Cover Image: We Still Belong

We Still Belong

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We Still Belong by Christine Day is a great story about a 7th grader indigenous student on Indigenous Peoples Day. As an indigenous women, it’s a story I wish I had as a kid and I’m glad future kids will have this.

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Thank you to #NetGalley, Christine Day, and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Wesley writes a poem for Indigenous Peoples' Day that she is really proud of, but her teacher's reaction to the poem has her thinking she should not express herself. Will the help of family and friends help show Wesley it's okay to be proud of who she is?

I loved Wesley's character and this book! I hope it shows young kids it's okay to be themselves and they show be proud of where they come from!

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Wesley has a poem published in the newspaper, one she is very proud of because it's about Indigenous Peoples' Day. It is a day she realizes is largely ignored and uncelebrated. A heartwarming story about belonging and facing fears, We Belong lacks a true theme that runs throughout the book. Occasionally, there is an overarching theme, but it is often ignored for minor plots. Wesley's culture and community connection could have been highlighted more.

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We Still Belong is a thoughtful middle grade novel about a young Indigenous girl trying to find her voice and her place in the world. Wesley deals with lots of typical middle school angst -- pining over a crush, teacher problems -- but she also has some issues at home (her mom is struggling financially) and she's constantly feeling "not Native" enough. This heartfelt novel is a winner!

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Wesley is excited to have her poem about Indigenous Peoples’ Day published in the school newspaper, and is also super nervous to ask her crush and gamer friend Ryan to the dance.

As always, Christine Day delivers a wonderful story that begs to be read and re-read. This one is definitely going to be a comfort book for me, and I'm sure tons of young readers will agree. We Still Belong is full of relatable characters in realistic situations, such as how Wesley lives with extended family as well as her mom, a character's parents are going through divorce, and Wesley waits for the reaction from her peers and teachers after her poem is published in the school newspaper.

We Still Belong may only follow Wesley for a single day, but in that time readers get to engage with a gorgeous setting, meet her family, see her school life, and attend an intertribal powwow where Wesley is reminded of how loved and cherished she is as a member of her community.

I especially enjoyed the focus on family, standing up for oneself, and learning to trust oneself. This delightful novel is full of humor and heart, creating space for compelling characters that leave the reader feeling loved, reassured, cherished.

This book gave me all feels. The range of representation in how varied Native people can appear is so inclusive and loving. That’s it— this book feels so loving. While blood quantum politics is tackled, the heart of this story is beautifully shown through the reality that though Wesley is not an enrolled tribal member, she still belongs: to community, to her family, to her tribal Nation, to herself.

I didn’t want this book to end. I loved every moment spent with Wesley, enjoying her voice and way of moving through the world. Wesley’s confidence, even when she was not in fact feeling confident, so precisely captures that age and feeling of both complete security in your identity and also the concern that maybe you’re totally wrong.

Once again, Christine Day leaves readers feeling loved, cared for, and having heard an excellent story from an interesting, lovable main character. She’s one of those authors who you can safely buy any of her books and never be disappointed. Each title is highly re-readable, full of incredible characters and beautiful stories.

We Still Belong will be available August 1, 2023.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Heartdrum for an e-ARC such that I could share my honest opinions.

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I'm always on the lookout for great middle-grade fiction, and you guys, this is a really good one.

Wesley Wilder is a 12-year-old girl whose family is Upper Skagit. However, she is only a 1/4 native, so not an official member, which she struggles with this throughout the book. She wrote a poem for Indigenous Peoples Day that was printed in her school newspaper, and she was really excited about how her teachers and other students would react to it.

This book was exactly what I want all diversity inclusion to look like. It was beautifully done, the poem was moving, and I think that this is the book you would want to recommend to young readers. It's a slice-of-life story, exploring the life of one native girl and her experiences. It's the kind of book you want to crawl into, like a warm blanket.

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**I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher. This is my honest review.**

This book follows one day (Indigenous Peoples Day) in Wesley's life but we get a LOT of story. Wesley's own developing understanding and views of her culture is explored but we also see how her family's experiences and views influence her as well. With many middle-grade novels focused on low-income MC's we usually see abusive homes. I was happy that the author showed how much Wesley's family cares and support each other. This book is a wonderful read with themes of culture, self-identity, coming of age, friendship, family, and taking risks. There are several important topics that are covered with sensitivity but also not shied away from. One of these is blood-quantum levels which is addressed in an age appropriate manner while still presenting both sides. Another is how some of Wesley's teachers and peers expect her to be aggressively outspoken about Indigenous People's Day vs. Columbus day. These topics were presented naturally within the story.
I think this is a great book for any middle-grader. As an adult the plot ran slower for me at times, but I would have devoured this book in middle school. I'll be keeping an eye out for future books by this author.

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I love, love, love that this book took place all in one day! It takes a gifted writer to tell a compelling story in one fourteen-hour period, but Christine Day knocked it out of the park. I loved Wesley's POV, her friends, her family -- and the way it all tied together at the end of the day...chef's kiss! I know that both of my kids will enjoy this one, but especially my teen writer.

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Thanks for the arc, netgalley!

I really enjoyed this story about a gamer girl wondering if the boy she likes will like her too, all in one big day! I loved the way her family supported her, and the way she was able to make friends with people she otherwise didn’t know. I especially loved how relatable she was, as someone who was shy and a bit stuck in her head, and someone who was proud of her heritage and didn’t always know the right thing.
Also Mac Wilder made me laugh so much!

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*I received an ARC of “We Still Belong” from NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers in exchange for an honest review.*

This is my first Christine Day middle grade novel and I can't wait to read more from her.

We Still Belong does a beautiful job of sharing Indigenous Peoples' Day and why it is important. It provides a window into life as an indigenous person in America and how they continue to be silenced and marginalized. It is an important book, one that I look forward to sharing with my kids.

On a lighter note it also has a very light first crush theme throughout the book that was very cute, very wholesome.

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3.5

It was a cute story but I don’t feel the point of “we belong” was really explored/mentioned as much as I thought it would be. Basically, I felt like it was too short of a story to really make the authors intended impact.

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Another lovely, understated story about Indigenous youth by Christine Day. One of the things I really appreciate about Day is the nuance and sensitivity she gives her characters. They are never just one thing and always multi-layered in a way that feels real. We Still Belong is a relatively simply story about a young Native girl in a primarily white middle school that fails to acknowledge, much less honor, Indigenous People's Day and the girl's interest in a white classmate. But while the primary plot is simple, the story is rich with deep background on issues as widespread at teenage pregnancy, blood quantum, colorism, family, friendship, mixed-race dating, intimate partner violence, culture, and identity all in an approachable format and context appropriate for 4th or 5th grade and above.

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I loved this book and was amazed at Christine Day’s ability to tell a full and complete story that had such a brief timeline. Wesley is an immediately relatable character for young readers as she navigates standing up for herself, exploring her identity, and dealing with a first crush. Day expertly handles all these themes. Wesley’s poem and feelings about Indigenous People’s Day are important themes to be included in the classroom and will provide many opportunities for meaningful discussion. Highly recommend.

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The middle grade novel We Still Belong by Christine Day (Heartdrum, August 2023) celebrates Indigenous People’s Day with Wesley Wilder, a girl with Native American heritage (Upper Skagit), as she heads to school for an exciting day. She can’t wait for the school population to see her poem in the school newspaper dedicated to her heritage, and she is excited and nervous about asking her crush to go to the dance with her. Her day does not go as she hopes, especially when she finds that no one else cares about Indigenous People’s Day. In the end Wesley does find those in the community that appreciate and understand why declaring “We Still Belong” is so important to her, her family, and her community.

The glimpse into a modern Native American family is a central highlight of We Still Belong. The author is a part of the Upper Skagit Nation, so I know the portrayals are accurate. I learned about “blood quantum” laws (which suggests people can be not “Native enough” to be welcomed into the Nation) versus the concept of family culture as identity. I saw a glimpse of some of the customs, such as the powwow celebrating Indigenous People’s Day. I also learned about some of the modern-day discrimination against Native people. One major disappointment for Wesley is when her English teacher doesn’t understand her poem and criticizes it, declaring she should have compared her indigenous heritage celebration with Columbus Day.

Although Wesley’s day doesn’t go as she planned, the book ends with hope as many celebrate her poem and her heritage with her. As a story, We Still Belong left me feeling a little bit unsatisfied. It took about half the book before Wesley’s teacher rejected her poem, and so the build up felt somewhat slow and anti-climatic. As a reader, I wanted to see a bit more character development and change for Wesley and her school community, maybe seeing her world expanded beyond the one day. I also honestly did not understand what her English teacher meant by his criticism of her poem. I guess this confusion is part of the point: Wesley and her family and friends were likewise baffled.

Even so, We Still Belong is a short-and-sweet middle grade novel for a young reader. I love the focus on community, family heritage, and specifically Indigenous People’s Day. I just felt something was missing to make it a stand-out novel.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Miigweetch to Orca Book Publishers and Netgalley for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

This was a slam-dunk for me!

I felt like the author did a fantastic job of writing in the middle grade voice, it was culturally sensitive, and educated readers while seamlessly telling a compelling tale.

I highly recommend this title.

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For starters, I'd like to say, I don't give away 5 star ratings lightly. But this book blew me away. The characters in this book are so relatable, especially to Indigenous people who are past that fourth generation and may or may not have the "right" blood quantum. Day addressed this concept in an excellent way, emphasizing that blood quantum is not as important as belonging.

Another thing I loved about this book is the intergenerational family. The blended cousin/sibling is an important cultural element of Indigenous families, and Day not only included it, but emphasized it through Wesley's feelings of possibly being separated. This author has been able to include their culture into this story without formally educating readers, but rather weaving it into every aspect of character development, plot, emotions, etc.

Lastly, I loved that Day emphasized that Indigenous people should not have to convince or argue that it should be Indigenous Peoples' Day versus Columbus Day. Wesley's teacher tried to criticize her poem that celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day and he said it needed to be crafted into an argument or persuasion. Indigenous people shouldn't have to argue, they should be able to celebrate without having to persuade anybody.


Middle grade readers from all backgrounds can relate to Wesley as she goes through a very challenging day, where all her plans go wrong. Personally, I cried twice.

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Wesley is excited about Indigenous Peoples' Day and about the school newspaper publishing the poem she wrote. Her language arts teacher has a policy of discussing articles written by class members and she is eager to hear what her peers have to say about the poem. But the entire class period goes by and he never brings it up. When she questions him about it, he says the poem was a missed opportunity and that she didn't really have a "clear thesis statement." As a friend points out to her later, the thesis statement is the title of the poem itself, "We Still Belong." What could be a clearer position to take about the continued existence and relevance of Indigenous people?

That isn't the only disappointment of the day. Like other middle school students, Wesley is figuring out who she is. She has friends, family, hobbies, and skills that make her unique. She is working up the nerve to ask a friend to a school dance, but hears through social media that he is unavailable. Her science teacher has rearranged the seating assignments, so that Wesley is now working with a new student who also seems to be having a hard day. Is anything going to go right?

But this is a resilient girl with a big heart. She makes unexpected friends by reaching out when she sees others in need. Her family and best friend Hanan, as well as others at school, praise her poem. There is an intertribal powwow to look forward to in the evening. And one of her favorite online gamers recognizes Indigenous Peoples' Day and gathers donations through a charity live stream event. Not everything has gone wrong after all.

Christine Day, herself a member of the Upper Skagit Tribe, has crafted another thoughtful and engaging story with believable characters that deal with situations that reflect real life. Perfect for readers who enjoy realistic fiction.

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We Still Belong
by Christine Day
Pub Date 01 Aug 2023
HarperCollins Children's Books, Heartdrum
Children's Fiction | Middle Grade | Multicultural Interest




A copy of We Still Belong was provided to me by HarperCollins Children's Books, Heartdrum, and Netgalley for review purposes:


From the very first word to the very last, this middle novel will captivate the reader's attention.


Wesley is going to have a very special day. In addition to her poem for Indigenous Peoples' Day, she plans to ask her crush, fellow gamer Ryan, to accompany her to the school dance.
However, as soon as Wesley boards the morning bus, her day begins to unravel. The day is filled with jittery emotions, unexpected encounters, and awkward conversations with her teachers.



Wesley is in store for even more surprises when she attends an intertribal powwow and discovers some truths that she does not find surprising. This includes the knowledge that she is as brave - and as loved - as she could ever hope to be.



I give We Still Belong five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

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Wesley is excited and nervous about two things - asking Ryan to the dance, and publishing her poem about Indigenous Peoples Day in the school newspaper. However, all her well thought out plans go awry, and she must figure out what she wants and what is important to her. Wesley's kindness and compassion is on display throughout the book. Her character is one you wish you had as a best friend! In the book Day also weaves in information about modern Indigenous culture seamlessly. The story was beautiful and hopeful and exactly the right type of book we need right now. Highly recommended.

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Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This book talks about the main character, Wesley and how it’s like being Native American and a middle schooler. She’s unsure of herself at times, as are most middle schoolers. She thinks she is the only Native student at her school but she later learns she isn’t. I like that the author put facts about Christopher Columbus that many people probably haven’t heard or forgotten about.

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