Matthew L.M. Fletcher’s “Stick Houses: Stories” is a collection of short stories, many of them flash fiction, broadly focused on what it’s like to be an Anishhinaabeg Native American from Michigan. These stories span a range of genres and styles, and many of them focus on themes like family, estrangement, isolation, identity, struggle, and reunion. As a whole, this collection is highly eclectic and asks for readers who are fairly skilled in reading literature.

Curiously, while I can recognize the tremendous skill that went into writing the stories contained in this book, I didn’t particularly like reading it. Fletcher demonstrates a lot of range as a writer; his stories take us into realism, absurdism, literary fiction, and science fiction, as we encounter tones ranging from humor to sadness and fear and prose styles that vary from minimalist to more ornate and literary. The skilled characterization also meant that even in the shortest pieces the characters felt like unique, three-dimensional, imperfect people. I particularly felt connected to the characters Violet and Sarah from “Sarah’s Sister” a story about two sisters who find each other after being estranged by Child Protective Services and the adoption system.

That being said, I’m not sure why it wasn’t the book for me. I think, perhaps, based on the title and introduction, I expected all of the stories to be obviously about the experience of being Native American. After all, the introduction did say, “These stories are all fictional, sometimes bordering on science fiction or fantasy, but much of what goes on in this collection happened to me or someone I know,” which didn’t prepare me for an absurdist (I think) fable featuring a character called simply “the Iranian.” To be fair, though, “An Iranian in de Gaulle” was one of my favorites, and could be interpreted as being about being stuck between places or cultures, which I imagine describes some Native American people’s experiences. I probably would have also preferred many of the stories if they had been longer and, thus, had had more time to develop their premises. That might just mean, though, that the book and I were a mismatch.

I mean in no way to discourage others from reading this book. Certainly read it if it interests you, but also know that it might not be what you’re expecting if you’ve read the description.

TW: Racial slurs, r slur, f slur, physical violence, sexual harassment, brief description of CSA, bullying, gun violence, murder, suicide, adoption, family separation, child abuse, fatphobia

'Stick Houses' is an interesting collection of stories, tracing the various experiences of Ashinaabe people (indigenous tribes) in Michigan, who have found different ways to make sense of their cultural and personal displacement. Some of the stories are set in the US in a speculative future and others appear to be rooted in the late 20th C/early 21st Century.

This collection is hit and miss for me. Although I really enjoyed quite a few stories, and found the premise of every story interesting, some of them felt underdeveloped, more like the beginning of something, or a backstory rather than a complete narrative. I think some of the stories would work better as part of a novel where these characters' personal narratives are interweaved.

My favourite stories were the quirky or speculative stories: 'An Iranian in de Gaulle' (a man who can't leave an airport), 'House by the Sea' (the arrival of a hostile tribe), 'The Chain Gangs' (warring gangs -- I won't give away the twist) and 'The Sons of Leopold' (set in a dystopian world where cultural appropriation is taken to the extreme) In fact, I think 'The Sons of Leopold' would make a good novella. These stories seemed to breathe a little more, had the most context and seemed to say something about the ways in which large groups displace smaller groups.

I also liked the stories which focused on the difficulty of fractured families and friendship groups reuniting, such as, 'Truck Stop', 'Ten-year Visit' and 'Sarah's Sister'. I appreciated the references to the part the United States government played in the displacement of the Ashinaabe people and the splitting of families, and the honest portrayal of how the Ashinaabe characters did or didn't overcome what had been done to them.

*Due to the layout of this early eArc, stories ran into each other. Without titles or paragraph separation, I read three stories in a row thinking it was one story with slight narrative shifts. This highlighted to me that some of the characters seem like the same people and aren't distinctive enough (one character appeared in two stories, so maybe more characters crossed stories and I missed something).

Overall, I liked the nature of the stories, and Fletcher's writing style, but I needed more. I would read a longer work by this author, though.

Thank you to netgalley and Michigan State University Press for making this eARC available.