LEGENDARY FRYBREAD DRIVE-IN: INTERTRIBAL STORIES edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Pub date: August 26th, 2025
Publisher: Heartdrum
Rating: 5 / 5


"It's a refuge, a place of reconciliation, of romance, a warm meal, an Elder's hug, and artistic inspiration." [Cynthia Leitich Smith, Editor & Author-Curator of Heartdrum]

Welcome, first-timers and old-timers, to Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-In! This drive-in is not quite like any place you've been before, but it is a place you'll always be welcomed back. In this YA anthology, 17 Indigenous authors have dreamt up short stories and poems to share the magic of Sandy June's. So, follow the neon sign and come take a seat. Sandy June's is open for business.

LEGENDARY FRYBREAD DRIVE-IN is truly a one of a kind read. This collection needs to be in classrooms, in libraries, and in the hands of readers at every age. The stories will surely resonate across demographics. There's a mix of younger teen protagonists and older main characters, as well as a lovely ensemble of aunties and grandparents who run the drive-in. A variety of Indigenous languages, tribes, and "tradish foods" are featured, plus an extensive glossary translating phrases and providing insight into the many languages incorporated in the stories. This anthology wonderfully amplifies Indigenous voices and experiences. Themes of generational differences, evolving friendships, first love, familial grief, and cultural identity are woven throughout the pages. Even with heavier themes mentioned, each piece has a warmth that is reminiscent of eating fresh frybread; it fills your heart with comfort and leaves you wanting just another taste of its made-with-love goodness.

While each piece in this collection is worth the read (and multiple re-reads after), personal favorites include:

"Maybe It Starts" by Kate Hart

"Game Night" by Darcie Little Badger

"Braving the Storm" by Kaua Māhoe Adams

"I Love You, Grandson" by Brian Young

"The Rest Will Come" by K.A. Cobell

"Open Mic at the Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith



(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

This was sweet. I will say that it wasn't necessarily my preference (many of the stories are a bit too slice-of-life for my taste) but I got what the anthology was trying to do, and I'm not the target audience---it's appropriate for a late middle grade/lower-YA age group. I think for young people who are feeling a little lost, especially Native readers, this book will be healing and reassuring on a profound level. I'd also recommend it for classrooms in this age range.

While this is never stated outright in these interconnected stories, I would guess that part of the goal here was for each story to convey something that they (and/or a young person they care about) needed to hear when they were young. The messages range from personal affirmations of support from the Legendary grandparents to more specific commentary on colorism in Native communities, healing journeys through rough spots with their families, and opportunities to reclaim time with loves ones who have moved on. The authors and their characters come from a wide range of tribes and communities, and encounter each other in this shared place of love, healing, and tasty food.

Some of the stories deal with heavy topics, but overall the vibe is joyful and hopeful. Later stories call back and interweave with the earlier entries, which makes this a different kind of anthology than I'm used to. I felt that many of the stories wouldn't stand on their own, given the limitations of the length and the eventual setting, but they worked well together and reinforced the message of intertribal community. Overall, this was delightful, and I hope it finds its audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I adored this heartwarming YA anthology of interconnected Indigenous stories and poems, all tied together by the mysterious Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In. As Cynthia Leitich Smith notes, the drive-in feels like a collective dream and I couldn’t agree more.

These stories explore many themes such as loss, hope, and belonging. My favorite, Braving the Storm, is a poem that deeply resonated with me. It’s moving, lyrical, and unforgettable. Like any short story collection, some pieces spoke to me more than others, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of the work as a whole.

This anthology offers a meaningful window into the Indigenous experience while celebrating the beauty of intertribal community. By the end, I was left craving not just frybread, but more Indigenous stories.

Really enjoyed this collection of short stories written by Indigenous authors all taking place at Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-In. The magical realism touches really worked for me, and how each of the teenagers in the short stories found their way to the drive-in right when they needed it. While most of the stories were standalone, there were a few interconnected ones or characters in earlier stories that popped up in later ones. I enjoyed this aspect as well!

Magical, heartfelt, and moving. A great collection.

This collection of loosely connected stories by Indigenous authors imagines a magical and mysterious place that unites Indigenous communities and welcomes Indigenous young people from across Turtle Island: Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-In. In each of seventeen stories (and one poem), Indigenous youth find their way to Sandy June's from a variety of locations, circumstances, and tribal affiliations. Some protagonists are visiting for the first time, while others work there or visit regularly; they come seeking comfort, connection, confidence, belonging, family, friendship, lost love, or first love--and of course, frybread!

While each story is unique and heartfelt, all celebrate Indigenous cultures and community, and all share a sense of warmth and intimacy that will envelop readers and welcome them into the collection and to Sandy June's from the start. Characters often pop up across several stories as well, inviting multiple readings to find and appreciate all the connections.

In the story "Heart Berry," author Cheryl Isaacs writes, "People came because whatever they needed, Sandy June's delivered. When we were in need, the ancestors called us there." Indeed, Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-In does exactly that, and it's a gift for readers to be invited along.

What a magical read about a magical place! I loved all of these stories! They're healing and gentle and cozy in such beautiful ways. I originally picked this up because of Darcie Little Badger and Angeline Boulley but definitely plan on reading several of the others now! I appreciated the diversity of Indigenous voices too. As someone who grew up near a reservation and later lived in Hawaii, I thoroughly enjoyed this and am now dying for some frybread!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

This is a miracle of a book. Incorporating short stories from sixteen different authors from tribes across Turtle Island (what is colonized as North America, including Hawaii), this beautiful, cozy collective is a place of refuge for readers.

Set against the backdrop of Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive In, a mysterious place where the indigenous comfort food is always hot and fresh served by Legendary Grandparents, where there’s always a table for voter registry, and where there’s usually a battle of the bands before the midnight movie, this mythical place appears when it’s needed for indigenous folks.

The stories are distinct, yet intertwined: characters frequently pop up across tales, making for delightful surprises.

I loved that I got to read stories by some of my favorite indigenous authors - Angeline Boulley and Darcie Little Badger - and learn even more authors whose work I’ll plan to seek out going forward.

In particular, Braving the Storm by Kaua Māhoe Adams, a story about a young native Hawaiian girl grappling with anxiety in the wake of the death of her grandfather, the only person who made her feel brave, moved me to tears.

I feel so lucky to have been chosen to read a NetGalley e-arc of this book. I’m so glad it originated from the #WeNeedDiverseBooks tag, and so hopeful that this cozy, gently educational hug of a book finds its way into the arms and hearts of many readers. Thank you so much to Heartdrum and Harper Collins Children’s Books for the e-arc!

I must concede that I am not a usual reader of short story collections, and when given a choice between a collection and a longer work by the same author, I will most often opt for something at least novella-length. But there's something special about this anthology that makes it feel much more like a whole work despite being written by multiple authors.

These 18 stories – including those poetic in form – work together to imagine the shared space of Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-in, which becomes a place where teens of varying Native American identities find community, romance, and connection to their specific or symbolic ancestors. For some of them, it's a given that this place exists for them; for others, the main quest in the story is to find it and experience the respite from their daily routines that it provides. And it's not just the setting that the stories share – or the idea that there are "legendary grandparents" in the drive-in and that it is run by SJ, who might or might not be the Sandy June. Protagonists who were central to one story might reappear in another as secondary characters, thus creating the impression of us peeking into a larger world.

The story that appealed most to me is probably "Game Night" by Darcy Little Badger – it stands out in form, clearly (written as a log of DND-style game), but also has just the right amount of allowing the possibility of the fantastical into the realistic.

For those of us less familiar with YA texts by contemporary Indigenous authors of North America, this anthology might also be a good entry point. I'm definitely planning to look up additional reads by some of the authors featured here. (I had only read or heard of a few of them before.)

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an eARC through NetGalley. The opinion above is entirely my own.

A fantastic short story collection, with each piece offering a unique perspective and vividly capturing the Indigenous experience. While it’s clearly geared toward a YA audience, the stories are engaging and meaningful enough for readers of all ages to enjoy and appreciate

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is SO GOOD! It’s meant for a YA audience and has some really well-done magical realism tying together each story in the anthology, spanning across different nations and traditions of Turtle Island (North America). Looking forward to release day to buy a paper copy.

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for an ARC from NetGalley*

This was everything I had hoped it would be. This is a book filled with interconnected stories made for Indigenous teenagers.

This is one of the best anthologies, probably my favourite anthology, I’ve ever read. I truly feel so grateful that I got to read this beautiful book.

The authors themselves come from many different places, and I loved reading new words. I especially enjoyed the glossary at the end of the book to know how to pronounce the words, and what they mean.

Most of the stories here are regular prose, but there was one story that was written in verse (Braving the Storm) which was absolutely beautiful. I loved all the writing styles in this anthology, but Braving the Storm is my favourite story overall, especially because it was written in verse.

The themes of community, friendship, love, grief, hope, and good food were amazingly done. I have nothing bad to say about this absolutely wonderful anthology. I hope people read it and see the beauty this book has to offer!

This collection is infused with so much culture, so much language, so much hope, so much emotion. I laughed and cried my way through this collection over the last week or so, reading passages out to my housemates, texting them to friends abroad.

This anthology is both interconnected and intertribal, with the drive-in serving as the common place, and several characters showing up across stories. The opening story is very clever but I could go on and on about each story. The writing is stellar across the anthology, several of the writers play with form in a way I love, and it’s impressive how each story feels fresh despite occurring in the same place.

A privilege to receive this ARC from Heartdrum and a beautiful collection to pick up if you’re looking for more Indigenous authors to add to your collection/tbr/life (several of these authors I will be following up with to see what else they’ve written).

Favorites:
I always make a favorites list when I read a short story collection, but as I started writing down a list for this one, I quickly had put down over half of the collection, so just read the whole thing I beg of you.

Thank you Heartdrum & HarperCollins Children for this ARC, I enjoyed every second of it!!!!

4 stars

This anthology addresses two important issues in YA literature: limited access to works by indigenous authors and limited access to YA anthologies. Fortunately, this is a successful example of both.

I really enjoyed the interconnected nature of these works, and while a frequent drawback of the anthology model can be focusing in on the works that are not as compelling as their companions, I really did not experience that here. In part because of the connections, even those entries I may have found less engaging on their own still played a role in my enthusiasm for the overall collection.

Like all good YA, this is not just fun and games. There are some dark moments and challenging motifs. Readers who are sensitive to particular subjects should review the content warnings, but folks should also know that there are a lot of hopeful and humorous moments, and this is by no means gritty or dark as a whole.

I came in with an appreciation for several of these authors, and I'm leaving thrilled to have been exposed to some authors who are new to me and to an enjoyable set of connections overall.

Legendary Frybread Drive-In is a radiant and imaginative anthology that brings together 17 Indigenous authors through interconnected short stories anchored around Sandy June’s magical drive-in. This mystical gathering place appears wherever and whenever Indigenous teens need connection, comfort, or community—serving up frybread, wisdom, and belonging. The idea of a shared, intertribal “last stop” for healing and joy feels utterly powerful.

I loved diving into the lives of the teens who visit Sandy June’s. These stories explore identity, found family, hope, and healing with warmth and authenticity. Each narrative stands alone, but they all weave together beautifully to form a cohesive, magical tapestry of Indigenous experience.

Editor Cynthia Leitich Smith skillfully curated voices from a wide range of tribal backgrounds, creating an anthology that balances cultural specificity with universal emotion. The glossary and author notes in the backmatter offer helpful context and deepen the reading experience.

Overall, this is an uplifting, joyful, and heartfelt collection filled with community, resilience, and delicious frybread. Highly recommended for teen and YA readers who crave magical realist stories grounded in identity and cultural pride.

First off, I love, love, love the idea behind this collection, from the collaborative element, to the magical realism elements, to the vivid cultural immersion. I also love that it gave me a chance to sample a wide variety of new-to-me authors.

As with any short story anthology, the stories themselves varied widely in appeal. A few particularly fantastic ones did stand out, however. Darcie Little Badger’s “Game Night” instantly made me fall in love with an entire gaming group. Cynthia Leitich Smith’s “Patent Red” presented an interestingly messy dynamic. K. A. Cobell’s “The Rest Will Come” actually had me on the edge of my seat as I realized what was really at stake. And oh my god, Kaua Mahoe Adams’s “Braving the Storm” blew my socks off with its spare, evocative poetry and heartfelt story of grief and courage.

I did find that many of the stories resolved their conflict way too easily for my tastes. I found myself wondering if that’s what a YA audience would actually want, or if that’s what the authors want the YA audience to want. It’s also entirely possible that this collection is aimed at a younger young adult readership than what I generally consider YA. That could well be the source of the disconnect.

All that said, I did have a good time, I’m glad I requested this ARC, and I will be seeking out many of these authors’ novel-length writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Heartdrum for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

Must have for ssecondary library collections especially if your representation of Indigenous Peoples is small. This great collection of stories centers around a mythical drive-in that everyone knows about and somehow finds their way there when they need some encouragement, support, or a voice to remind them of their strengths and give them a boost. Great cozy read in this tumultuous time. Thank you Cynthia Letich Smith for sharing your voice and those of other Indigenous People with us.

Ancestor Approved, the first short story collection edited by Leitich Smith, was a hit for me, so I was glad to get the chance to read Legendary Frybread Drive-In. I didn’t like this quite as much as that collection, but there were some real stand outs. Just like in Ancestor Approved, the way the authors worked together to reference one another’s characters makes this collection special. I found myself constantly battling back questions about how the drive in worked, because I know it wasn’t the point, but it was distracting nonetheless.

Legendary Frybread Drive-In was such a tender and loving YA anthology of Indigenous voices and slightly interconnected stories ranging from grief to first loves that left me mesmerized and hungering for more.

From trying to reconnect with one’s identity as a Native person in ‘Maybe It Starts’ by Kate Hart, to grappling with first crushes in ‘Look Away’ by Karina Iceberg, all the way to grieving a family member in ‘I Love You, Grandson’ by Brian Young, the range of stories are woven together by the magical and liminal space of Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In.

I really adored so many of these stories and enjoyed the experimental narrative forms as well (one story is told entirely through an online chat DnD game!) and so glad to have been able to read works from so many great Indigenous authors that I will now be checking out as well.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for this e-arc. All opinions are my own.

Man, I really wanted to like this book.
There isn't many indigenous books out there that are written by indigenous people so I gobbled this one up to read but I was stumped early on and had a hard time reading it and getting through it.
Majority of them were really good and I did love them but others, where there should have been a CW there wasn't. Deaths and accidents that lead to such things should be warned before reading, in my opinion.

I definitely look forward to seeing more indigenous books by indigenous authors in the future and hope to be able to review them.

Thank you HarperCollins Children's Books for my #gifted e-ARC via NetGalley. My thoughts are my own.

I was privileged to get to read this anthology of YA voices among indigenous authors. The stories are as diverse as the authors themselves, but they all have in common Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-In. It’s a magical place for lost people in need, in some stories appearing unexpectedly and in others a well-known local hangout down the road. I know enough to know that there is symbolism and meaning that I am incapable of understanding from my White viewpoint, but even so, I was struck by how universal the themes are anyway. Things like figuring out who you are; what it means to belong; family; community and individuality; and being there for the teens in one's culture who are desperately trying their best. I was so excited to discover this broad range of new-to-me voices, and look forward to sampling more of their work in future.