Award-winning author & poet
Ari Tison (Bribri) is the award-winning poet and author of YA hybrid novel Saints of the Household (2023) and Together We See (2026) with FSG/Macmillan. Saints of the Household was the winner of the 2024 Walter Dean Myers Award, the winner of the 2024 Pura Belpré Award, the winner of the Amelia Walden Award, the winner of the Américas Award, and a finalist for the William C. Morris Award and the International Literacy Award. Ari's work has been chosen as a Best Book of the Month by Amazon, and Best Book of 2023 by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, New York Public Library, BCCB, and Chicago Public Library along with receiving several starred trade reviews from Kirkus, BCCB, Booklist, and SLJ. Ari was chosen as a 2023 Publishers Weekly Flying Start.
Ari's work has been widely anthologized. Her poems and short works have been published in a number of national magazines including POETRY's first ever edition for children. Her poem "The Storyteller Gets Her Name" is a part of national K-4th ELA curriculum reaching over 5 million young readers. Her first co-edited poetry anthology WITNESS (Zest) with Ty Chapman came out in 2026. Her debut picture book When I Was A Little Girl (HarperCollins) is out in 2027. Ari teaches at Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
Ari belongs to the Bribri tribe, one of the eight federally and globally recognized tribes of contemporary Costa Rica. She lives in the Twin Cities, Minnesota with her sons.
AWARDed by
Together we see
★ "An adrenaline rush-inducing must-read." —School Library Journal, starred review
★ "A powerful and moving depiction of seeking justice amid mourning." —Booklist, starred review
This Indigenous murder-mystery set in Costa Rica is perfect for fans of Firekeeper's Daughter and Patron Saints of Nothing.
Told in multiple points of view, Together We See follows Ulá Dominguez, a Bribri-American teenager, searching for the truth behind her land-activist father's mysterious death on their Native territory in Costa Rica. Ulá and her brother, Kabék, uncover secrets and corruption as they face off against illegal loggers, kidnappers, settlers, and the local government in the hunt for the truth. Their only allies are a few family friends and relatives still living in Bribri, as well as a young journalist, who may be in danger himself. But as details of their father's death emerge, long-held trust is broken.
*A Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
NEWEST RELEASe
Also by Ari Tison
saints of the household
Pura Belpré Award Winner
Walter Award Winner for Young Adult Literature
A YALSA William C. Morris Award Finalist
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Winner
Américas Book Award Winner for Young Adult Literature
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
An Amazon Best Book of the Year So Far
An Amazon Best Book of the Month
YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults
TLA Tayshas Reading List Selection
Notable Books for a Global Society Selection
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Title
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
International Literacy Association Honor Book
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award Nominee
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
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AVAILABLE
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new Anthology
WITNESS: POEMS TO ADDRESS THE PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE OF POLICING
A stacked potent YA poetry anthology edited by Ari Tison and Ty Chapman that explores policing and public safety while honoring the past, recognizing our present, and making space for dreams of the future including contributions from nearly forty poets, including Ada Limón, Jason Reynolds, Erin Entrada Kelly, Danez Smith, and Amanda Gorman.
The multifaceted chorus of voices explores experiences and emotions related to policing and over-policing by various law enforcement officers and agencies, touching on everything from the slave trade to an ICE agent killing Renee Good in early 2026. Evocative pieces of artwork by Damon Davis are interspersed, adding additional layers of meaning.In this deeply moving collection, anthologists and poets Ari Tison and Ty Chapman give readers an opportunity to reflect, to discuss, and above all, to witness.
"The collection's greatest strength lies in its multiplicity. The complex realities of anger, grief, exhaustion, tenderness, humor, and hope coexist without diminishing one another."--starred, Kirkus Reviews