I just wanted to make a separate thread for Louise Erdrich's middle-grade children's chapter books, the "Omakayas Stories" or "Birchbark Series." Starting with The Birchbark House, Erdrich follows the story of an Ojibwa girl growing up in the mid-19th century US.

They're amazing books, and they portray the rich, complex cultures that the Little House on the Prairie series marginalizes and demonizes. They're my standing present to all the little girls I know as soon as they turn 8 (the publisher's target age is 8-12).