by Angeline Boulley
Henry Holt and Co, 2023. 396 pages. Young Adult Fiction
Sixteen-year-old Perry Firekeeper-Birch was planning on spending a leisurely summer fishing on Sugar Island, but she's forced to join a summer internship program instead after she gets in a fender bender in her aunt's Jeep. Although she's initially bored at work, Perry learns of the Warrior Girl, an ancestor whose bones and knife were stored at a local college instead of being returned to her tribe. Perry learns more about ancestral remains and sacred items that are kept in places they shouldn't be, and determines to do something about it. At the same time, her Anishinaabe community is growing increasingly concerned about the rising number of missing Indigenous women, and Perry's family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation. Perry is determined to get to the bottom of things before the women go missing forever.
Boulley is great at balancing thought-provoking themes with fast pacing and intriguing plotlines. I especially love that her books also fully immerse readers into the Anishinaabe community. This book pulled me in with the number of different mysteries that Perry finds herself involved in, but it's the character of Perry herself who kept me reading, as she learns about outrages committed to her community and slowly learns that passion and a sense of justice isn't all that's required in order to right past wrongs. This book is a great read for those who love mysteries and thrillers, and also for those who love learning more about Indigenous cultures. I highly recommend it!
If you like Warrior Girl Unearthed you might like:
by Darcie Little Badger
Levine Querido, 2020. 360 pages. Young Adult Fiction
Imagine an America shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Seventeen-year-old Elatsoe ("Ellie" for short) lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But Ellie is going to do more than pry. she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.
by Jenny Ferguson
Heartdrum, 2022. 360 pages. Young Adult Fiction
Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She'll be working in her family's ice-cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend, and her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian Métis prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word. But when she gets a letter from her biological father—a man she hoped would stay behind bars for the rest of his life—Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him, no matter how much he insists. While King's friendship makes Lou feel safer and warmer than she would have thought possible, when her family's business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can't ignore her father forever.
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