LEGENDARY FRYBREAD DRIVE-IN: INTERTRIBAL STORIES, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, cover art by Paula TopSky Houtz, cover design by Molly Fehr (Heartdrum, Aug. 26, 2025)
Featuring the voices of both new and acclaimed Indigenous writers, and edited by bestselling Muscogee author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world’s best frybread.
The road to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In slips through every rez and alongside every urban Native hangout. The menu offers a rotating feast, including traditional eats and tasty snacks. But Sandy June’s serves up more than food: it hosts live music, movie nights, unexpected family reunions, love long lost, and love found again.
That big green-and-gold neon sign beckons to teens of every tribal Nation, often when they need it most.
Featured contributors: Kaua Māhoe Adams, Marcella Bell, Angeline Boulley, K.A. Cobell, A. J. Eversole, Jen Ferguson, Eric Gansworth, Byron Graves, Kate Hart, Christine Hartman Derr, Karina Iceberg, Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, David A. Robertson, Andrea L. Rogers, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Brian Young.
Audio Edition Voice Actors: Tiffany Ayalik, Katie Anvil Rich, Darrell Dennis, Kinsale Drake, Elva Guerra, Mapuana Makia, Jessica Matten, Jesse Nobess, Tanis Parenteau, Rainy Fields, Isabella Star, Delanna Studi, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Erin Tripp, Jordan Waunch.
Published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books.
“…a delightful reading experience….Native young adults from numerous intersecting identities venture to this communal space to meet a crush, read a poem, mourn, or reconnect with family. The stories are about their lived experiences, not white oppression.” —Peals & Ruby’s: Edith Campbell at School Library Journal
10 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2025 by Caroline Cabe from Cowboys & Indians: The Premier Magazine of the West. PEEK: “These Western and Indigenous books are on our must-read list this year.”
From Frybread to Aliens: 2025 YA Anthologies for Your TBR by Kelly Jensen from BookRiot. PEEK: “I love Cynthia Leitich Smith’s books, but I especially loved her middle grade anthology ANCESTOR APPROVED, a collection of interconnected, intertribal stories centered around a powwow. Now she’s bringing a similar idea to a YA anthology—one of the only, if not the only, Native American anthologies for teen readers.”
Reads for the Rest of Us: Most Anticipated Feminist Reads of 2025 by Karla J. Strand from Ms. Magazine. PEEK: “Selected by bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, the stories in this intertribal collection were contributed by writers such as Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, Kaua Mahoe Adams, and more.”