New Mexico gives children’s books more raw material than most countries. A secret town that appeared on no map builds the atomic bomb; a potter at San Ildefonso Pueblo reinvents a technique older than the state; a water truck climbs a dirt road on the Navajo Nation; balloons fill the sky over Albuquerque every October; and somewhere south of all of it, a rancher finds debris outside Roswell and never hears the end of it. Add red mesas, green chile, Spanish and Diné and English in the same sentence, and pueblos that were already old when the first wagons came up the Camino Real, and a state report starts to look like an adventure.
From Bookroo’s collection of New Mexico books, our editors chose the ones that put a child inside the place rather than beside it: true stories of New Mexicans worth knowing, folktales from its villages, and novels set on the mesa at Los Alamos, on the Navajo Nation, and in small towns with something to hide. Start with our 12 favorites, then browse by age — picture books for the youngest travelers, chapter books and middle grade for readers ready for a state report, a summer-long mystery, or a real piece of New Mexico history.
On the Navajo Nation, a boy’s family has no running water until a yellow tanker truck comes over the hill.
An ordinary Albuquerque seventh grader turns out to be descended from Navajo monsterslayers — and the monsters have noticed.
In 1943, two misfit girls live on a New Mexico mesa in a town that officially does not exist.
A boy who did not want to move to New Mexico walks out at sunrise and finds a desert he has no words for yet.
A Pueblo girl learns to coil clay from her aunt and grows up to give the world a black pottery no one had seen before.
A girl spends the summer packing up her grandfather’s New Mexico sheep ranch while he tells her about a tree, a lake, and the bees that left.
In 1824, on a rancho near Santa Fe, the youngest of four sisters is holding her family together the year after their mother dies.
The story of a Laguna Pueblo girl from New Mexico who became the first Native American cabinet secretary.
In the 1890s a hunter is hired to kill the wolf that ruled New Mexico’s Currumpaw valley, and the hunt changes the hunter instead.
A boy in the Sangre de Cristo foothills wants one thing: to go up to the summer pasture with the men and the sheep.
After her father is killed, a girl is moved to Los Alamos, where the canyons and the weapons labs both loom.
Desert sunrises, Pueblo potters, Navajo neighbors, and New Mexican folktales to read aloud, ages 3–8.
A warrior's love faces a deadly challenge and a deceitful enemy. Will love conquer all or end in eternal slumber?
Join a lively border town adventure delivering goods and learning Spanish words.
A gold star and hidden horns: can Teresa outshine her stepsisters at the festival?
A boy learns the true value of hard work and listening.
Los Alamos secrets, Roswell mysteries, ranch summers, Santa Fe history, and desert adventures for independent readers ages 6–11.
A girl must save her school's art program and her injured grandma's dream.
A summer of soccer and struggles tests Lucy's resilience and beliefs after family tragedy.
A tomboy faces betrayal, a wildcat threat, and a town's plans to sell her beloved soccer field.
A storm threatens a ranch. Can Josefina embrace change and save her family's future?
In a town where odd is normal, a girl uncovers dark secrets to find her missing twin.
A tomboy and a girly-girl clash under a housekeeper's guidance. Can they find common ground?
A young girl faces a life-or-death test to prove her healing potential.
A damaged altar cloth threatens Christmas memories.
A trader vanishes without paying, leaving Josefina with a surprising discovery that could change everything.
A ruby ring brings chaos. Can Josefina uncover its mystery?
Can Josefina convince her aunt to stay before it's too late?
A summer in New Mexico reveals hidden secrets and magic.
