Darcie Little Badger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Darcie Little Badger
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Little Badger in 2024
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| Born | Darcie Erin Ryan 1987 (age 37–38) |
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| Citizenship | American |
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Darcie Little Badger (born 1987) is an American writer and Earth scientist. She writes exciting stories that are part of "speculative fiction." This includes horror, science fiction, and fantasy genres.
Darcie Little Badger is a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. She often includes Apache characters and traditions in her stories. She is also part of a movement called Indigenous Futurism. This is where Native artists and writers create science fiction from their own cultural viewpoints. Her books also feature characters who show the importance of the LGBTQ community.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Darcie Little Badger was born Darcie Erin Ryan in 1987. Her father was an English professor, and her mother was the webmaster for the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. When she was seven, she wrote her first book. It was sent to a publisher, but it wasn't chosen.
Darcie moved a lot as a child because of her father's job. But she always thought of Texas as her home. After high school, she took her current last name, Little Badger. This was part of a Lipan tradition.
She went to Princeton University in New Jersey. There, she studied Geosciences. She graduated with honors in 2010. Later, she earned a PhD in oceanography from Texas A&M University. Her research was about tiny ocean plants that can cause harmful "red tides."
Scientific Career
After finishing her studies, Darcie Little Badger worked as an editor for scientific papers. But she decided to stop this job when her first novel, Elatsoe, was sold. She wanted to spend all her time writing stories.
Writing Career
Short Stories and Apache Culture
Darcie Little Badger has written many short stories. These stories have appeared in different magazines. She often uses Apache history and legends in her short fiction.
For example, in "Whalebone Parrot," two Apache sisters meet again. This is a Victorian horror story set in the late 1800s. It shows how her stories are connected to Lipan Apache history. In another story, "Owl vs. the Neighborhood Watch," she brings a Native legend to life. She features Owl, a shapeshifting creature, in a modern setting.
Novels
Darcie Little Badger's first novel, Elatsoe, was published in 2020. The story takes place in modern-day Texas. The main character is Ellie, a 17-year-old Lipan Apache girl. Ellie can bring her dead dog, Kirby, back as a ghost using old family traditions.
Ellie, Kirby, and their friend Jay work together to solve a mystery. They also face vampires in a strange town in South Texas. The book became a bestseller for young adults.
Her second novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, came out in 2021. This story is about Nina, a Lipan Apache girl. She is trying to learn about her grandmother who recently passed away. Nina meets a cottonmouth snake named Oli. The story moves between Texas in the near future and a fantasy world where Oli comes from. Climate change is an important part of the story's plot.
Indigenous Futurism
Indigenous Futurism is a growing movement in art and books. Native writers create science fiction and fantasy stories. These stories use characters and ideas from their own cultures. Darcie Little Badger has added a lot to this movement with her science fiction.
For example, in one of her stories, she created an Apache comic book superhero. In her short story "Né łe!", the main characters are a Navajo spaceship captain and a Lipan Apache veterinarian. They are taking 40 chihuahuas to new homes on Mars!
Community Work
Darcie Little Badger is a delegate for the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. She works with the National Congress of American Indians. She also helps her tribe with science advice.
She has worked to protect the right of her tribe members to use eagle feathers in their ceremonies. This right was later granted to them. In 2021, she helped celebrate the return of a historical Lipan cemetery to her Tribe in Presidio, Texas. She spoke about her people's strength and connection to the land.
Personal Life
Darcie Little Badger lives in San Marcos, Texas.
Awards and Honors
For Elatsoe
- 2021-2022 Whippoorwill Book Award Winner
- 2022 American Indian Youth Literature Awards Honor Book
- 2021 Locus Award for Best First Novel Winner
- 2021 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book Finalist
- 2020 Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction Finalist
- Global Read Aloud Selection-Young Adult
- Golden Kite Award Honor-Young Adult Fiction
- A National Indie Bestseller, 12 weeks
- PNBA Bestseller
- Time's Best 100 Fantasy Books of All Time
- An NPR Best Book of 2020
- A BookPage Best Book of 2020
- CPL's Best of the Best Books of 2020
- A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2020
- A BuzzFeed's Best YA SFF Book of 2020
- A Shelf Awareness's Best Children's & Teen Books of 2020
- A NEIBA Windows & Mirrors Selection
- A NEIBA Book Award Finalist
- A Tor Best Book of 2020
- A Kirkus Best YA Book of 2020
For A Snake Falls to Earth
- 2022 Ignite Awards: Best Novel Young Adults Winner
- The Inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction Shortlist
- Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction winner
- 2022 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book Finalist
- 2022 Newbery Honor Book
- 2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Novel Finalist
- 2021 National Book Awards for Young People's Literature Longlist
- A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2021
- A National Indie Bestseller, 8 weeks
- A Kirkus’ Best of 2021-YA Books
- A Tor.com Reviewer's Choice The Best Books of 2021
- New York Public Library Best Books of 2021: Teens
- CPL's Best of the Best Books of 2021: Teens
Published Works
Novels
- Elatsoe (2020)
- A Snake Falls to Earth (2021)
Short Fiction
| Year | Title | Publication | ISBN |
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| 2014 | "First Ride of the Day" | ||
| "Siren Son" | |||
| "Nkásht íí" | |||
| 2015 | "The Sea Under Texas" | ||
| "The Girl Turns West" | |||
| "When Whales Fall" | |||
| 2016 | "Né łe!" | ISBN: 978-0993997075 | |
| "Black, Their Regalia" | |||
| "Their Laughing Gal" | |||
| 2017 | "Skinwalker, Fast-Talker" | ISBN: 978-1939840394 | |
| "Owl vs. The Neighborhood Watch" | |||
| "The Whalebone Parrot" | |||
| 2019 | "Kelsey and the Burdened Breath" | ISBN: 978-1781085783 | |
| "Robo-Liopleurodon!" | |||
| "Homecoming" | ISBN: 978-1338343700 | ||
| "Grace" | ISBN: 978-1338343700 | ||
| "Story for a Bottle" | ISBN: 978-1988715247 | ||
| 2020 | "Unlike Most Tides" | ||
| "Venom and Bite" | |||
| "The Orphan of Greenridge (Water)" | ISBN: 978-1796549591 | ||
| "How to Use Your Visor (Fire)" | ISBN: 978-1796549522 | ||
| "Making Faces (Earth)" | ISBN: 978-1796549652 | ||
| 2022 | "The Dancers" | ||
| 2023 | "The Scientist's Horror Story" | Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology | ISBN 9780593468463 |
Nonfiction
- "When Danger is Announced" in Nightmare Magazine #83 (August 2019)
- "Decolonizing Science Fiction and Imagining Futures: An Indigenous Futurisms Roundtable" in Strange Horizons #30 (January 2017) with Rebecca Roanhorse, Elizabeth LaPensée, and Johnnie Jae
- "Writer's Manifesto: Interview with Darcie Little Badger" in Cicada Magazine Volume 19 (July/August 2017)
Editor
- Mermaids Never Drown (Feiwel and Friends, 2023), with Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker
