Title: Firekeeper's Daughter
Author: Angeline Boulley
ISBN: 1250766567
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Copyright Date: 2021
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Thriller
Format: Novel
Reading Level/Interest Level: Grades 10-12, Lexile 720
Awards or Honors:
Michael L. Printz Award Winner (2022)
William C. Morris YA Debut Award Winner (2022)
Best Young Adult Book: Honor Book (2022)
American Indian Youth Literature Award: Honor Book (2022)
Plot Summary
Daunis Fontaine is already reeling from tragedy when Jamie Johnson enters her life. The death of her uncle and her grandmother’s stroke has forced her to change her plans of enrolling in medical school so that she can stay close to her mother’s side and attend the local university instead. Jamie is new to town and joins the hockey team alongside Daunis’s brother, Levi, and she is chosen to be his guide. As a half-Native, non-enrolled member of the Ojibwe community, Daunis has always felt like an outsider, but as she and Jamie become closer, she feels that things are starting to change.
Her life is upended once again when Daunis witnesses a horrific murder and is asked to go undercover in an FBI investigation about a new form of meth that has been circulating on the reservation. Wanting to help her community, Daunis agrees to use her medical knowledge as well as her knowledge of traditional Ojibwe medicine to investigate this drug, find out who is distributing it, and prevent more deaths. As she becomes further entrenched in the investigation, Daunis realizes that the FBI cares less about protecting the victims than they do about catching whoever is behind this. She begins to unearth secrets about her community that she may regret revealing to the FBI and must contend with protecting her people and telling the truth.
Author Background
Angeline Boulley takes pride in her role as an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan, which is where her novel Firekeeper’s Daughter takes place. She has worked with multiple Native education organizations, including as “Director for the Office of Indian Education (OIE) at the U.S. Department of Education” (Boulley, n.d.).
Critical Evaluation
There were so many fantastic aspects to this book that it’s hard to know where to begin. Daunis is such a rich, deep character and every bit I learned about her made me love her more. Her dedication to her family, friends, and community made her such a likable character, and I found myself rooting for her from the beginning. The author’s incorporation of Ojibwe words, phrases, and customs into the novel was masterfully done and taught me so many things. She did a great job at providing the definition for words or phrases without sounding too educational. The only issue I had was when she would repeat words or phrases later on and I had forgotten what they were, but a quick search through this website helped me greatly: https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/.
The progression of the story was a bit slow at the beginning of the novel, but right when I started to wonder when it would pick up, it SPED out of the gates and totally blew me away. Each plot twist hooked me even more, and even though this book was almost 500 pages long, every word was worth reading. The story told about this Native community and the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women is an important tale that gains the recognition it deserves through the beautiful and tragic story told by Daunis. Teens will definitely connect with this book, especially Indigenous teens or anyone who feels like they don’t quite belong.
Creative Use for a Library Program
Jingle Dress Dancing plays an important role in Daunis’s life and the progression of her story, so to celebrate this novel, invite a local dance group to perform for teens at the library, or travel to a performance that is being held nearby.
Speed-Round Book Talk
A Native Veronica Mars meets Winter’s Bone, follow Daunis as she investigates the murders of her tribe members to uncover the truth about the drug trade among Ojibwe teens. What will she uncover as she gets to the bottom of why teens are dying and who is behind it? And what will she do once she finds the truth?
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation
Though the story told in this book is important, the details are quite heavy. Murder, sexual assault, drugs, and profanity are found in this novel, but nothing is needless and each scene is important to tell the story. This book may ultimately be fiction, but the struggles the Native community faces, especially Native women, are very real and deserve to be heard. There are no recorded challenges to date for this item.
Reason for Inclusion
With an important message told through masterful writing and weaving of plot, this novel is a can’t miss for fans of murder mysteries and thrillers. This novel is a beautiful cultural piece that will appeal to Native teens as well as those interested in learning more about the Ojibwe people.
References
Boulley, A. (n.d.). About. Angeline Boulley. https://angelineboulley.com/
Boulley, A. (2021). Firekeeper's daughter [Cover Image]. Henry Holt and Company. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Firekeepers-Daughter-Angeline-Boulley/dp/1250766567
Lunham, M. (n.d.). Character cards [Images]. Retrieved from https://ojibwe.net/firekeepers-daughter/
Minnesota Historical Society. (2020, April 7). The Jingle Dress Dance [Video]. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgS9veBDOhE
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