Actual rating 3.5

I wanted to love this one so much more than I did. There were some things that really worked for me, and others that did not.

I loved the Native American aspect of this. Especially since we get to see Daunis steeped in her Ojibwe culture and heritage. And especially because she is half Ojibwe and half white. I loved that there were discussions on what it means to be Native and how Daunis grew up in the tribe.

However, I don't think the actual plot was for me. I'm very hit or miss with mysteries. I went in expecting a thriller, and definitely think I got a mystery. I also felt that this book was a bit too long and took too long to get going.

I will say that I was very invested by the last 20%; however, if I wasn't forcing myself to finish this book at the end of the month, I know I would have put it down and never picked it back up. I was just struggling with the pacing of the story.

That being said, I am very curious about any more books this author is going to write.

Also TW/CW for death, rape, drug use.

Firekeeper's Daughter is one of those books every high school kid should read. Such an interesting concept for YA. Loved the cultural depiction of the Ojibwe world.

Staff Pick, 2020 favorite, can't wait to read Angeline Boulley's next book. Can't say enough about how much I love this title.

<i>The Firekeeper's Daughter</i> is the golden child of Indigenous North American writing right now. I think Angeline Boulley set out to write the book that she wrote and was successful. She said that the book idea came to her when she was 18 and that it took her a decade to write it after raising her family, having a career, and living her life. Because the land that many of my people currently live on rests right within traditional Ojibwe/Nish territory, we share a lot of stories and words have crossed over from one nation to the other. I felt very welcome within the story in that way. I loved the references to traditional Anishinaabe rituals, especially the way that the characters incorporated them into their modern lives. However, I felt that the writing was somewhat juvenile for my tastes. This book was a little heavy on the YA for me, while also attempting to tackle some very intense themes. I felt like every bad thing that could happen to a person happened to the main character Daunis, even if it didn't advance the plot. There were times where it started crossing into trauma porn territory for me, even though I don't believe that was the author's intention at all. I know that many if not most Indigenous women have intense and traumatic lives, but I was hoping that the main character could have at least one good thing happen to her.
I did like the way the author tackled being of mixed race heritage in this story, and the way that Daunis frequently felt like an outsider in both of her families. That felt very relevant to me.
Overall I liked the book.

I really enjoyed this read. I couldn't put it down. I loved learning about the tribes and their traditions; relationships with the earth, food, spirits. The mystery was well written. I didn't enjoy the in love with a cop trope but I liked the FBI investigation. I was suspicious of the culprit but never on his trail so that was great too.
This was such a good read

This book was honestly not what I expected in both good and bad ways. The cover gave me more fantastical vibes which is what originally brought me to the book. I loved the premise despite it not being any sort of fantasy type. I was sucked into the world that many people may not fully understand, and which I hope was brought to light for many. I was put off by some of the events that followed as they didn't seem like how you'd think someone would react and that took me away from the character I thought I knew. I'm glad for what this book has shown those who may not have known and the empowerment it has given others.

While the book deals with some heavy topics, I will highly recommend to teen readers. Discusses Native American culture and life in a way that I have not seen expressed before, and highly relatable to teens and adults.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher and then bought my own copy of the book. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Firekeeper's Daughter

Author: Angeline Boulley

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: Biracial MC (Ojibwe/White French ancestry)
Canadian born MC
Part Ojibwe side character
Biracial Cherokee love interest
Anxiety rep MC
Black/Ojibwe side characters
Gay side character

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: young adult readers, indigenous reads, mystery, thriller

Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller

Publication Date: March 16, 2021

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co

Pages: 488

Recommended Age: 16+ (Colorism, Sexual content, Language, Underage alcohol consumption, Drugs especially meth, Death, Grief, Suicide TW, Gore, Boarding schools for indigenous children mentioned, Racism, Bigotry, Sexual assualt/Rape TW, Violence, Kidnapping TW)

Explanation of CWs: Colorism is discussed in the book in regards to the MCs biracial background. There is sex mentioned and sexual content described as well as a sexual assault and a rape taken place in the text. Meth plays a huge role in this book but other drugs are also mentioned. Underage alcohol consumption only mentioned and shown briefly. There is a murder/suicide shown and replayed throughout the book. Boarding schools are mentioned occasionally throughout the book. Racism and bigotry are shown throughout the book by white characters. There is also a very descriptive kidnapping shown.

Synopsis: As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.

The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don’t add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicine. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.

Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she'll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

Review: So I thought this book would be something different, I can't remember what, but this is why I don't read the book blurb before I read a book. I was absolutely blown away by the story weaved by the author. The characters were amazing, I was kept on my toes the whole time, and the world building was impeccable. The plot was amazing and I loved how the author set the book during 2004 during the height of the meth crisis (at least that's when it became big in my hometown area) because I think the book does well to show how beautiful the Ojibwe tribe is but also show how it's not perfect, but give it a somewhat good resolution at the end (I wanted to see that Blanket Party not gonna lie but I understand why that can't happen). The book turned into one of my 2021 faves and I loved how it was a murder mystery thriller book but so lyrical as well. The book just sings to your soul and commands you to listen.

My only real issue is that for the first 50ish pages the book is a little hard to get into, but not in a bad way. The book uses a lot of French and Ojibwe words in it and for the first 50ish pages you're going to need Google until you figure out and memorize what the words mean. But please keep at the book, you'll not be sorry when you do.

Verdict: Highly recommend and should be required reading for schools.

As a Michigan girl, when I heard about this (debut) author's story, I knew I had to get my hand's on it. Diving into Daunis' world was something I was so looking forward to.

Daunis Fontaine has felt like a bit of an outsider her entire life. As a half Ojibwe woman with no tribal status, she's had others in her community give her nicknames and constantly treat her differently. She's felt a disconnect in some ways since her father died at age 7, but has always tried to embrace who she is. When a death jars her town, Daunis is called on to help solve it and other issues marring those around her. Daunis find herself pulled into not only a fight for her friends but also her community.

I will say that as someone from the lower peninsula, I feel totally biased about this book. I immediately was determined to just fall in love it, no matter what the book was about. With that bias in mind, it honestly did take a minute to jump into the story. To be perfectly honest, I think it came from Daunis' tone. She seemed very adult for an 18 year old. Yes, she was the child of a single mother. But she was still 18. I think meeting Daunis' mother and seeing the emotional interplay--seeing Daunis feeling as if she had to mother her mom explained it perfectly. I think seeing that earlier in the book might have been helpful.

Beyond this, there were many elements I enjoyed. Having been to Sault Ste. Marie myself there were elements of the town I could picture in my mind's eye, though of course, there was much more here. I found myself wishing I could go back and explore more, find little places that Daunis mentioned, if they're real of course.

I think what really pulled me in was when Daunis started working as a P.I. Not only did this add some purpose to Daunis' life, but I also think it gave her a deeper connection to her people. She had this federal agency in front of her and she knew they may fix the drug issues-may. But she could see they weren't worried about the issue that truly mattered--the people involved and how it would effect them.

Putting it all together with the different pieces of the puzzle was astonishing and not; disheartening for sure. To have a figure who could have had merely a positive influence on the youth of the community , as well as the community at large, be an agent of evil was just atrocious. The fact that other good forces were corrupted was hard too--but it shows what people will do in desperate times or in positions of power. If they feel they can gain, they'll take stupid risks.

I feel as if there a couple of small loose ends, but nothing detrimental to the story at large. I think the only thing that kind of made me sad was no definite resolution between Daunis and Jamie. We didn't even learn his real name! Overall, I really loved this book. I so looked forward to Angeline's next! Thank you!

Firekeeper's Daughter is one of the strongest YA debuts I've read in 2021. There are so many layers to this book, from the main character, Daunis, grappling with her identity and grief, to the mystery of drug-related deaths in Daunis's community. While the book is almost 500 pages, the pacing was great and I never lost interest in the story. The details about Ojibwe culture and community was my favorite part of the book. I don't want to say more because it's best going in not knowing what to expect, but Angeline Boulley has crafted a powerful YA novel and I look forward to seeing what she writes next!

This is amazing! I am so pleased a book like this has been published! It brings diversity to the mystery YA genre which is desperately needed. I can’t wait to put this book in the hands of students.

So much good stuff in this young adult novel!

A community in the throes of a meth addiction and drug trafficking. Native American community. Life on the reservation as well as off.

Our strong female protagonist, Daunis, is well liked, highly intelligent, and fiercely protective of the people she loves.
She’s also split between two worlds: the French Canadian side of her mother, and the other of the Sugar Land Ojibwe Tribe of her late father. We see how she comes to terms with who she is and where she belongs.

After watching someone she loved get shot by a drug addled former friend, she joins forces with the FBI to figure out where this meth is coming from. She is determined to find out where the drugs are coming from and putting a stop to it. But at what cost? Daunis puts herself in some pretty dangerous situations in order to do this but as her late uncle was also working with the FBI she wanted to finish what he started.

There was so much to learn and love about this book. The Native American tribe had some really beautiful traditions and getting to read about some of this tribes rituals and ceremonies, their family connections, the difficulty that some people have with getting
The author clearly feels passionate and we get that through the significant cultural details interlaced into the story.

Through Firekeeper’s Daughter, Boulley also highlights many issues that tribal communities are faced with, such as the impact of casinos, drugs and alcohol use by the tribal community, and the way that the split jurisdiction between tribal police and outside police can make it difficult to get justice if a crime is committed. There is a trigger warning in there, btw.

Though the book started out kind of typical in YA, I think it quickly became something I would have classified as general fiction and would be appropriate for older reader and YA alike. The situations turned pretty adult (sexual situations and drugs, assault).

Incredibly engrossing story of a biracial woman (Ojibwe and white) struggling to find her place in her communities. This book has everything-- a mystery, thrills, a little romance, community politics.

FireKeeper's Daughter is one of my ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL time favorite reads and I have been shouting from the rooftops about it since I read it...I've posted a bunch about it and truly, my blog post about it speaks to my feelings about it!

This book is phenomenal. I picked it up because of the beautiful cover, and loved it much more than I thought I would. I’m so glad to share this book with students.

Firekeepers Daughter is a book about family, culture and history. People are dying on Fire Island, they are overdosing on methamphetamines, but who is the source? Daunis, a young adult native girl, witnesses a horrific death and is pulled in to the investigation.. We follow her struggle to understand what happened and to help save her people. This was an eye opening and very enjoyable read.

My Thoughts:

I have been sitting on this review for a bit because I feel as an Indigenous reader and teacher, when something comes around that is meant to teach me something, even if it a book and not a person, the respect due to this momi, this pearl of wisdom given, is to sit with it in silence and let the process of the struggle for this knowledge seep into my marrow. Finally, there is a YA semi contemporary novel that uses both radical self honesty and nerdy girl scientist skills to tell an Indigenous story and to solve a good mystery using both science and culture.

This book is getting a lot of mainstream love, so I just want to talk about this as an Indigenous teacher who has been teaching Indigenous students for almost 30 years now. In the English classroom, we have needed this. Some of my favorite BIPOC, AAPI authors over the years did not write the kind of YA book that I could bring into my classroom. What I was left with were books about versus books by (Island of the Blue Dolphins). Publication companies uplifting Indigenous YA authors and giving them the same kind of book press is also fairly new. One of the benefits of this pandemic is that YA publishers have been inviting a diverse group of authors to their book launch panels. This is much better than just inviting BIPOC authors, or just inviting AAPI authors so that it becomes about the color of the author and not the interplay of their books to each other. The audience, then is more diverse.

As far as the story, what I appreciate are those cultural elements and author decisions that feel very authentic and touch on our own native Hawaiian discussions/arguments that address what of the culture is to be shared, what is just for those inside the community and what parts are ok to publish outside of the community. There is a point where Daunis figures out something, but she also knows that it is not the kind of information that can be shared with the FBI. She also acknowledges stereotypes from the outside and speaks back to those stereotypes with radical self honesty without making this story a lecture on culture and cultural misappropriation. Perhaps this is a newer issue, but I also noticed that the FBI sent two Indigenous agents to act as undercover agents. It brought back the memories of the recent TMT protest on Mauna Kea where law enforcement made a decision to arrest Hawaiian elders so they put together all of their Hawaiian law enforcement officers. It just feels like the government putting us all in the bucket and it is the other crabs who are pulling us down so we can try and get out of this bucket. What Boulley does just with that one decision to bring in the character of "Jaime" who may be Indigenous but is neither connected to his land or his community, and therefore has no identity, is to subtly talk about the idea that belonging to a community and a culture has nothing to do with blood quantum or something on your birth certificate. It has to do with how you carry your responsibility to your land, to your elders, to those that follow you, perhaps called seven generation thinking.

Finally, I want this book read, but I do not want to give anything away, so suffice it to say that there are disturbing parts and disturbing realizations based on certain events that are sad but not untruthful and I really appreciate the author for not glossing over or trying to soften this story to fit into a romance or feel good book. This is a story that lovingly captures the complexity of a culture in a way that only someone from inside the culture can write about, and instead of making it strictly a cultural story, can instead just weave a good story using land, people and relationships with both.

NetGalley/Bookish and Macmillan publishing have put out very good teaching guides that can help teachers to run book clubs or have book discussions in their class.

From the Publisher:
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.

Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.

Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

Just...WOW. It's been a while since I've purchased a novel for my personal library, and I'm so glad I did. Not since a the story of a certain child wizard have I been captivated by a story. The characters are richly developed,; readers even get a sense of the personalities on the various "secondary" characters. Kudos, too, for the decision to NOT italicize Anishinaabemowin, as has been the trend for including text written in languages other than English.

The premise of this book was interesting to me, but I'm not sure how much I loved it. There was so much going on in so many different directions, and it seemed like it could've been edited down. The ending was a little rushed.

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
This book is a lot of things. It is a coming of age story of Daunis, the main character and her friends. It is mystery with drugs and murder, the FBI and confidential informants. It is a story of haves and have-nots. It is the story of Native Americans and the white community. It is the story of men and women and the horrible cycle of abuse. But most of all it is the story of Daunis - who she is and how she fits into all of these worlds.
But most of all this is an action backed mystery that has Daunis trying to get justice. Highly recommend for all high school age and above.