I adored Firekeeper's Daughter, and was so excited to get my hands on this one. One of the things Angeline Boulley does beautifully is weave her characters' Native American cultural practices into the story. She does that again with this book, and I think it's the best part of the book. Learning about the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the theft of indigenous artifacts and remains was eye-opening and changed the way I think about museum collections. It's easy to think about historical objects as static, but this book illustrates how preservation of ancestral burial grounds and practices is an ongoing part of many tribes' religious beliefs. Disrupting those burial sites isn't just digging up something from the past, but interfering with an ongoing communion between the living, the earth, and the ancestors' spirits. And that's not even getting into the ways institutions manipulate the language of the law to deprive Native American tribes of the respect owed to them.

Perry is a great character to follow. She's complicated and nuanced because she makes decisions and takes actions that are technically illegal, but in attempts to counteract a system which is biased and deeply problematic. You can't help but root for her because of how much she cares about her community and her culture. The supporting characters are also great-I loved Shense, was so happy to see the return of Granny June, and enjoyed getting insight into what happened to Daunis after Firekeeper's Daughter.

I felt like the mystery element of this story dragged the plot down a bit. There's an important discussion about the issues around Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and how legislation protecting women from violence has loopholes that create opportunities for predators to harm indigenous women with little consequences. However, the progression of the MMIW mystery plot just felt a little jerky to me. The breadcrumbs leading to the reveal were mostly there, but so much of the story focused on the NAGPRA discussion that the MMIW case almost felt like an afterthought. I still loved this book overall, but that's why I gave it four stars instead of five.

when I think about books I love to think about, they all have one core element in common — they manage to both comfort and challenge me to learn, to feel, to live. boulley’s latest achieves precisely that.

in it, we see the world through the eyes of Perry Firekeeper-Birch, a young Ingenious woman living in Sugar Island. Perry is a twin, and while her other half strives for excellence, Perry’s only big goal is maximizing her time fishing. At least until she crashes her car, and in response, her family forces her to work as a Kinomage intern. while initially seeming to pose a bane to Perry’s existence, her summer volunteering to work eventually for her Tribal Council sends her on a path of engaging with her ancestry and a confrontation of all the many ways colonists have — and continue to do so — oppressed, harmed and stolen from her community. except Perry decides enough is enough, hatching a plan to take back what rightfully belongs to her tribe. along the way, she reckons with budding romance and fights to protect the people she loves as reports of missing young Indigenous women, both in Sugar Island and nearby, continue to rise.

steeped in emotion, intrigue and reverent mysticism, Warrior Girl Unearthed paints a startling, vibrant portrait of present-day threats and issues borne by Indigenous communities across the country today. it is informative and immersive, proving, once again, that Angeline Boulley is a literary force unlike any other.

*thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.*

I had enjoyed the Firekeeper's Daughter and the way Angeline Boulley wrote it. So I was excited to read more from Angeline Boulley, it does what I was looking for from the author. I enjoyed how good the mystery was and getting to figure out what was going on. The cover was beautifully done and am glad I got to read this. I can't wait to read more from Angeline Boulley.

“Why don’t we just file a claim to repatriate it, since it’s ours?” Web asks, just as we had planned. “Because NAGPRA—the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act—applies only to museums and institutions that accept federal funding. It doesn’t include private collections or museums outside the United States. That’s why this snapping-turtle shaker, which belongs to a private collector, can be auctioned from a French auction house.”

An interesting story full of twists, turns, fun characters and overall a book I would consider reading time and time again.

Firekeeper's Daughter was one of my favorite books last year, so I was incredibly excited for this companion novel. I think this one may be even better, although it's also hard to discuss without spoilers.

There are links to Firekeeper's Daughter, but this is all very much its own story, too. (AND the door is left wide open for a direct sequel, not a companion novel.)

These are two of the best books I've ever read; Angeline Boulley is definitely an author to watch. Highly recommended.

I love being back on Sugar Island and with the community from Firekeeper’s Daughter. This book has more wide YA appeal as it focuses on a high school student. There is a lot to learn about reclamation that all readers will learn. I wish the pacing had been tighter. Plot was repetitive at times and action was drawn out. I would’ve liked more intensity to feel more like a heist. Things wrapped up rather quickly and perfectly in the last 20 pages.

** WILL BE PUBLISHED ON APRIL 3, 2023**
My Thoughts:
Angeline Boulley, native Indian author, probably one of 80 right now, worked in DC at Indian Affairs before leaving to become an author. What she brings to this book is an understanding of the bureaucracy of getting artifacts back to tribes. She brings this background into her sophomore book that she dubs "Indigenous Laura Croft, tomb raider." The way institutions are able to hide artifacts to loophole around policy may be fiction, but I am more worried that this just skims the surface and the true extent of grave robbery is even worse than it seems from this book.

I am also obsessed with the warrior girl. How do I learn how to be a tomb raider too? What part can I play in repatriation of my own ancestors? I think if I were a young indigenous kid reading this book, I definitely would like to seek out more answers.

The pacing moves a little slow at times, but the horrors at the end, especially the description of the silo is so purely evil and sick that I read too fast to get to the end and I did not see the twist coming until it was right in. front of me. Sick!

If you already read Firekeeper's Daughter, you will see Daunis show up as the aunt to Perry and her twin.

From the Publisher:
Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.

Publication information:
Author: Angeline Boulley

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.

Publication date: May 2, 2023

This book is so beautiful and incredibly informative. I loved how Boulley added in so much information on the reclamation laws/acts and look forward to learning more about this. The book is heartfelt with an excellent mystery attached to it. I especially enjoyed the Daunis update.