Lawn Boy

Mike Muñoz is twelve, Native American, broke, and trying to figure out how the world works. He starts a lawn mowing business with his friend, charges what seems fair, and discovers that what seems fair and what the economy rewards are completely different things — that labor has value and that the system is specifically designed to extract that value from people without power while convincing them it's their own fault. Evison writes with warmth and humor and the kind of economic clarity that most adult books can't manage. It was challenged and banned in several school districts, which is the clearest possible signal that it names something accurately. The Toothpaste Millionaire companion from a Native American perspective — both books ask the same question about why things cost what they do and who decided that.