I'm really torn on this one. I wanted to love it, but I didn't. I understand that I probably wasn't the ideal reader for this book, since I'm a white woman who's met few Native Americans, but I've read lots of other books by own-voices authors from other marginalized groups that I found much more relatable and understandable. I thought the author did a good job of exposing the many microaggressions that Louise faced and I absolutely don't think anyone "owes" it to the world to debunk stereotypes or defend themselves microaggressions, but it seemed like the same thing over and over: Someone says something offensive or insensitive, Louise is quietly offended, chapter ends, repeat in the next chapter. I just didn't find Louise particularly likable, and as a high school teacher and theatre director, I didn't find a lot of the school parts (particularly the letters to the editor of the school newspaper) to be realistic. It's rare that ANYTHING provokes that much outcry in a high school, and I don't buy that casting actors of color would result in the entire community and school body in such an uproar (or that the former theatre director would go on record saying something so over-the-top). I appreciate the author's intent, and I do want to find more books for my classroom library that accurately and sensitively depict the Native experience, but I don't know if this is the one I'd choose.

<u>Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars</u>

I was very excited when I got the digital Arc for Hearts Unbroken, because the book had been on my radar for it’s interesting premise before! I mean “When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over email. ” sounds pretty intriguing to me, so I knew that I wanted to know more and was grateful that I got to read this book. Sadly, I didn’t end up liking the book all that much. <b>It’s not that the book is absolutely beyond redemption, but I had issues with the execution and story structure, so I cannot say that I enjoyed my reading experience</b>. Therefore, I went with 2 stars, because I had a hard time motivating myself to get through the book.

<b><u>First: The Good Things</u></b>

<b>I really liked reading about Louise and her family</b>. She is Native American and of Muskogee-Cherokee heritage, this aspect is also ownvoices. What I really appreciated is how the book tackled a lot of important social issues, from the microaggressions and prejudices against Native Americans to their impact on Louise and her interactions with the people around her. Another focus of the story was challenging the default of whiteness as seen by the school play that had actors of color cast, causing the white parents to protest, because their “children were being discriminated against”. I also loved Louise and how close she was with her family. Her brother Hughie was really sweet and I’m always a fan of close family relationships in books!

<b>I also loved Shelby and her relationship with Louise</b>. I immediately was fond of Shelby, as she just was a very cool person and I admired how hard she was working. She definitely had to rough, but stayed very strong. I loved the friendship Louise had with her and how later it was discussed that Louise had been taking her for granted along the way and left her hanging a bit when she got into a relationship. I really appreciated that this discussion took place.

<b><u>What didn’t work for me</u></b>

<b>There were too many characters for me to keep apart.</b> There were a few characters that stood out a bit more, but overall there were too many minor characters for me to keep apart. After reading this book I have forgotten about 70% of the characters names and couldn’t tell you the personality or function of any of them either. We were introduced to so many new characters in each scene in the beginning, that I had a hard time keeping up with it all. Even throughout the story, having so many characters impacted the depth of each of them, as we didn’t get to know them up so close.

<b>The scene structure and writing style left a lot to be desired.</b> The writing style wasn’t hard to get through or anything, but it also didn’t particularly impress me and in the beginning I had such a hard time getting into the story as something about the writing felt off to me. My bigger issue here, however, was that the scene structure was very weak and not cohesive at all. The chapters were all pretty short, but the issue were the scene breaks, as they were none existent. We just went from one scene directly into another, so it felt like the scenes were stacked after another, without their being a cohesive narrative for the book. Therefore, the story often felt disrupted when another chapter started and we were thrown into a completely different scene that didn’t feel connected to the one before.

<b>I also got a bit tired of Louise’ involvement in the school paper.</b> At first I was excited that we had a main character with a prevalent hobby in the story, but after a while it just felt like there was too much focus on the school paper. It took up so much of the book and felt more like a report of everything that happened, meaning there was a lot of telling of what happened, that got dry after a while.

<b>IN CONCLUSION:</b> <i>Hearts Unbroken</i> didn’t manage to make me care for its characters and story, because the scene structure was very strange and there wasn’t a cohesive story and narrative that impressed me. I liked that we saw a Native American protagonist with such a close relationship with her family, but <b>ultimately the execution of the idea was very lacking</b>.

Thanks again to Candlewick Press for sending me an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Love this book and the love Louise. She is strong and she is proud of who she is!

Really enjoyed this book and the messages that it talks about. Native voices are often left behind in the talk of diversity, so really thankful that I got the chance to review this.

DNF @ 29%

I liked the beginning of this, but I felt that first chapter had a sense of setting and momentum the rest I read lacked. I like the overall plot, and I think the short chapters can engage readers, but I felt it jumped from scene to scene, topic to topic, without enough connective tissue and didn't flesh each scene beyond the central point. That made it lack momentum for me and I really just need to put it down and move on.

putting this down at 28%

I just can't get into the flow of this book. the chapters are all 5 pages long and more often than not, just removed scenes. there seems to be very little over-arching story. and we also keep getting introduced to characters for one chapter and then don't hear of them again. it's dragging and making me feel slumpy so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

Note: I received a copy of Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted so badly to enjoy Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith; I loved the fact that this book had Native American representation — something I rarely see in Young Adult fiction. I loved the fact that this book touched on very important topics such as racism, bullying, and slut-shaming. I just couldn’t get behind the execution. Cynthia Leitich Smith’s idea was good, but in my opinion, the book absolutely failed.

I don’t say this very often, but I absolutely hated reading Hearts Unbroken. I actually exerted a sigh of relief once it was over. Once or twice, I considered throwing this book in the virtual DNF pile, but somehow managed to push through.

The scenes & chapters in Hearts Unbroken are extremely choppy. Multiple times I wondered how we got to a particular scene, because at one point Louise is in one place with someone, and a line down she’s somewhere totally different with no transition whatsoever. I know there’s time to edit between ARC & finished copy, but this ARC read just like a first draft.

Another thing that really irked me were the amount of characters, and how there’s zero amount of room for development. I cared very little for any of the characters, including Louise. There’s literally no time or reason to connect and grow attached to any of the characters, and for me that’s a very important aspect of a book. I! want! to! love! or! hate! the! characters! By the time I finished this book, I didn’t care what happened to any one.

Relating to the previous statement of zero development & too many characters; the book kind of touches on the relationship between Louise and her best friend, Shelby. & when I say kind of, I honestly had forgotten who Shelby was until she showed back up. The character was extremely pointless to the story. But, I guess so were a majority of everyone else in Hearts Unbroken.

I hate that I can probably keep going with my rant, but then we’d jump into spoiler-ground. I would never recommend this book to anyone. It was just kind of a mess & I’m hoping the finalized copy somehow managed to be 10x better.

I love a good journalism novel, especially one with a scrappy teenage reporter. Hearts Unbroken did a lot of great things, and it was great to read this ownvoices Mvskoke novel.

[su_quote style="modern-orange" cite="Goodreads" url=”GOODREADS LINK TO YOUR BOOK"]

When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. It’s her senior year, anyway, and she’d rather spend her time with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, the ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper’s staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director’s inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town.

From the newly formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater to anonymous threats, long-held prejudices are being laid bare and hostilities are spreading against teachers, parents, and students — especially the cast members at the center of the controversy, including Lou’s little brother, who’s playing the Tin Man. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey — but as she’s learned, “dating while Native” can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey’s? [/su_quote]

I received an eARC of Hearts Unbroken from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Hearts Unbroken needs trigger warnings for casual racism, casual anti-indigenous racism, focused racism, focused anti-indigenous racism, use of ableist terms, historical racism, and slut shaming. There's so much racism in this book, y'all. Please take care of yourselves while you read it.

Lou is very definitely a teenager, and it's great that the book allows her to be. She's selfish, she's rude, and she's real. She wanted a boyfriend and wasn't afraid to say so Her actions, and work to repair the hurt she caused, set a great example for young readers without being preachy.

Speaking of preachy, I hated how realistic the local church's hatred of some of its community members was. It's a huge reality in a small town, one I'm very familiar with.

However, I loved how important Lou's family was to her and their way of life. It's refreshing to see a family that involved in their kids lives. I loved reading her protectiveness over Hughie. Their parents' protectiveness over both of them while allowing them to make their own mistakes was wonderful.

I also loved having to take a hard look at one of my favorite films -The Wizard of Oz- and the reality that its creator being an absolute racist asshole. It's something I didn't know about Frank Baum, and I'm glad that I do now. Leitich did a fantastic job handling everyone learning about his racist ways, and discussing how that affected their choices to perform or not.

If Hearts Unbroken sounds like a yellow brick road you want to follow, you can pick up a copy on Amazon or Indiebound through our affiliate links!

[su_box title="ABOUT HEARTS UNBROKEN" style="default" box_color="#ff4400" title_color="#f2f2f2" radius="3" class=""]

Title: Hearts Unbroken

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Length: 304 Pages

Release Date: October 9, 2018

Rating: ★★★★ / Four stars

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

Representation: Native American Main Character (Mvskoke), Native American side characters, Arab American Love Interest, sapphic side characters, disabled side character, Native American Author,

[/su_box]



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This one had so much potential. I definitely do encourage everyone to try this one for yourself, as my biggest issue was the writing, which is something that is very subjective. The writing was very passive and just really missed emotion and tension. Some terrible stuff happens to the characters but I didn’t really feel anything while reading the book. Because of the writing it was really hard to connect to the characters and the story.

I also felt like this story still needed a lot of editing. Like Louise and Joey are making their way to the lockers and we get a description of their entire route which was very unnecessary. Or random notes like in this scene:

”Daniel can’t cover his own meets.” [about Daniel becoming the school paper’s sports reporter]
Alexis, the news reporter, had just returned from the restroom. ”I’ll take it. I have an older brother who wrestled. The coach loved him.”
(The first meet isn’t until December anyway.)

I mean??? It completely took me out of the story. It felt so unnatural and it’s not relevant at all?

Chapters often ended in a way that didn’t really make me want to keep reading, nor did they start that way. I mean this is literally how one of the chapters start: ”A freshly microwaved pillow radiated heat into my neck and shoulders as my feet soaked in a copper basin of warm, seasalted water and Legally blonde played on the overhead screens.’ Or another great start: ‘Joey ran with a story tip from Alexis on injuries at the skate park’.

The romance was incredibly forced. We’re literally told that Louise likes Joey, but?? The characters talk as if it’s so obvious but it really wasn’t. There wasn’t really any build up nor chemistry. Also I uhhh kept forgetting they were dating every time I picked the book up. And I read each day until I had finished it, so it wasn’t like that much time had passed.

The book does cover a lot about what it means to be Native American and racism. The plot itself is good, just the execution not so much. Again, I definitely encourage you to try this one for yourself.

Summary
In her senior year of high school, Lou decides to join the school paper, not expecting anything beyond learning this new craft and getting something impressive to put on college applications. But then the school's theater director casts a black student and Lou's own younger brother in the production of Wizard of Oz, and this kicks off quite a bit of backlash in their small Oklahoma town, with cries of 'PC culture gone amok' and parent activist groups. Lou struggles to report on the goings on fairly, but also support her brother and navigate the racism that comes her way, as well. Add to that, she meets a cute boy on the paper and starts to develop feelings for him, but she's shy about jumping into a relationship after her last one rather dramatically imploded.
Writing for impression, not scenes
So, it took me a long time to get into this book because of the writing style, and I suspect that'll be the same for a lot of other readers. However, once I understood what the book was trying to do and adjusted my own reading habits, we clicked a lot more. I have a habit of reading in between tasks and letting the book tell me where to stop, with chapter breaks or somesuch, and that just didn't work in this book because the scenes are so short. Reading a handful at a time didn't work because they don't build on each other. My ADHD brain couldn't handle it!

But I noticed that I also couldn't stop thinking about the book after I put it down. When I decided to carve out some weekend time and just sit and read, when I let the whole of the book flow continuously, I was really happy with it.

I felt like the writing in this book is built for making an impression more than following a 'traditional' storytelling style. The rapid-fire nature of scenes, the repetition of certain points, the way things get cut off, is individually frustrating but altogether evoke some pretty powerful feelings and impressions. I got a sense of the ever-present underlying racism much better from having short instances brought up repeatedly than I ever could from one "well"-developed scene. I felt Lou's exhaustion from leaving these things unchallenged much more from the way scenes ended than I ever could from any narration she might have delivered. It was storytelling via structure, and I find it fascinating.

The Characters

There's a wealth of characters in this novel, most of them with small roles but all of whom are distinct and interact with Lou in unique ways, which contributes to a feeling of the world being well-rounded. I particularly really loved her parents, and family in general is a big factor in this book. Not just nuclear family - they visit extended family and mention said family members often. Lou's friends and fellow-paper-students are great, too, and her best friend delivers a great little speech to Lou at the end.

In fact, that little speech is one of my faves, because throughout the book Lou can feel a little bland. But she's not. The narrative just did such a thoroughly good job of putting me in Lou's mindset that it felt completely naturally and kind of invisible. And then when her flaws get called out near the end, I had a real sense of 'oh shit, I totally got sucked into that' which was very interesting.
The one time realism maaaaaybe isn't the best

The plot on this one is...a smidge underwhelming? There's just not a lot going on, to the point that writing a summary for it was hard because, well, to come up with something longer than a sentence you basically have to list everything that happens. Ish. Because of the repetition and the vignette nature of the structure, it takes very little plot to get an actual lot of pages. Every beat is repeated over and over, but with different throw-away characters. Add to that there's a lot of threads that seem like they're building up to something and then just...kind of stop just short of a climax and then fizzle out.

Which, to be fair, is thoroughly realistic, not every act of racism ends in something huge and dramatic. Everything in this book feels very real. It just...doesn't quite feel very story. That'll annoy different people to different degrees, but it did leave me feeling a bit 'wait, that's it?' after the end.

In Hearts Unbroken, Cynthia Leitich Smith remedies several concerns among those who care about depictions of Native people in today’s fiction, particularly those writing for young adults. Criticisms have been leveled about non-Native writers who use stereotypes or blanket depictions as though there were no distinctives from nation to nation, about the lack of portrayal of modern Native young people, and about the relatively few Native writers with firsthand knowledge who are able to publish authentic writings about the specific nation from which they come.

Louise Wolfe, the Muskogee (Creek) protagonist in this novel, moves between her life as a high school senior in a school that is minimally diverse and the rich culture of her ancestry. In her place as a journalist on the school newspaper, she and the staff have a major story to cover in the conflict of a first-time inclusive approach of the school music director in casting The Wizard of Oz and the backlash from a group called Parents Against Revisionist Theater. Student writers are given autonomy by the journalism teacher whose motto is, “(1) Don’t bother me unless you’re on fire. (2) Don’t catch on fire.” Uncovering Frank Baum’s editorials describing whites as the masters of the American Continent and calling for the annihilation of the “few remaining Indians” puts a difficult decision on her younger brother Hughie who has been cast as the Tin Man.

The author’s comments give understanding to the reason the protagonist in this book seems so authentic. The novel begins when Louise ends her romance by email with the arrogant athlete she’s dating after he disrespects Native people. Her new relationship becomes endangered when she makes an insensitive remark herself. She based the novel on a remembered foot-in-the-mouth comment she made to a boy she dated in high school. Pointing out that she is not Louise and her former boyfriend is not Joey, she nevertheless uses that triggering event for a realistic novel. She includes words, traditions, and celebrations from her own Muscogee heritage as well as the angst common to teenagers in a way that feels natural for both.

Any young adult would enjoy reading this book with the added value of a clear window into the life of a modern Native teen. And if it sounds tempting to you, go ahead and enjoy it, I’m not going to tell anybody you’re past that age.

I want to thank Netgalley for my Arc of this amazing book.
This was a truly fantastic book!
I loved the strong and smart female lead in this gripping contemporary book.
I love the diversity of our main character who is Muskogee and it makes the story even more interesting to me because I love learning about other cultures.
It tells the story of how the school musical is getting a major negative reaction for going against tradition and casting non white lead roles.
Our main character is so invested in this situation because her younger brother is cast as the lead in the musical.
Overall this book was seriously enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it to all my friends who loved a fast paced and very interesting read.

High school senior dumps her jock boyfriend when he makes disparaging comments about Natives in front of her. You see, she's Native: Creek nation - Muscogee - to be precise. She shakes off his badmouthing and focuses on the school year: she's on the school newspaper staff and she's paired with Joey Kairouz, the new photojournalist. Her brother, Hughie, is a new freshman at the same school, too, and lands a coveted spot in the school play: he's going to be the Tin Man in the school production of The Wizard of Oz. Not every parent is thrilled with the diverse casting, though: a group calling themselves Parents Against Revisionist Theater starts lodging complaints and pressuring local businesses against supporting the play. Hughie and other actors of color start receiving anonymous hate mail. Battle lines are drawn throughout the student body and faculty. Joey and Louise try navigating a relationship while they work on the paper together, but Louise's worries about "dating while Native" may cause more hurt to Joey than she expects.

Hearts Unbroken is just consuming. I didn't want to put it down until I finished it. There are such rich, realistic characters, and Louise is just brilliant. She's no simpering heroine - the book starts with her breaking up with her boyfriend for disparaging Natives, and she never looks back. Cynthia Leitich Smith creates such textured, layered characters and educates readers on Native life and language, giving me an even deeper respect for #ownvoices work than I already had. She gives Louise and her family challenges both common and unique: Louise has a bad breakup; she is self-absorbed and isn't a mindful friend when her friend Shelby needs her; she works through her feelings about sex and when she will be ready. Louise and her family also deal with racism and whitewashing among their own neighbors and classmates. Hughie agonizes over discovering that L. Frank Baum, who created the wonderful world of Oz, so rich in its own diversity, was a virulent racist who published pro-genocide editorials surrounding the death of Sitting Bull and the massacre at Wounded Knee. It's heartbreaking and infuriating to read, but it's real, and she transfers this ache and this anger to her characters, giving them big decisions to make on their own while educating readers, too.

Cynthia Leitich Smith, who, like Louise is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, provides a Mvskoke/English Glossary to help readers with some of the phrases that appear in the book, and an author's note that talks about parallels between Louise and herself, and the writing of Hearts Unbroken. Dr. Debbie Reese has a fantastic write-up of Hearts Unbroken on her page, American Indians in Children's Literature.
An absolute must-add to your YA collections. Read a sample chapter and the author's note on the Candlewick page.

Louise Wolf is navigating life in high school without her boyfriend, who she began dating last year as the new kid and whose popularity catapulted her own social status. But after dumping him, she must find her own group, do her own thing, which includes reporting for the school's newspaper. But conflict arises when her brother, who, like Louise, is Muskogee-Cherokee) and other students of color are cast in the typically white cast of Wizard of Oz much to the chagrin of many in the community who believe in traditional theater in lieu of unfair affirmative action. Among the larger plot points, smaller pins and needles jab at Louise's identity both as a Native American and as her own person in her school. It's a great book that I would recommend be on every YA shelf and in every young reader's hands.

When the new drama teacher embraces color-blind casting for the school's production of The Wizard of Oz, sparks fly in Louise's small town, and she makes a point of getting to the bottom of it, and using her voice to challenge those opposed to the casting choices that were made and threatening her family.

• Pro: Louise was a great protagonist. I loved how fully she embraced her personal identity and was comfortable with it, even when it could cause conflict for her. She was proud of her heritage, fiercely loved her family, and would challenge those who attacked either of those two things.

• Pro: I grew up and still live in a diverse neighborhood, but I personally knew only one Native person. A book like this is important, because not only does it represent an extremely underrepresented group of people, but it reminds those who are not part of that group how damaging things which seem innocuous can be to other people.

• Pro: The Wolfe family was wonderful. They had such a strong bond to one another, and it was such a pleasure to spend time with Louise's immediate and extended family. The warmth, love, and unfailing support they gave each other was the sort of thing I love seeing in YA families.

• Pro: The controversy surrounding the color-blind casting was very relevant, and I thought it was an interesting way to incorporate the exploration of racism into the story. The incorporation and handling of social issues was where I thought the book excelled. Smith did a great job shedding light on many things, and left me with many things to think on.

• Pro: Hughie was such a sweetheart. His enthusiasm, fear, and disappointment radiated from the page. He was probably one of the most vibrant characters in the book. My heart broke for him, but he showed just how mature he was via the many choices he made.

• Pro: The growth Louise experiences over the course of the book was also well illustrated in her acknowledgement of her mistakes and flaws, and the way she attempted to atone for past missteps.

Overall: Another reminder, that although we have evolved a lot as nation, we still have a long way to go.

HEARTS UNBROKEN is a wonderful contemporary realistic story from an #ownvoices Muscogee (Creek) Nation author.

I am beyond thrilled to see more Native-authored novels being published, and this one was packed with so many things to love.

I enjoyed:
- The main character is an ordinary teen girl: she has a loving and supportive family, she goes to prom, she works for her school newspaper, she lives in the suburbs...AND she’s Native. It shouldn’t be so revolutionary to be able to pick up a book with a Native character who gets to do all the things that white characters have been doing for decades, but it is.
- The novel touched on Native history and current issues, included some of the Mvskoke language, tackled microaggressions and misconceptions, and so much more. There were even references to other Native authors (such as Tim Tingle!), which was delightful to see. Some of these elements were handled with subtlety, while others were handled head-on. I thought there was a nice balance, and I can’t overstate how fantastic the Muscogee representation was.
- I learned some things. I’m highly familiar with current and historical Native issues, yet even I hadn’t known that L. Frank Baum (author of THE WIZARD OF OZ) was a racist who advocated for genocide. To be clear, it isn’t a Native author’s responsibility to educate readers in their fiction; I’m just noting that I happened to find some aspects informative.

Didn’t enjoy:
- Sadly, the writing style was not for me. It read like a laundry list, much of it inconsequential. Also, scenes and chapters often abruptly jumped forward in time, with no flow or connection between them. It made the narrative feel disjointed.
- There were a lot of characters. Many of them were flat and/or didn’t really affect the story.

While the writing was not my cup of tea, I’m sure others will love it. There is so much to appreciate between these pages. I absolutely recommend HEARTS UNBROKEN, and I can’t wait to see what the author will create next.

ARC provided from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Candlewick!

We don’t have nearly enough #ownvoices Native YA lit on the shelves thanks to gatekeepers and the like in publishing. That’s a shame since there are so many different stories to be told and so many people know little of what it’s like to be Native in the current United States, but we’ve got one more right here–and it’s a knockout!

When Louise’s boyfriend Cam first disparages Native people in front of her–specifically his brother’s Kickapoo spouse–he isn’t aware Louise is a Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizen herself. Then he keeps doing it and has the gall to get mad at her for “being too sensitive.” The instant Louise breaks up with Cam via email, you’ll be feeling relief like you just finished a hard workout. And that’s all before she starts her senior year of high school and the drama department’s Wizard of Oz causes undue controversy!

Like Louise, I was on my high school’s tiny student newspaper. Senior editor, whoop whoop! If it wouldn’t dox me by my former name, I’d link to a couple of the many pieces I wrote during my two years on staff. Leitich Smith really captures what it was like to practice high school journalism in a school where it’s underappreciated. Heck, Louise’s adventures in reporting on happenings around school almost made me miss being on the paper!

Almost. I don’t miss the constant anxiety about ads and getting literal nonsense articles from one classmate/reporter who probably let predictive text write her first drafts rather than writing them herself.

ANYWAY. Hearts Unbroken is a novel that makes the effort to represent what our schools and teens look like in 2018–and knows exactly where we are in 2018, for better or for worse. You decide to do colorblind casting for one student production of a play and suddenly half the town is allied with Parents Against Revisionist Theater because a black girl will play Dorothy. Louise’s little brother Hughie also has a role in the play as the Tin Man, so she’s got an especially personal stake in what happens!

Throughout the book, Leitich Smith confronts Native stereotypes and makes clear what life is like when you’re a Native person living in the current United States. Whether it’s Louise feeling bad that she dumped that racist ex over email (which no, that was appropriate and he has no right to be upset, the racist almost-man) or Hughie struggling with anti-Native racism that Wizard of Oz creater L. Frank Baum spouted during his life, readers come to better understand an underrepresented population.

The local uproar over kids of color being cast in roles typically played by white people has great parallels to Hamilton and discussions of how much of our negative, racist history can be reclaimed through such productions. Words like “queer” have started to be reclaimed by the people whom the word was long used against, but not everyone wants to reclaim it. It’s simply done too much harm to them.

For instance, say someone adapted an Orson Scott Card novel into a play, made a ton of characters queer as a statement, and encouraged queer actors to audition. Considering Card’s rampant homophobia over the years, I can understand queer actors who’d love to take part in order to make Card mad. I can also understand those who wouldn’t be able to put Card’s beliefs aside and act in it in the name of reclamation.

And that’s not even remotely on the same scale as race. It’s complicated and Hearts Unbroken makes no bones about it.

Louise’s romance with new guy/newspaper rival Joey rubbed me the wrong way in a manner that’s 100% personal, nothing to do with the novel or the character. See, I knew a guy named Joey in high school. He was emotionally abusive to his girlfriend, sexually harassed me “jokingly” whenever I wore a skirt (we were partners in science class), and told me I was something like 47% demon for a ridiculous reason. The name Joey is just ruined for me because I just kept seeing the awful guy I knew instead of this book’s own Joey!

Also, I got giggly during a very intense part of the novel when it probably wasn’t intended. Joey and Louise are out covering a marathon when a tornado hits. Like everyone else, they take shelter underground–specifically in the underground level of a parking garage. While waiting for the storm to pass, they start rounding the sexual bases to pass the time.

Is this what people do in the Midwest when they’ve got to wait out their regular tornado? Really??? (Of course not, I know better. It just makes me laugh.) Mind you, this is a probably-not-real regional behavior getting laughed at my a resident of Florida. We’re the state of tossing reptiles into fast food drive-thru windows and yet these two screwing around in a Jeep as a tornado passes over the area is what makes me laugh!

Okay, okay, I think I’m done. Solidly written with plenty of heart, Hearts Unbroken both stands on its own merits as an entertaining, educational novel and would make a great substitute for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (which was written by a dude who sexually harassed a ton of women, btw).

I love the idea behind this story, and the ideas it brings up. But honestly, the writing was subpar, and it felt like everything was just "and then...and then..." with no real connection to the characters.

I thought Hearts Unbroken was a very realistic YA story that would be great for older students. Some of the language was a bit much for younger readers. The story is an important one as students from various backgrounds face struggles and challenges daily that mirror some of the situations in this story. This book could prompt discussions to open up a larger conversation about diversity and cultural awareness. I think many teen readers will be able to identify with the main character. In this era of young voices making a path in this world to make a difference, this story will resonate with many.

I was given a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a wonderful, heartfelt novel about navigating love and identity and high school politics and prejudice. This is a book that deals with very serious topics in a very thoughtful manner, but I never felt like it was a heavy book. Louise's voice is just wonderful, and the way she calls out racism and injustice and double standards is really important, and I think her story will be crucial to teen readers looking to find their own voices.