I wanted so much to like this book but after loving the Firekeeper’s Daighter, Warrior Girl Unearthed just did not live up. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the book but it was missing the mystery aspects that I lived in FD.

I loved The Firekeeper’s Daughter so I had to pick up Warrior Girl Unearthed. This book takes us back to Sugar Island in this YA thriller about a native teen trying to reclaim her tribes ancestral remains and sacred items.

Warrior Girl Unearthed has the perfect combination of thriller elements, lessons on Native repatriation, a bit of comic relief and a sprinkle of romance all in one. As with The Firekeeper’s Daughter I learned so much about native culture. I highly recommend this on audio to fully be fully immersed in the Anishinaabe tribe. This book is a sequel and has many characters from The Firekeeper’s daughter so reading the first book is essential.

What I loved:
✨Mix of a fictional mystery + nonfiction information regarding missing Indigenous women and NAGPRA, which is the Act that allows Native Americans to reclaim ancestral remains and sacred items from any federally-funded institution. Boulley breaks down the Act in an elementary manner for the reader. Very informative and educational!
✨Rich cast of female characters - I wrote this highlight for Firekeeper’s Daughter, too, so clearly, this is one of Boulley’s trademarks. I especially loved the scenes with Perry and Shense. They provide levity amongst the heavy topics.
✨Narration: Boulley incorporations Ojibwemowin throughout the book. Isabella Star LeBlanc fluently speaks the Ojibwe language. Listening to the blend of English and Ojibwemowin, I gained a stronger connection with the text and the context. I wholly credit LeBlanc for this immersive experience.

I highly recommend both the book and the audiobook! You cannot go wrong with either.

I enjoyed Angeline Boulley's debut book, Firekeeper's Daughter, so was looking forward to reading Warrior Girl Unearthed. This story is from Perry (Daunis’ niece if you’ve read Firekeeper’s Daughter ten years later). Perry had planned to take the summer off, but when she had a car accident, she had to work to pay her aunt back for repairs to her aunt's jeep. She participates in an internship program that originally has her working in a museum. While there she learns about ancestral bones and other artifacts that have been stolen from Native land. She wants to get them back and to their homes. She becomes friends with others in the program and they call their group, Team Misfit Toys. They are all proud of their heritage and for one reason or other they don't fit in. With her friends, they make plans and take chances to repatriate those items.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the debut for a couple of reasons. I found Perry hard to like. I know she was trying to do what was right for her ancestors, but she just seemed to be a bit aloof. Her personality is brash, she is impulsive and outspoken, often getting herself and others into trouble. She also takes chances putting herself and others in danger. The second reason was that I felt preached at or told, rather than just letting the story unfold and allow me to come to my own conclusions. It is obvious that Ms Boulley is passionate about this issue and that the laws in the US have failed the Indigenous Community in many ways, so I won't judge that too harshly. The book begins slowly, building up to the "heist" with Perry and the reader learning about the thefts from Indigenous Lands. Once the stage is set, the book moves more quickly. I enjoyed the secondary characters, their quirks and personality as well as their foibles. They kept me interested in the story. My heart breaks for the Native North Americans and all they have been through. As the story raced to the ending, I was listening intently to see what would happen and if Perry and her friends would be successful. This is an issue I wasn't aware of, but I will think twice when seeing an artifact in a museum. Overall, an enjoyable book. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Isabella Star LaBlanc and she does an excellent job with the narration of this story. I think listening made it more narrative than if I had read it. I recommend this one in audiobook format.

I read Firekeeper’s Daughter in 2021 and it was in my Top 3 favorite books that year. Idk how I had no idea this sequel was coming out this year but when I saw it on BOTM I added it to my box so quickly! I also got the advance audiobook from @netgalley.

I will say you really should experience these books on audio. I love Isabella Star LaBlanc’s voice and hearing the Ojibwe words pronounced correctly. Angeline Boulley’s writing is so authentic. I love how she crafts an amazing fiction story, and infuses so much Indigenous history and culture. When I first started reading I did not realize how closely this story tied to Firekeeper’s Daughter so I had to go back and read a full summary of it to refresh my memory.

Warrior Girl Unearthed picks up 10 years after the events in Firekeeper’s Daughter. I fell in love with Perry and learned so much about repatriation of tribal people and their heirloom possessions. I loved stepping into Perry’s perspective and her passion for returning her ancestors to their rightful home. Perry is bold like her Auntie Daunis. I found her story just as engaging. I did not want to stop reading. All the stars. Highly recommend this one (but you really have to read Firekeeper’s Daughter first)! I hope Angeline Boulley continues to grace us with more story’s about the Anishinaabe and Sugar Island community.

This is an excellent follow up to Firekeeper's Daughter. Although it took a little while for me to get into the story, I was ultimately caught up in this "heist" story of repatriating indigenous artifacts.

In Warrior Girl, Boulley builds on the themes of violence against indigenous women, and the search for missing and murdered indigenous women is a major theme. Boulley ties this issue to another question of justice for indigenous communities: the ineffectiveness of the NAGPRA Act of 1990 that was meant to provide a process for returning indigenous remains to their communities.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch is a warrior seeking to return the remains of her ancestors to her Sugar Island Anishnaabe community. Plots are hatched, alliances drawn, backstabbing happens. It's a great story wrapped up in important issues.

The narration is very well done, and I appreciated hearing the anishinaabemowin pronunciation.

Warrior Girl Unearthed has the same setting as Firekeeper’s Daughter, on Sugar Island. This one also heavily features Native American culture and language (Anishinaabemowin) – which is why I’m very glad I listened to this audiobook to hear the language spoken.

Warrior Girl focuses on Perry Firekeeper-Birch. Perry wanted to spend her summer fishing and enjoying herself but instead finds herself in an internship program with her twin sister Pauline to help pay back the debt of wrecking her car.

Perry is soon invested in the internship however when she learns of the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives – and Perry wants this Warrior Girl returned to the tribe where she belongs. She learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items.

This book taught me a lot more than I ever expected about Native American culture, history, and laws. I found it fascinating – while this story itself is fiction, these occurrences of museums keeping ancestors’ remains and artifacts is not. That is real life facts. Perry is willing to lie, cheat, and steal to do what she must to return the ancestors’ remains where they belong.

There is so much depth to this story that I don’t always find with young adult stories. While Perry is still in high school, she feels older, as does this story – I’d classify it on the upper side of YA.

I loved everything about this, from learning about Native American culture to the mystery aspect and highly recommend

As I said about Firekeeper’s Daughter – I loved the exploration of modern Native experience and culture throughout this book, including the spoken language of Anishinaabemowin. I listened to this as an audiobook and I loved hearing Anishinaabemowin spoken. Some books feel forced with another language sprinkled in with English – this never once felt forced and only made the novel feel more cohesive and genuine.

🪶Warrior Girl Unearthed by @angelineboulley🪶

THOUGHTFUL
When I think of the ways the characters, their stories, and their journeys are crafted, thoughtful is the word that perfectly describes the care put into this book.

There is an authenticity to Boulley’s writing that speaks to an experience that is specific to one but relatable to all (if that makes sense). As always, I love the strength of women in Boulley’s texts. They feel powerful, grounded, intelligent, spicy, and witty - it’s really the best combination. I love that we get to see what it looks like to be multiracial when Blackness is involved and how it impacts the way one moves through the world. We get to see the way the academy enacts violence. We also see how Indigenous identity is or isn’t formed through community and what happens when you don’t have access to teachings.

Publisher’s Synopsis:

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

I really enjoyed revisiting Sugar Island through Perry’s eyes and I will definitely be reading this again very soon.

I recommend this for an Intermediate/Senior level classroom. The content might be a bit mature for younger intermediates but if unpacked with open discussion and care, could be a great conversation starter for an array of topics including Indigenous Sovereignty, MMIWG2S, The Role of the Academy and Archiving, How To Do Research in a Good Way, and more!

Warrior Girl Unearthed explores the past and present harms on Indigenous people through the experiences of Perry Firekeeper-Birch. Instead of slacking off and fishing, Perry will have to work at the Tribal Museum as a part of a summer camp program for Ojibwe young adults. Perry's summer vacation quickly morphs into a high-stakes thriller with politics, heists, corruption and abduction.

Through Perry's work placement, she learns how many artifacts, ancestral remains and sacred items have yet to be returned to their tribes. She sees the bones of her ancestor - dubbed the Warrior Girl - at a college not to far away, but cannot bring them back for a proper burial. She learns that NAGPRA, a law intended to reunite tribes with these items, has loopholes that allow universities and the wealthy to hold tribal culture hostage. Perry decides that she'll take any means possible to soothe the generational pain caused by colonization, academia, and the anxiety and fear of becoming another Indigenous girl on a missing poster.

Readers won't be able to put down Warrior Girl Unearthed and like Boulley's debut novel (The Firekeeper's Daughter) readers will be forever changed. Woven throughout the thriller is information about NAGPRA, MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirt People), and the Ojibwe culture. Ojibwe is used throughout the book, and I highly encourage readers to listen to the audiobook to hear the beauty of a language they had to fight so hard to keep alive.

Angeline Boulley has such a wonderful way of writing and really making people understand the feelings and thoughts of people who are of different cultures. I really felt the emotions that the MC, Perry experienced throughout the story. I will always read whatever Angeline Boulley writes!

This is a YA series that I can’t recommend enough!

This is the second book in the series and it is a coming-of-age tale about the next generation of Firekeeper girls. If you didn’t know, the first book follows Daunis Firekeeper and her role in helping the FBI investigate criminal activity in her Sugar Island community. Warrior Girl Unearthed follows Daunis’ Aunt Teddie’s twin daughters Perry and Pauline.

Like the first book, Warrior Girl Unearthed does an amazing job of offering an inside look at Native American culture and life. Both books bring to light the very real issue of the disappearance of Native American girls and women. #notinvisible Warrior Girl Unearthed brings forth another sorrow within this culture: that of the colleges and museums who hold onto the bones of their ancestors and other sacred artifacts. This is the main focus of book two. Perry Firekeeper-Birch learns of the loopholes these institutions use to get around NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990) and when she encounters the Warrior Girl whose remains are being held by a local university, she makes it her mission to repatriate her and as many others as possible. Her plan is extremely dangerous, but she has a group of brave friends who are ready to help.

Perry is a strong, smart and brave young woman. I greatly admired her passion and dedication to bringing her ancestors home. All of the characters are well written and as a mother of a teenage daughter, I certainly felt Boulley captured the current culture and spirit of today’s teens. I also feel like I’ve gained great insight into the issues presented through these well written stories. I highly recommend them to YA and adult readers alike.

This was a deeply emotional and heartbreaking book from a phenomenal author.

The love and passion Angeline Boulley has for her people, her culture, and her history is beyond words and yet leaps off the page. The injustices indigenous peoples faced—and still do—are so upsetting and disrespectful. I very nearly cried with how Perry's story unfolded because it should just never be something a teenager should worry about. I will say I'm very grateful I read this after a workshop I took that discussed the generational trauma of First Nations peoples because it made the story that much more impactful.

This is a heavy book but one absolutely worth reading.

4.5 stars!
Another hit by Angeline Boulley!!! I listened to the AudioBook Version thank you to Macmillian Audio and NetGalley! Thank you!!!


If you haven’t read Angeline’s debut novel, The Firekeepers Daughter, first let me say YOU NEED TO… second let me say, you don’t have to have read it to enjoy this book. Although the characters that we fell in love with in Firekeepers Daughter are mentioned and referenced in this book, the main characters and storyline are a standalone,

The main character Perry is preparing for her future and thinking about what she wants to do when she graduates high school. She is passionate about family, fishing and her community. Instead of spending her last summer at home fishing and taking it easy, she finds herself having to work off a debt to her aunt because she wrecked her ride. This leads to Perry working in a local museum where she learned about how artifacts and remains are handled and recovered. While Perry learns and becomes enraged at the injustices facing her ancestors and her community indigenous women are going missing. While Perry is trying to right some wrongs, she finds herself in the midst of the missing women’s mystery.

This is a fantastic book, and it’s so entertaining. What I found for myself, is that as entertained as I was, I was educated It made me want to this is a to understand and research reclaiming and repatriating, you will quickly learn and be heartbroken at the injustice.

Angeline is a must buy author for me. She knows how to weave meaning, family, mystery, perfect pacing and incredible characters together to write amazing stories!

✨ Review ✨ Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley; Narrated by Isabella Star LaBlanc

Firekeeper's Daughter was my favorite book of 2021, and so I was SO excited for this book. And Warrior Girl did NOT disappoint. Thanks for another incredible read, Angeline Boulley!

(Note: you don't have to read Firekeeper's Daughter to understand this book; though it will bring some greater context to some of the characters).

This book starts 10 years after Firekeeper's Daughter ends with Daunis's twin nieces as the main characters. After damaging her and her sister's car, Perry Firekeeper-Birch joins a summer internship program with other tribal youths. She is assigned to work at the tribal museum, where she quickly learns about issues of NAGPRA (a federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items) and how the local university is holding both ancestral remains and sacred items. Universities and museums typically drag their feet in the cataloguing of these items, greatly delaying the return of these items to their communities, and Perry becomes involved in several actions to repatriate remains and sacred items throughout this book.

Along the way, Perry learns more about herself while developing friendships, exploring ethics and repatriation through her own actions, and taking us on an exciting journey with real heist energy. I flew through this book while also trying to slow down to savor it!

Boulley is brilliant at writing accessible stories about Indigenous peoples in the modern world -- showing both the richness of contemporary culture and the issues faced by these communities -- in this case repatriation of ancestral remains and sacred items and missing and murdered Indigenous women (mmiw). She does such an incredible job of talking about these issues that I'm thinking about assigning this book to my undergraduate public history students to think about these topics.

I also loved how Boulley integrates Ojibwemowin, the Ojibwe language, beautifully throughout this book. It appears continually but doesn't require a glossary or dictionary, as the characters almost always translate the words back in context. The audio narration was excellent, but even better for the opportunity it provided to hear these words spoken.

I could rave about this book for days. Thank you for writing these books, Angeline!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: YA
Setting: Northern Michigan
Pub Date: out now

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Warrior Girl Unearthed follow's the MC from Firekeeper's Daughter's cousin 10 years in the future. I loved seeing these characters again (although for me it was 4.5 stars because I felt there were some loose ends / lack of clarity around these connections) and being back in Angeline Boulley's writing and back on Sugar Island. I appreciated that Perry was a human and teenager and a lot of the book was her working through figuring out who she wants to be -- not in an immaturity way but tackling big issues like how to make the right choices, how to serve your community, and the "right" thing to do. The first half of the book was a bit slow for me but the second half was everything I loved about Firekeeper's Daughter and Boulley's writing. I loved that just like in her first novel I learned a lot about native culture and justice for native people. This book specifically focused on the return of native ancestors and cultural items and NAGPRA, which was simultaneously horrifying and compelling. I'd highly recommend it if you liked her first book or want to learn more about native culture or issues facing native people.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

“From the New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter comes a thrilling YA mystery about a Native teen who must find a way to bring an ancestor home to her tribe.“

This book cemented Angeline Boulley’s place as a Season’s Pass, for me.

From here on, I will ride ALL THE RIDES.

I loved Firekeeper’s Daughter and was so pleased that this book was a continuation, of sorts.

It’s a stand-alone novel, but the character nods are A DELIGHT.

This book, like Boulley’s first novel, deals with some pretty heavy topics. Racism, sexism, MMIWG2S, and the repatriation of artifacts and remains are all tackled with insight and care.

While this book is, technically, considered YA, it should be required reading for all adults – young and not-so young.

9/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this stunning ARC.

3.5, rounded up. I love that this story was steeped in modern Native American culture. When the focus of the story was revealed, I was invested…but for most high school readers, it took WAY too long to get there. Her debut gripped readers right away, and this story took too long to build. I also found the mystery aspects to again be chaotic and messy, which was my knock on her debut. I used to be annoyed when “the plan” in a mystery was glossed over…until “the plan” was a step by step numbered list in this book. Doesn’t make for interesting writing. I did enjoy the character development & cultural aspects.

This is a story about bringing the warrior girl home.

I loved every page of this book. The protagonists is flawed in the most relatable, human ways. She makes impulsive choices, but they’re driven by a deep sense of anger at injustice… I loved her journey. Plus, if you enjoyed Firekeeper’s Daughter, this isn’t a sequel but does take place in the same world and you get updates about those characters!

Thank you so much @macmillan.audio & @henryholtbooks for the book & audio!

I really enjoyed Firekeeper's Daughter, but I especially love Warrior Girl Unearthed! I love seeing more stories crop up about stealing back or getting back lost cultural artifacts, so this was a really wonderful read, particularly as an audiobook. As always, wonderful Native rep from Boulley.

I really enjoyed this audiobook narration and had no difficulty fully engaging with the fascinating story. This is set in the same location/with some of the same people in it as Firekeeper's Daughter but I would not call it a sequel. Of the two, Firekeepers Daughter blew me away significantly more but this story was still worth telling. Overall, I found the mystery element fast-paced and compelling and I liked all of the characters, especially the main character and her twin. It felt much more appropriate and targeted to a YA audience than Firekeepers Daughter, which makes sense, and it worked that way.

The cultural elements of these stories are done so well, of course, and I always find that fascinating. Definitely a great story and I look forward to more from this author in the future.