The Birchbark House

Summary: Omakayas, a member of the Ojibwa Native American tribe, is a spirited young girl who, throughout the course of the book, learns about a special gift that she has. Her family and her tribe work hard, using the resources around them to make their living and experiencing several hardships along the way—some of them almost unspeakably painful. The book, in my opinion, is pretty slow getting started, but a little over halfway through, it starts to pick up, and it offers an excellent depiction of Native American life.