage in this story about the power of our ancestors and the way they guide and shapes us, even when we don’t know it yet.
Willa has always had two shadows. One at her feet and another that’s been quietly beside her since the night of her birth. Always just out of reach.
Until Mom and Willa take a trip to Diligwa, a replica of an ancient Cherokee village. And it’s here among wattle and daub houses and brown hands crafting, Willa realizes that Spirit is her ancestors, beckoning her to claim her Cherokee heritage. For Willa to join a Nation hundreds of thousands strong.
Beautifully told, Spirit Shadow is a powerful tale about reclaiming culture and finding your way home. Lovingly illustrated by debut illustrator Mary Lupton, each spread is a feast for the eyes. Filled with nods to Cherokee beadwork and weaving as well as Cherokee syllabary, Willa’s story is suffused with love and tenderness. The book ends with a moving conclusion for children everywhere to embrace their own ancestors.
Illustrated by Mary Lupton
MANY WAYS OF BEING NATIVE
Charlesbridge - Picture Book
A lyrical picture book reminding two children that no matter what they do, they are both Native—and who they are is enough.
Celebrate Native identity and diversity in this bedtime story for ages 4 to 7, inspiring children to feel proud of themselves and the many ways they shine.
A winged messenger visits two Native children in their sleep and shows them how other Native children have grown up, each with different interests, dreams, and appearances.
The message: Native people are many. Native people are still here. And it’s what is inside, not outside, that unites Native people.
A moving celebration of identity, belonging, and the truth that who we are is always enough.
Illustrated by Johnson Yazzie
THE LONGEST WALK
Crown Books for Young Readers - Nonfiction Picture Book
In 1978, the United States Congress proposed eleven federal bills that targeted the treaty, land, and fishing rights of Indigenous people, threatening their way of life. Hundreds of Native Americans gathered on Alcatraz Island and began a walk for justice—traveling more than 3,000 miles to Washington, D.C. Along the way, their courage inspired thousands to join them and helped stop the passage of unjust laws.
The Longest Walk is a lyrical picture book tells the remarkable, often untold story of a peaceful protest by Indigenous people to preserve their heritage, make their voices heard, and to protect future generations.
Illustrated by Steph Littlebird
HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA
Macmillan - Short Story - Anthology
Fifty two different stories. Fifty two different Authors. Endless fright for all ages.
Every state has an urban legend that evokes fear and curiosity in equal parts, and we've chronicled all of these logic-defying horrors here in the Haunted States of America anthology.
Jo Creekmore and her dad have started a new life in Oklahoma - only his new job is caretaker for Timber Ridge Cemetery. A place where happenings are so creepy, the towns people call it Haunted Hollow. Is the legend true? Or just made-up stories told by her new classmates to scare her? She's about to find out...
Illustrations by Solomon Hughes
About Ginger
Ripley & Me
Ginger Reno is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and her desire to learn more about Cherokee history and culture has naturally spilled over into her writing.
Ginger lives in northeast Oklahoma within the Cherokee Nation and likes to spend as much time as possible on her lakefront porch with her two favorite people: her husband, Scott and their senior German shepherd, Ripley.
An Edgar Nominated Author, Ginger (with the help of her unpaid proofreader-husband) strives to take readers on an enjoyable journey, regardless of their age.
Want to Connect?
I would love to hear from you!
Represented by: