Tommy Orange is an excellent storyteller. It feels like he is weaving the past and present together to create a beautiful tapestry. I don’t know how else to describe it. I wasn’t sure what to expect beyond a continuation of the story after the events in There, There. I feel like he shattered my expectations with a deep and complicated history of the main characters’ ancestors. It’s been some time since I read There, There so I had to think a bit harder about who each of the characters were, but it came full circle. I appreciate the history that Tommy shares throughout this book and I learned a lot from it. I can tell that I’m going to think about this book for a while. I look forward to reading anything that Tommy Orange writes in the future.

This was a great follow up to There There. It was heartbreaking in so many ways. But encouraging in its own ways. Interesting to read books about Native Americans living in the city

For readers who enjoyed There, There by Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars revisits the family featured in that novel allowing us to witness the history of the ancestors. While there were many aspects of Wandering Stars that kept me reading and emotionally involved with the characters, I have come to the conclusion after reading both novels that Tommy Orange's writing style is not for me.

The topic of addiction plays an enormous role in Wandering Stars, as several characters battle various addictions and with varying consequences. The story moves back into the early history of the family, and although it is clear that the history is being told to give perspective on the present day, the connections are not always clear. There was a family tree in the front pages, which was very helpful, as there are numerous characters that I struggled to keep straight.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the digital copy of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. The opinions in this review are my own.

Tommy Orange takes us even closer into the hearts of the characters we came to love in There There. And while the story is still choked with grief, it isn't without hope. This story takes us into the past, to the roots of the story we read in There There, and then carries us to the aftermath of the tragic shooting. Broadening that horizon, so we get the wide-angle view of how this generational trauma defines our path. But every node on that path is a choice that was made--so there's empowerment in knowing that our choices can change the future. Another classic from a gifted author whom I hope will have a long and fruitful literary career.

I thought Wandering Stars was a remarkable and worthy follow up to There There. The novel takes us from the heartbreaking history of the Bear Shield and Red Feather families, reaching back to the Sand Creek Massacre and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and its very flawed founder, Richard Henry Pratt, whose motto was "kill the Indian, save the man."
Wandering Stars shows how the reverberations of these horrors continue to the present day, creating the continued struggles of displacement, forced assimilation, addiction and family trauma into modern times. The blended Bear Shield and Red Feather families now live in modern day Oakland, struggling to maintain their family bonds and their identities. The novel brings us forward to where There There left off, following the characters, Orvil, Lony and Loother, deeper as they move from teenagers to adulthood. It's not without more painful journeys but the novel also maintains a hopefulness as each finds their path.
Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced readers copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for providing me this Digital Advanced Readers Copy of the book!

Wandering Stars according to author Tommy Orange is a prequel, sequel, and stand alone book following his successful debut There, There. I read Wandering Stars first, then read There, There and then went back and reread Wandering Stars.
There, There is set in Oakland, Calif and follows a consecutive time sequence. Wandering Stars starts a couple of centuries earlier and highlights the US's attempts to annihilate Indian culture by force sending children to boarding schools where they dress as white children and only learn white culture. Orange then brings us back to Oakland and we follow many people, at least five different narrators, and get a strong sense of living in the present knowing very little about one's own background and culture but also knowing you are different from the Caucasian culture around you.

I found it easy to keep track of all the narrators. I come from Oakland and it was an eye opener realising that much of what is described in both books was going on around me and I had no idea. Orange's writing is lovely. Especially his dialogue amongst teens trying to find their way was very authentic. There is a lot of drugs which makes sense for people who have been misplaced, given no help finding their way back to a homeland and still, to this day, considered "other" by many people in the US. But that isn't Orange's focus. It's to tell the stories of these descendants from the tribes forced to give up their way of life and adapt to a white culture.

Wandering Stars is deeply moving. Reading it twice was a pleasure.

Tommy Orange has moved into my favorite authors folder - writing from his heartbeat, his genetic voices harmonizing into this anthem of a book.

He writes from the trauma of people who realized there really was no one to save them, and the few who survived to bear witness bled pain down the generations, trickled through the years, shattering and gathering through families, tears washing these pages for which you and I have been taught the great gift of reading this story in a language we understand from a writer who spills an erased history back into our world. . .And demands with an earned outrage why we don't, why we didn't, can we not do more. . .??!!?

Stunning, stellar and confounding. Lightning cracks my heart.

*A sincere thank you to Tommy Orange, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

I loved There There, but found Wandering Stars much harder to get into. Tommy Orange is an exceptional talent, but this book wasn't as engaging as his debut.

Orange picks up where he left when writing There, There. He explores the difficulties in embracing an identity when society is so desperately trying to erase you. The story tries to hit some of the same notes, but I felt further removed from the characters of this novel. I struggled with the character development of Ovril’s ancestors. It seemed a bit messy to me. Nevertheless, I love Orange’s way with words and his narrative ideas.

A powerful continuation of the people we met in There, There but also a prequel that goes back centuries. We meet narrators in battle, imprisoned in Florida, their jailer there who goes on to teach at the Carlisle Indian School, and all the connections take us forward to Oakland, CA. We pick up Orvil and his family after the events of There, There. Deep pain has resulted from that shooting and continues in their lives in various forms. But Orange's writing enlightens and gives hope as this family survives together so many challenges.

I left this one on my shelf for quite a bit because a Tommy Orange book is a commitment. This is both a prequel and sequel to There There. First the back story to set the stage for the intergenerational trauma that reverberates throughout this book. A massacre, the schools, being raised white all traumas that followed the generations.

Then back to Orvil and his family. With the urban Native experience. It would have been easier for me to read a book with less people telling the story but this book is not about it being easy. It is showing the ramifications throughout the family. I would have loved more in depth character development and story however.

It’s not an easy book but it is a necessary one.

I wasn’t sure where this book was headed in the first few chapters. I felt like as soon as I got to know a character, they disappeared or died. The timing was a bit off, and I was worried I wasn’t going to enjoy the book. Boy, was I wrong.

Wandering Stars was such a beautiful portrait of family and ancestry. I loved how the stars referenced in the title could be associated with so many different entities in the book - Star and his ancestors, the star-shaped bullet fragments in Orvil’s body, the stars in the universe that are more numerous than the grains of sand on earth.

I had no idea this was connected to Orange’s debut novel There, There - I’ve learned it’s both a prequel and sequel to that story, but it stood on its own. I would love to go back and read There, There - see familiar characters and learn more about the events that changed the lives of Orvil and Lony, Opal and Jacquie.

I learned so much from this book. There are literal parts of history being shared in fictional works like this that are never taught to us in school and aren’t mainstream history. It’s absolutely absurd what we don’t learn. I’ve just recently learned about assimilation and residential schools in my adulthood. I had no idea about the Occupation of Alcatraz, and because of this book, I was able to learn more about that major historical event. I learned more about the different American tribes, including the sheer amount of them, which really further exacerbated the things I don’t know, but gave me enough information to do more research and learn. I really enjoy when a book can weave true events into a created story. It’s both educational and entertaining, bringing together the best of what books have to offer.

This book is poetic but modern. It’s beautiful and un-boring. It’s both fact and fiction, wrapped into a heartbreaking novel of despair and hope, understanding the past and looking toward the future. In short, I absolutely adored it and will certainly read more of whatever Tommy Orange writes.

I am convinced Tommy Orange is going to be considered one of THE greatest writers of my generation. Everyone should be reading his books and I hope he never stops writing and giving voice to the characters he creates. I will say I was hoping for a bit more about the older generations - more of the stories of not just the Sand Creek massacre, but also institutions like the Carlisle school. However, I appreciate the honesty of this narrative, that although this is a fiction account, Orange did not feel the need to use overdramatized imagery to tell these stories. I could go on and on, but ultimately, I want to recommend that everyone pay attention to Tommy Orange. Read his words.

2nd book from this Native American author. Happy to support. I bought a physical copy of this book to add to my library

In his second novel, Tommy Orange tells another powerful story of Native Americans life. This time he focuses on one family line, beginning several generations earlier. This book reads as two different stories; the first part traces the early generations of the Red Feather family. Through several characters, we get to experience the traumas of the Sand Creek Massacre, the forced assimilation of the Indian Industrial Schools and work programs, and then the Alcatraz community that was mentioned in There There. The second part of the book is an immersive story of the after effects of trauma on a contemporary Native American family in Oakland. Characters are given the time and space to deal with the consequences of violence in a variety of ways. It is a beautiful story of a family dealing with the most challenging experiences in a real way.

I strongly recommend this book, and I will continue to read Tommy Orange's work. He is an incredible writer and voice for the Indigenous experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing an eARC in return for an honest review.

Not as good or as memorable as the first book but still beautiful and worthwhile in its own right. Good follow up to the aftermath of the pow wow and the consequences of what happened during that tragedy

WANDERING STARS by Tommy Orange will stun you and keep you reliving the sordid events of this family history. Thank you to the author, @netgalley, and the publisher, @aaknopf for the e-ARC.

"Stories are more than comfort. They take you away and bring you back better made."

A family saga of the Cheyenne starting during the birth of settler colonial America, this story is told from multiple family members' POV as the generations go on. One of my favorite aspects of this book was the multiple types of voice (second person future, first person present, etc) that each family member told the stories in. That is a pretty difficult task to ensure narrative flow but it was a very unique way to show different voices.

The story follows themes of living under violence, addiction and suppression of grief and other negative feelings. There are discussions of forced integration, stolen land and culture, including residential schools. The family struggles through separation from their culture and finding their way back generations later.

This book is a slow, quiet, steady pierce to your heart followed by some wholesome mending. Highly recommended for anyone interested in reading an indigenous story set through multiple generations of living, trauma and survival.

Oof, what to say about this book? I loved it and i hated it. It was so long and too short. It was beautiful and ugly. Suggested for readers of Demon Copperfield, A Little Life, and Shuggie Bain. Will tear you apart and somewhat put you back together again. So many TWs - drug and alcohol abuse, death, suicidal ideation, illness, family drama, being a Native American, being alive during the pandemic...I could continue. Highly recommended but just know it's a hard book.

I could have easily highlighted this whole book, but here's some my favorite quotes:

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Stories do more than comfort. They take you away and bring you back better made.

Sean had basically shit on white liberals celebrating diversity without really addressing the white supremacist, systemic problems that made diversity so necessary feeling as to be celebrated by white people who want so bad to be on the right side of history they forget they’re inevitably on the white side of history.

A bad thing doesn’t stop happening to you just because it stops happening to you.

The past was the past and it had passed

We come from prisoners of a long war that didn’t stop even when it stopped.

I don’t trust people who just believe, like without knowing anything or because they need to believe what they want to believe in more than they care about whether the thing they’re believing in is worthy of believing in, but I wouldn’t ever want to become a nonbeliever.

People come in and out of your life in a way that feels wrong.

I’ll tell you one thing I learned, if you’re an addict and trying to drink or use like normal people you have to make rules for yourself and follow them.

Rules like don’t do anything until after you get all the shit you need to get done, done.

He just wants a break from being alive and to come back from that break with more life.

That’s what addiction had always felt like, like the best little thing you’d forget on the worst day possible, or the worst big thing on a day in a life you thought kept getting better because you kept getting high.

The hardest part about sobriety after all this time is still not getting high anymore. Which isn’t the same thing as staying sober.

The reality of getting high again is nothing but mess and regret.

I had a memory the weight of a body about you all and I carried it with me everywhere, slung over my shoulder.

What an excellent follow up to There There! Instead of all the characters making their way together, in Wandering Stars, they are drifting all drifting their separate ways. While they drift, their bonds and heritage are too strong to let them fully separate.