Cool People, Good Work: NDN Girls Book Club

Pinky the Rezmobile.

Honestly, that should be enough on its own to tell you something great is happening in this month’s Cool People, Good Work. This month, we are shining a light on the NDN Girls Book Club, a literary nonprofit creating space for Native youth, girls, and Indigenous stories to be seen, shared, and celebrated.

The NDN Girls Book Club hosts free community workshops for Native youth and girls, organizes author talks, and helps expand access to Indigenous-focused literature by giving away free Native books at community events. The organization was founded by Kinsale Drake in 2023 to increase representation for Native literary voices and to build what she has described as the “book nerd club” she wished had existed when she was younger.

That mission is already compelling. Then there is Pinky.

In 2024, the club hit the road in a bookmobile that families lovingly named Pinky the Rezmobile. During that trip, the team traveled through the Navajo and Hopi Nations and distributed more than 10,000 free books in just five days. That kind of effort says a lot about the need that exists and the energy behind meeting it. Books matter, but access matters too. Pinky helped bring both directly into communities in a way that was practical, visible, and fun.

There was just one catch: Pinky was a rental.

Now, the club has secured another bookmobile to replace the original Pinky. This new vehicle can carry more titles and, more importantly, will serve as a permanent resource for the organization. That means more visits, more communities reached, more books distributed, and more opportunities for Native youth to encounter stories that reflect who they are and where they come from. A permanent bookmobile is not just a better vehicle. It is better infrastructure for a mission that deserves staying power.

We have a soft spot for books here at IndiWealth, so this one hit home.

Beth, our Chief Operating Officer, would gladly accept the title of “book nerd.” Back when we were dating, she used to bring books to my softball tournaments, which drew a mix of confusion, amusement, and playful ridicule from the “athletic – but not really” people around her. None of it fazed her. She would basically shrug and say, “Do you know how many of these games I am going to come to?” and then go right back to reading. 

In practice, our reading tastes could not be more different. I tend toward finance and other things that most normal people would consider painfully dull. Beth prefers romance, fantasy, and mystical worlds that I will never fully understand. But we agree on the important part: books can open doors. They can inform and entertain. And in a case like this, they can also help create stronger connections to culture and community.

That is why, this April, we are supporting the NDN Girls Book Club with a small donation to help new Pinky become a reality. If you would like to support their work as well, we have included a link to their donation page below.

https://givebutter.com/ndngirlsbookmobile

Photo/ NDN Girls Book Club