Tommy Orange's new novel Wandering Stars is a follow up to his critically acclaimed novel There There. In this installment, readers learn how events long before There There's explosive climax influenced, and continue to influence, the Red Feather and Bear Shield families.

This constellation of narratives spans time, beginning on the morning of the Sand Creek Massacre and continuing into present day. Readers see the buildup of intergenerational trauma, but also how being split from community is temporary. Each generation learns and decides what it means for them to be Indian, to be Native, to be Cheyenne.

Orange confronts head on the repercussions of what has been done to Native peoples again and again, as massacres, prison, Indian boarding schools, and restrictive laws work to force assimilation on Native peoples.

By focusing in on one family, Orange demonstrates how each generation grapples with similar themes of cultural disconnect, reconnection, addiction, and healing.

Both a prequel and a sequel, this work weaves together with There There to give readers deep insight into the characters. The character development and voice are absolutely incredible, each thoroughly developed and changing over time as the three brothers grow and the two grandmothers age.
The pacing is also incredible, as Orange takes readers from the mid-1800s through time to present day, with each time period being equally riveting and character-focused.

Orange examines themes of addiction and sobriety intertwined with history, intergenerational trauma, and healing, it is also full of heart. Readers see how love is expressed, how healing happens, and witnessing these healing journeys is a gift. This novel deals with so many hard topics yet maintains a hopeful tone.

Healing is sacred, and witnessing this family heal, person by person, through the generations is healing in itself for the reader. As a mixed heritage Native woman with mixed heritage Native kids, books by Native authors discussing Native experiences are close to my heart. Tommy Orange's work is meaningful, and takes an unflinching look at what has been done to Native peoples, how we've persevered and continued on, in a fictitious realm. I especially appreciate how Orange shows Orvil learning the names of all the Native Nations, federally recognized and otherwise, on his healing journey. Each Nation has its own culture, language, and ways of being. And of course, all of this is done with incredible writing.
Wado, Tommy Orange, for another beautiful and important work.

Thank you to the author, Knopf, and NetGalley for an advanced digital ARC such that I could share my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wandering Stars is now available.

This follow up to “There There” did not disappoint. It starts off with similar historical base stories from Native American history, then goes back into the storylines of some of the characters from There There, particularly continuing Orville Redfeather’s fall into opioid addiction following the shooting at the Pow Wow. Dealing with similar themes of addiction, trauma, self-harm, family connections, and identity within culture and as individuals, Wandering Stars is beautifully writing and gripping. I enjoyed a few of the flashback stories from Jackie and Opal’s childhood and the characters only became more real to me by the end of this. I was able to soar through it easily, soaking in the beautiful prose and connecting with the intimate details of these lives of these characters. One wouldn’t necessarily need to read There There first but I would highly recommend it.

Thank you to the author Tommy Orange, publishers Alfred A. Knopf, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of WANDERING STARS. All views are mine.

Trigger warning: on-page su*c*de attempt

...𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙨. Loc.74

[...𝙒]𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 , 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚? Loc.992

WANDERING STARS by Tommy Orange is the follow-up book to his Pulitzer-nominated THERE, THERE. It is both prequel and sequel to the first book, and the jumps in time serve well as technique in this jarring story about lives and families disrupted by addiction. This book is not a thriller or suspense novel in any sense, but it burns from start to finish with conflict originating from within the characters' themselves, among the characters and the world they share, and between the character's and the social forces the encounter in one another.

Unquestionably Orange possesses a singular style and a mastery of technique, but WANDERING STARS is also a harrowing read. It addresses genocide, racism, institutional child abuse, poverty, and kidnapping. It expresses a rather absurd ableism I find perplexing. I encourage readers to go into this one with all the warnings. This book also showcases great friendship, redemption, and hope. It's a good read and I recommend it. (I do recommend reading THERE, THERE first.)

[𝙔]𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙄𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩’𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣, 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙜𝙢𝙖𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡. Loc.3732

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. The details are visceral and draw me into the story: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘨 —𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴— 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯. Loc.162

2. I love stories that offer such insights on books and reading: 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯!,” 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. Loc.316

3. This book is 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘬. And yet, it strives for something lighter and greater than the evils of which humankind is collectively and individually capable. 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳, 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. Loc.996

4. Orange brilliantly displays in this book how trauma is the root of addiction. Not only does Sean experience a terrible injury that leaves him in great pain, he has also recently lost a close family member. During treatment, he hallucinate her; she promises they can both heal. He believes her when he believes nothing, and it gives him faith he can heal. That they both can. Importantly though, the trauma of losing this person becomes intrinsically tied to how he relates to his pain, recovery, and whole life.

5. Again, deep insights into addiction mindset, like the illusion of control over the habit that an addiction often holds. This illusion of control functions simultaneously to prevent to addict from acknowledging the existence of a problem as well as encourages an increase in consumption. [𝘖𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥] 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴—𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. Loc.2918

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. The introduction before the book starts is a real gut punch. It's not an efficient content warning, though.

2. 12.25% isn't a quarter of a quarter. It's almost half a quarter. Is this a statement about education? Fairness? White gaze? I'm not sure why the math is so weird here. Loc.1728

3. Not a fan of this book's dismissal of the plight of disabled people. Addiction can be a disability and this entire book is about how addiction defines the character's life. Addicts are spurned by society, which does not give one wit about the addict's plight. Do addicts really not deserve our regard to the fact they receive little to no regard? Do not all disabled people?

4. On-page descriptions of suicide border on gratuitous under the best of circumstances, but especially when the author gives vague content warnings or none at all in the front matter. Given my last point, I'm not very surprised to find myself writing this one.

Rating: 🪶🪶🪶.5 / 5 family feathers
Recommend? Yes, with THERE, THERE
Finished: Mar 7 '24
Format: Digital, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
📠 contemporary fiction
📚 prequels & sequels
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 family stories, family drama
💊 addiction stories
🪶 stories about indigenous peoples

I’m grateful to Netgalley and Knopf for an advanced copy of Wandering Stars.

Reading the introduction to Tommy Orange’s first book There There, which Wandering Stars serves as a prequel and a sequel to, was an experience I will never forget. It puts the reader right in the historical context Tommy Orange wants you to be in before he introduces you to his present day characters in Oakland who are descendants of Native people, who carry their legacy and trauma.

Wandering Stars goes back in this family tree and begins with the stories of the There There characters’ ancestors. It shows us who came before and then traces the family forward to the present day, after the powwow when we last saw Opal, and Orvil.

As in There There, Orange’s writing is beautiful. In Wandering Stars, there is a dreamlike quality to it. The theme of dreams is strong, with characters feeling like they’re reliving dreams or experiencing de ja vu as the history of their ancestors seems to repeat itself in modern day.

The writing in Wandering Stars is reflective, rich with symbolism and there is a lot to dig in to the text. Orange’s sentences are delicately refined, emotional and so vividly depict the spiritual struggles of his characters as they grapple with their personal and family histories and addictions.

While the story is dark, Wandering Stars leaves room for more hope than There There did. And I think anyone who liked There There will enjoy this novel.

That said, I do feel like there were some disconnects within the story. I think it’s partially the way Orange writes and with that many characters, it requires a different kind of close reading to grasp it all.

Orange’s inspiration to expand on the family tree backward came from learning about the Florida prison that served as the basis for the first boarding school intended to “kill the Indian and save the man” by forbidding Indian language, names and religion. He also writes about the Sand Creek Massacre and then connects it all back to the Oakland characters from There There.

This was a lot to include in one book, and while I appreciate its brevity, it was harder to connect to the ancestors because just as we start to understand and appreciate the severity of what’s happening and who the characters are within the context of the families from the last book, Orange switches stories. I wish I could have had more time with the ancestors.

I still loved it if you can love something so sad….I need to sit with this and process more and am looking forward to rereading with my book club. But even with those cautions, I loved this book and am in awe of Orange’s storytelling.


Update: It's been a few weeks, and I'm still thinking about this story and Tommy Orange's soulful prose. Changed my rating as this is a 5 star book for me!

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book! This novel is a wonderful narrative about the experience of Indigenous Americans in a family across time. Oranges uses a multi-generational approach to describe the various experiences that Indigenous folks have had across time in this country. This hits on many concerns we see in this community but also how similar concerns are experienced by individual people in a variety of ways. Admittedly, this novel wasn’t the most comfortable to read and was at times heart-breaking. That being said, Orange’s narrative style draws you in to the character’s story and weaves these family members together in a meaningful way. As a White woman in the US, I found myself considering what I know, think I know, and don’t know about the land we occupy and how we got to present day. Definitely eye opening and interesting to see how this narrative continues to unfold across time.

This is such a hard book to give feedback for. Its quality of beyond question, but it is a brutal read, even in comparison with books like "A Council of Dolls." I'm only sharing this feedback with NetGalley, not on Goodreads, because "Wandering Stars" deserves an audience. Thank you for approving me to review this novel..

If Tommy Orange’s Pulitzer finalist debut, There There, was an earthquake, his follow up, Wandering Stars, is a hurricane. Undoubtedly powerful, deeply impressive, but very difficult to get through and a little chaotic.

Both a prequel and sequel of sorts, Wandering Stars begins with the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and (too quickly) moves through the history of displacement, Indian residential schools and socioeconomic oppression of the Native American experience in the 19th and 20th centuries, through the stories of the ancestors of Orvil and Jacquie Red Feather, whose stories are at the heart of There There. Then, for the second two-thirds of the book, it picks up following the former book’s disastrous events, as Orvil and his brothers struggle with addiction, disconnection from family and community and purpose.

Orange is a master of voice and character, the downside to which is that this book felt unrelenting, especially in the present day portions. Orvil, his brothers Lony and Loother, their grandmother Jacquie and her sister Opal, and Orvil’s friend Sean, struggle hard against the hurts in their lives, and while certainly not every story needs to be a feel-good one (and frankly, telling the story this way did feel very honest to what Orange seemingly wanted to convey), as a reader there were few places to catch my breath. More critically, I disliked the pacing - we breezed past Charles Star (Jacquie’s grandfather)’s seemingly harrowing experience in a residential school with the lightest touch, spending more time with the white jailer and later school schoolmaster. I can’t say that felt like pages well spent.

I wished to refrain from giving this a star rating (though NetGalley won’t allow me to), because as difficult as it was to get through, I can’t say I regret the experience. A story like this isn’t meant to be enjoyable. I have quibbles with the pacing but if you’ve read There There and want more (and you should read There There first, I think) than this book may be for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wandering Stars was a highly anticipated read for me this year, but I think it was ultimately a case of “it’s me, not you” with it not working for me. Tommy Orange is a talented writer and Wandering Stars touched on several important topics - history of the treatment of Indians in America, boarding schools, massacres, and addiction.

There were perhaps too many things being covered over a span of time, and I would have enjoyed the book more if it dove deeper into any one or two things. Addiction is the central theme of the second half of the book, and I thought that part was very well done.

I was very excited to read this as I thought There There was powerful. Wandering Stars continued with the same powerful prose and was unrelenting in its viewpoint. Tommy Orange is a force!

Wandering Stars is incredible! Truly a masterpiece. Can be read on its own but I highly recommend reading There There first. Incredible story of addiction, recovery and navigating relationships within your family. As a white American, this story opened my eyes to experiences I could never really understand otherwise. Tommy Orange is a phenomenal author and I will auto buy anything he writes. I felt such a strong, emotional connection to each character and the family this book follows. Highly recommend for ANYONE and everyone to read. Everyone should read these books!

Thank you Net Galley for providing this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the eARC of this book.

2.5 stars rounded up

There There was such an impactful book for me, I loved it. Orange’s second novel didn’t quite strike the same chord, unfortunately. The pacing felt off to me, with the beginning 1/3 being very very slow, and picking up a bit as we went along. This meant it took me a long time to read which made it difficult to keep track of the family and their connections. The writing is wonderfully brutal and honest, as is to be expected from Orange. But the story itself didn’t hold me until the last section.

Difficult subject matter that ends up telling an important story of Native American erasure and disconnect from history, but the way in which this story was told just didn’t do it for me.

TW: genocide, description of killing, addiction, cancer, loss of a parent, suicidal ideation, residential schools, torture, overdose

There's a lot to feel and process after reading this book. It was more hopeful than There, There and the second half takes place in the aftermath of the pow wow.

I've seen some reviewers complain about the disjointed narrative in the first part but that feels like a choice. So much was taken from the Native people, and the beginning is with a massacre, why would you want that to be your only history? The schools trying to take MORE and only successful when all of who you are as a native person is reduced to a memory, and then you become more and more distanced from the land and your people. That hole is filled with drink and drugs in these stories but the also the absolute belief that better is possible with the next generation. It's a story of that generational trauma, inflicted by the very people who still run the country today. And the second half seems more solid because it's rooted in the now, the reclaiming or attempting to figure out how to be Native in 2024. Or at least that's how I read it.

It's still heartbreaking but necessary and extremely well written.

Wandering Stars is the necessary follow-up to Tommy Orange's There There.... the rest of the story and also the beginning of the story that just begged to be written. Thoroughly unique in its approach, Wandering Stars is both a prequel and a sequel., and you absolutely have to read There There for the storyline to make sense. Like There There, Wandering Stars is dark, but in the end, it is full of hope as well. When generational trauma and poor choices merge, there is a sense of despondency that just wraps your heart in a cold vice. It is about hitting bottom (emotional, physical, or both) and finding one's way out on one's own on one's own terms.

Tommy Orange has a way of writing that makes you question why you never thought of things in that way before. Wandering Stars makes you think about what puts someone on a path towards rock bottom and what it takes to not only survive but find even a small way to thrive in the ongoing struggle. Sometimes surviving is thriving when there is so much to wade through. In the end though, it is about returning to one's roots and appreciating your history and family even when you don't think to do so in your darkest moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Wandering Stars, a follow-up to Tommy Orange's 'There There', is a fascinating multi-generational story about transgenerational trauma. It starts in the 1800's and continues until present time in Oakland, California. The definition of trangenerational trauma from Wikipedia is "the psychological and physiological effects that the trauma experienced by people has on subsequent generations in that group". Physiological trauma can follow generations through a mother's alcohol consumption or alcoholism which causes Fetal Alcohol Effects and Fetal Alcohol syndrome. If the mother is an addict, it can be expected that her child will likely be cognitively and/or physiologically disabled. People of color, and in this case Native Americans, have had centuries of racism, abuse, separation from families of origin, and the early wars they fought to keep their land from the talons of the United States.

Tommy Oranges' Wandering Stars is about several generations of the Star family. We meet them in different moments in time - Opal, Victoria, Jackie, Orville, Sean, and more, I first met Orville in 'There There' when he got shot at a Native American powwow. He is now recuperating from his gun shot wound and diagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He finds that he likes his opioid pain medication so much that he becomes addicted to it. His adoptive father Tom, a retired pharmacist, has made a new life for himself as a drug dealer, often providing Orville with the Percocet or other Opioids that he needs in order to numb his physical and psychological pain.

Orville has faced racism his whole life. His stint in roller hockey ended with one of the players intentionally harming him and breaking his back. As he recovers, he tries very hard to find out who he is and what it means to be a person of many races - Native American, Black, and Caucasian. He attempts to fit in and make himself 'whiter' but he is trapped in a cycle of hate and violence that will follow him from the past.

This novel about the Star family is poetic and intense. Pain, angst, addiction, violence and self-hatred are internalized in the characters. There is also a true recognition of pride and the power of the generations that went before. I often wondered if the author had lived through some of the events he describes. I enjoyed this book very much but, in my opinion, it didn't quite come up to 'There There'. Some of the dialogue felt stilted and somewhat forced and the narrative lagged in parts. Despite this, 'Wandering Stars' is a novel I would recommend. I'd encourage readers to read 'There There' prior to 'Wandering Stars' if possible. It helps as an introduction to the characters and events spoken about.

The writing is really good - Tommy Orange clearly is a great storyteller. But I'm struggling to figure out why this didn't work as well for me as There There did. I think it might be in part because I had a hard time at points with the pacing. There were certain moments where I was hooked and then others where I felt like it was dragging.

I don't think you need to have read There There to pick this up - but it does add helpful context.

** I received an e-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you have read Tommy Orange’s debut novel There, There, you will find a back-story, a family history, in his second novel, Wandering Stars. Spanning at least 150 years between the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and the near present, Orange’s Wandering Stars brings a multi -generational family to life on the pages. Beginning with a boy eventually adopting the name Jude Star, who survived the massacre as well as time at Fort Mason in Florida and soon moving on to Jude Star’s son Charles Star, sent to Carlisle Indian School, the novel makes its way through the Native occupation of Alcatraz Island in the late 1960s to early 1970s , on to the days of online education, DNA testing for genealogical purposes, and more.

Dedicated to all those who have “survived or not survived” addiction, Wandering Stars also depicts generations of drug addiction—whether peyote intended for ceremonial purposes or physician-prescribed opioids to alleviate pain. Although each character has his or her individual story, many face similar addictions. Add to that the shared heritage dating back to the Sand Creek Massacre, and one might classify Wandering Stars along with other recent novels depicting generational trauma.

Tommy Orange has also done his historical research. Wandering Stars should appeal to many historical fiction readers. They will learn about the Native contingent in Teddy Roosevelt’s inaugural parade and encounter a quotation from Roosevelt in which he counts the Sand Creek Massacre as “as righteous and beneficial a deed as ever took place on the frontier.” Most readers are likely to meet Richard Henry Pratt for the first time—the man in charge of Fort Mason and later of Carlisle Indian School, who devoted himself to trying to turn his charges into darker-skinned “white” men and women, boys and girls. They will also encounter a captivating chapter in which Pratt grapples with his sense of failure but determines to place the blame elsewhere.

Orange divides Wandering Stars into three parts—“Before,” “Aftermath,” and “Futures,” each subdivided into chapters. Taken as a whole, Wandering Stars provides a context for There, There but can easily be read without having first read the debut novel. Most of all, Wandering Stars helps non-Native readers better understand Native history and challenges, the latter at least in part brought on by that history—by a national effort to erase a culture and the damage that such a history can inflict.

Talk of literature, the importance of stories, and the desire to write popped up again and again. Certainly, Orange’s characters have stories to tell.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alfred A. Knopf for the advance reader e-galley of this highly recommended second novel by Tommy Orange.

Shared on GoodReads and Barnes and Noble.

Thank you to #NetGalley and to A..A. Knopf Publishing for sending along this novel in exchange for an honest review. The only regret I experienced while reading it was that I had neglected to reread Tommy Orange's first novel -- "There There" -- in advance.

"Wandering Stars" is Orange's powerful and loosely related follow up to his debut (at least in relation to the second half of this new release) and its scope was stunning.

I read this carefully with the intention of providing a thoughtful review, and was immediately swept up in the historical account of Native American displacement and generational trauma, beginning with the Sand Creek massacre and moving through subsequent decades via the ancestors of Charles Star (a survivor of the massacre). The first half of the book is about Star's legacy, and offspring, and the written account he left behind, The experiences, loves, losses, and heartbreak of these characters passed along through future generations, until the novel arrives in the modern day to pick up on the Red Feather family featured in "There There." The transition is seamless and satisfying, the grandmothers - Opal and Jacque - carried forward into the second half of the book, as guardians of Orvil, Loother, and Lony Red Feather. Tommy Orange included a detailed family chart at the beginning of the novel which was an excellent resource for reorienting to characters and how they interrelated.

The novel was heartbreaking and uplifting, incredibly educational and unlike anything I can remember in its arrangement (almost moving from a prequel to a sequel to Orange's (incredible) debut. Looking forward to rereading There There AND this new release back to back. Absolutely wonderful!!!

Thank you to Knopf for a copy of Wandering Stars via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, out now!

Literary/Historical Fiction. Starting from the Sand Creek Massacre of 1964, we follow survivor Star and the generations that come after him. From making his way with a fellow survivor to being sent to prison and then working his own land, to his son being sent to Carlisle Indian Industrial School to “kill the Indian but save the man”, to his descendants Orvil, Lony, and Luther who survived the shooting at the Pow Wow in modern day Oakland. In the aftermath of being shot, Orvil struggles with life, addiction, and identity in ways that will rock his family and changed them all forever.

This started very slow for me and didn’t really draw me in until it dove into where Orange’s first book “There There” left off. The chapters felt very disjointed at first because of the time jumps and character POV changes, but this could have been intentional to highlight how Native Americans have been mistreated and systemically have had their culture dismantled over the last few hundred years. Orange’s portrayal of addiction throughout the book and how hard it is to break the cycles of addiction after generations is heartbreaking and real. It’s a very heavy book and definitely not one you can fly through, but it was beautifully written and (unfortunately) told from a POV that has been overlooked for much of American history,

The first half of this book was slow. There are two very distinct acts to this book. The first half is a dedication to the history of a family of Cheyenne people, suffering through addiction, among many other trials and tribulations. It finally leads to the second half, which is the modern day story of the most recent generations, also suffering from addiciton, especially after one of the grandsons is shot while dancing at a powwow and is prescribed drugs for the pain.

This story is beautiful and contemplative, a bit hard to read. However, the depiction of family dynamics while suffering through the disease of addiction over generations was incredibly engaging. If I'd given up after the first half, I wouldn't have enjoyed the beauty of the end of the book! I annotated many quotes, which I never do, because of the beauty of the author's words.

I recommend to those who enjoy generational tales and familial drama, with the trigger warning of addiction.

Much thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this novel.

<i>Wandering Stars</i> is a beautiful literary constellation, a hybrid prequel and sequel to the author's debut novel, <i>There, There</i>. The book opens with Star, a young survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre, as he navigates a world so unlike the one he was born into. A world where he is forced to learn English and practice Christianity. A world where the motto is that in order to save the man, you must kill the Indian. From there, we follow his lineage, down to young Orvil Redfeather, who is healing from the aftermath of events at the end of <i>There, There</i>.

This is a much quieter novel. <i>There, There</i> was propulsive in the way it created tension as the reader hurdles towards a brutal, horrific climax. <i>Wandering Stars</i> is more introspective and reflective. The plot, quite literally, wanders. The characters are stuck in this ebb and flow of time, thinking about the past and the future and the way everything is connected and broken. We see the consequences of colonialism in the way memory and tradition and family was impacted, and, most harrowingly, the way that this has led to generations of addiction and self harm.

This is a heavy novel. I saw so much of my history in these pages that I frequently had to put it down to sit with what I had read. I loved being back with the characters from the first book, especially Opal Victoria Bear Shield, but the pain and the hurt and the harm that is in this book is a lot. There was one character's POV, Sean Price, that I didn't particularly care for--mainly because I just wanted to spend time with the family and the characters I already loved.

Though this novel deals with addiction and colonization and violence, it's a book about love and wanting to connect to our past and our people. It's about surviving, even when all of the odds are stacked against you, and it's about surviving through love and community.

It's beautiful. It's heartbreaking. Orange's writing is poignant and cutting and cerebral. Sometimes it talks around what it's talking about, not because it wants to confuse the reader, but because sometimes the language we have been taught fails us. It doesn't get at what we want it to get at, so we have to approach it differently.

It's a book I already want to reread, but need to take some time away from for a while.