Anton Treuer, Nicholas DeShaw and Staci Lola Drouillard are among local writers with new children’s books

Small publishing houses have known for years that there is an audience for young people’s books by and about Indigenous people. The Minnesota Historical Society, for example, published “How the Birds Got Their Songs” last month. But if this spring is any indication, even the biggest publishers are targeting that market.

Here are four new books worth checking out:

Where wolves don’t die, by Anton Treuer, has the potential to be a blockbuster. The Ojibwe Professor in Bemidji State’s page-turner is a young adult title in the sense that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird would also be categorized as YA if it were published now. Ezra, the teenage hero of “Wolves,” lives in northeast Minneapolis, but is whisked across the Canadian border when there’s an arson at a classmate/enemy’s house that results in two deaths. Ezra isn’t exactly a suspect, but he keeps getting questioned by the police, so his father (as Treuer, an Ojibwe professor) sends him to live in Canada with Ezra’s grandparents. There, he can help his grandfather with the housework and study remotely, while also searching remotely for his friend—or rather, Nora. At first, “Wolves” seems like it’s going to be a mystery, but Ezra’s ability to investigate deaths leaves Minneapolis when he does. At that point, “Wolves” becomes an absorbing primer on the traditions of Ezra’s clan, including how they revere the creatures they kill and, especially, how they interact with wolves, with whom they feel a kinship. Eventually, Ezra learns the shocking truth about what happened in Minneapolis and what may come next for him. (Levine Querido, $18.99)

Being at home, by Traci Sorell and Michaela Goade, can appeal to any child who is nervous about movement. The heroine of Sorell’s book is, like the author, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and her notion of home is in flux. She is moving from an unnamed city to her ancestral home, where she longs to reconnect with all her relations. It’s a simple, sweet story, and Goade’s colorful Starburst illustrations, in a variety of media, are as joyful as the girls in motion. Goade, a Tlingit woman, is the first Native American illustrator to win the prestigious Caldecott Medal. (Penguin/Random House, $19.99)

A Family Tree, by Staci Lola Drouillard and illustrated by Kate Gardiner, is based on a true story of the Drouillard family. It is about a child named Francis who is the same age as a white spruce, named Gaawaandagoonce, planted in their grandmother’s yard. Like Being Home, A Family Tree embraces the theme of displacement. When Francis’ grandmother moves from Grand Portage to be with her family, Gaawaandagoonce goes with her. In an author’s note, Drouillard, who lives in Grand Marais and is a direct descendant of the Grand Portage band of Ojibwe, writes that “like the little fir tree, we continue to adapt and change while preserving the wisdom and knowledge of the forest , which was taught to us by our elders, who learned from those who came before them.” (Harper Collins, $19.99)

Loaf the Cat goes to the Powwow, by Nicholas DeShaw and illustrated by Tara Audibert, is neatly summed up by its title. The St. Paul writer’s picture book is about a runaway cat who experiences a powwow as readers learn about the musicians, bar dancers and storytellers there. DeShaw, who is Anishinaabe and Migiziwan Odoodeman, introduces young readers to some Ojibwe words in a story that can work as a personal connection for Indigenous little ones or, for others, as an introduction to a culture beautiful to them. of which they may know little. (Penguin, $18.99)