Curated by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@ashley_dicksonellison)
Today, I'm sharing five reviews of books by Indigenous authors. To celebrate National Native American Heritage month, we're looking back at a few of the many books by Indigenous authors that we have loved.
For each book, I'll share an excerpt from our full review. All of these reviews were written by us, and you can click the links to dive deeper into each book. If you decide to purchase any of the books, our affiliate links to Bookshop.org and Libro.fm are in the full reviews. We earn a small commission if you shop through those links, and we truly appreciate your support!
"Daunis Fontaine is an athlete and former hockey player, Levi’s half-sister, bi-racial, an unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe, a daughter and granddaughter, a best friend. She’s also loyal and stubborn and tough, dedicated to learning her tribe’s history but equally committed to the other, white and wealthy side of her family, including her mother.
"Angeline Boulley’s YA novel Firekeeper’s Daughter is as multilayered as its protagonist. It’s an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a mystery novel, a coming of age story, a romance. It addresses the multifaceted nature of Daunis’s identity without simplifying her or the varied communities to which she belongs." Click to read the full review.
"Tre Brun has been playing basketball on the rez his whole life, following in the footsteps of his father and his older brother, both basketball stars for the Red Lake Warriors who almost clinched state championships.
"But then Jaxon, Tre's older brother, dies in a tragic car accident, and basketball comes to mean even more to Tre. He vows, as a sophomore, to move up from JV to Varsity, to make a mark that will be a tribute to his brother, his hero." Click to read the full review.
"This novel, which falls in the horror genre but is a pretty light read for its category, is a fascinating and self-reflective look at the iconic aspects of slashers from the golden age of slasher films.
"The protagonist Jade is a bit of an expert when it comes to the details of slasher films, and she knows the ins and outs of the plot arcs as well as the archetypal characters in the slashers... and she realizes as she sees events unfolding around her in her small town of Proofrock that she might very well be living through a real life slasher. As bodies start showing up and as Jade identifies the 'final girl' who will surely be the center of the events, Jade tries to convince others around her that they are experiencing a slasher and that she can guide them through it to try to minimize the loss of life." Click to read the full review.
Cynthia Leitich Smith's Hearts Unbroken (from Sara):
"Hearts Unbroken is the story of Louise Wolfe, a Native teenager, Muscogee Nation. She deals with all of the normal teenage angsts-boys, friends, hormones, etc., but she also wrestles with what it is to be a Native person, the “Hollywood Indian” that is commonly used in the narrative of Thanksgiving and other historic events and on sports teams, what it means to be a Native person in America. She is navigating how to deal with the misappropriation of her culture and how to reconcile what she knows with what she sees in her world." Click to read the full review.
"Katherena Vermette's The Break is a brilliant novel set in Winnipeg and centered on a tragedy at the heart of a Métis family.
"The novel begins with a family tree, and that was definitely a sign of things to come. The narration alternates between ten characters—mostly women—whose connections aren't immediately clear. As the book unfolds, Vermette reveals gradually the subtle threads that tie each character to the next. We see characters whose vulnerability shifts to strength when they're needed, characters who conceal important truths, and others who share their truths as a matter of course. By focusing on these individuals, Vermette also reveals systemic problems, including the community's complicated treatment of those with Métis heritage, which means they have both Indigenous and European ancestry. The Break reveals a horrible trend of violence against women, the ways that some women fall victim to and perpetuate sexual violence and that other women stand strong against it. This is a novel of great nuance, with no easy heroes or villains: Vermette's ability to realize fully so many characters in such a short book is a marvel." Click to read the full review.
(A note to our readers: click on the hashtags above to see our other blog posts with the same hashtag.)
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
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