Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Part fantasy, part mystery, and entirely engrossing, Elatsoe is a unique story about a 17-year-old girl in an alternate version of America who possesses the ability to raise animal spirits from the dead. When her cousin dies in a mysterious accident, Ellie sets out to uncover the truth. Firmly rooted in Lipan Apache lore, Elatsoe is a true homage to the art and power of storytelling.

One of TIME Magazine's Top 100 Fantasy Novels of All Time — Now in Paperback!

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.


“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 review

★ “A unique and powerful Native American voice.”–BookPage, starred review 

★ “A brilliant, engaging debut.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “A fast-paced murder mystery.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “A Lipan Apache Sookie Stackhouse for the teen set.” —Shelf-Awareness, starred review

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, Elatsoe, must track down the killer and unravel the mystery of this creepy town and it's 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.