Hearts Unbroken opens with Louise Wolfe breaking up with her popular jock boyfriend after he insults Native people. This begins a transformative year for Louise, who is a proud member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Told in a slice of life style, Smith goes through the first half of Louise's senior year with ease while jumping from many different issues and events.

First, Louise's freshman brother has been cast in a leading role in the school's musical, which causes a controversy since he is not white. In response, a parent group forms to boycott the theater program because of their casting choices. Then the Wolfes and the other cast members of color being receiving notes telling them to go back where they came from. Meanwhile, Louise has joined the school newspaper and is trying to tell stories about bullying and student workers. Also on the school newspaper is Joey, who is half Lebanese, and a new love interest for Louise. In addition to all this, Louise deals with friendship issues, slut-shaming, and her own prejudice.

Louise is not perfect. She is flawed, but a strong and likable YA character. She rightfully has lots of feelings about being Native and she is starting to see the discrimination and prejudice she will have to fight against her whole life. While this could just be a normal YA novel showing the ins and outs of a high school senior's life, this is also a glimpse into the life of an underrepresented group of people. Through Louise's eyes, we see how it feels when a team has a Native American mascot, or when a child goes trick-or-treating in an elaborate headdress.

This was a great story of one girl's life and how everyday actions can impact someone. At times, it moves from event to event too quickly and my only complaint is that I wish the transitions were a bit smoother. I am reviewing this from an ARC, so with some editing that could be fixed. I would definitely recommend this to all realistic YA fiction readers.

Full review on Goodreads. I was so not into this one. I try to read a diverse smattering of literature, but this one did not even feel diverse. Yes, the native issue and racism is addressed, but, not really. Nothing sucked me in. I was disappointed.

4.5 stars
I absolutely loved this book.
It taught me a lot about Native Americans.
It has a cute romance with realistic problems and issues.
Louise her family, especially her brother Hughie, is adorable.
I really enjoyed the issues the school news paper tackled.
In conclusion, I very much recommend this book to everyone. Especially those who just want a nice YA contemporary romance where they can also learn a thing or two.

Actual rating 3.5

Hearts Unbroken is set in Kansas, and tells the story of a high school production of The Wizard of Oz. When the drama teacher decides to take an inclusive approach to casting (including casting the main character's brother, Hughie, as the Tin Man), a group of parents in their mostly white, middle-class neighbourhood, takes exception. In the meantime, Louise, the main character, has started work at the school newspaper, and is paired with new kid Joey to take on the Features section.

What I liked about this book was that there were actually probably three strands of plot going on at once - firstly, with Louise at the paper and her budding romance with Joey, secondly, with the parents and their dislike of the casting, and finally, with Hughie and his relationship with the play and Baum. This saved it from ever getting dull in terms of plot, for me, and although it might seem a lot, it didn't ever get too crowded with plot. There were a few, more minor, plotlines that possibly went unresolved (Louise's first boyfriend, who she dumps at the start of the book for making bigoted comments about Native people, starts all these rumours about her after the breakup, but supposedly no one believes he isn't just running his mouth, so it's kind of brushed under the carpet when they meet one last time for "closure"), but overall, it was a solid book plot-wise.

Even though the plot was good, it did take me a little while to get properly into the book. I did like it, don't get me wrong, but I was mostly reading it without all that much caring about it. Part of that was because it was written like a series of vignettes rather than a fully continuous story so the plot seemed to start off moving really quickly, and I found that hard to read for some reason. Another reason was probably because I wasn't the biggest fan of the main character before she had her learning moment. She was kind of self-absorbed and a little self-righteous. But she also had some pretty good character development precipitated by her friend calling her out (at exactly the right time in the book, because I'd been getting a little bored before then).

As well as this, the start of the romance kind of bothered me. If only because I couldn't for the life of me see why it started (or continued for that matter). Joey seemed fairly arrogant and self-obsessed and kept boasting about his journalism prowess, and I couldn't work out what Louise actually saw in him. So maybe he was a nicer guy than Cam (the boyfriend she dumped), but there didn't seem to be anything there. Or at least nothing I was shown. I was told she didn't shut up about him to her friend Shelley or her brother Hughie but there was no evidence of that. (Just like, at the start, there was no evidence of Cam getting easily jealous until she mentioned it in one line - and this is the guy she thought she loved? Yikes.) But once the conflict had happened, and they were kind of broken up, I almost liked it more, conversely. Because it made Louise develop as a character.

So, overall, this book was one I liked a lot but didn't quite really really like (if that makes some sense). I did get more into it as it went on, but ultimately not enough to love it.

I'm going to read other books by this author because I enjoyed this novel.
I received an arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Wizard of Oz is so well known among Americans that most can either quote from the book for the movie or both. The movie was shown every year, back before VCRs, and I knew it so well, and sang all the songs. It is such an American story.

But, as this book points out. L. Frank Baum, the author, was a racist. Not only a racist, but someone who believed in genocide of all native people. Although I thought I knew everything there was to know about him, having read him from childhood, the editorials, pointed out in this book, show how much hatred he had for the Indiginous people.

And why is this important? Because, along with Louise’s off-again-on-again love story, there is the story of her brother, Hughie, who is the Tin Woodsmen in the school play, where like the casting of Hamilton, there is no “right” ethnicity for any of the actors. Dorothy is a Black actress. Lousie and Hughie are citizens of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation, just as the author is.

And underlying this, is the racism that boils up in the Kansas town, that a play would have people of color who were usually white.

Louise and her brother have to put up with this hatred, while navigating take usual high school issues.

Louise is working on the school paper, and reporting on these things, but keeping her native heritage a secret from her new boyfriend, because she isn’t sure how he feels about Indiginous people, despite being of Lebanese heriatage.

It is a well written story, with Louise, the narrator, giving a good, natural voice to what is going on around her. And while some parts are serious, there are some funny bits, as Louise tries to explain to her brother how long ago Baum wrote the hateful words about native people.

<blockquote>“About fifty years after the Trail of Tears?”
That didn’t seem to help either.
“Twenty to thirty years before the setting of the first Gal Gabor Wonder Woman movie. Great Granpa Lucas wasn’t born yet, but his parents were alive.”</blockquote>

Good thinking book, where you come away wondering about assumptions.

There is a great line, at the end of the book, which doens’t spoil anything, and I’ll quote here.

<blockquote>”Do Native people believe in Thanksgiving?”
[...] “We believe in gratitude.”</blockquote>

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Louise Wolfe is a Native teen navigating the world in its racism and hatred not only in our present time but also in the past. After her boyfriend says something awful about Natives, she dumps him via email and decides to spend her valuable time as a writer at the school newspaper. Meanwhile, the school play chooses to cast diversely, much to some parent's dismay. The call of "reverse racism" amongst other things propels Louise to follow the story, and it hits home more than she thought it would.

Like another book I have recently finished, Trail of Lightning, this features a Native protagonist, and it is so refreshing. What I loved most was the that throughout this book, almost everyone had a learning experience. Including the ex-boyfriend and Louise herself who makes mistakes and uses that to make a positive change in her life and those around her.

I recommend this book to everyone. This is an OWN VOICES novel so take yourself out of what you know and step into Louise's shoes. The back of the book gives you some information on a lot of what the author mentions along with info on some key moments in America's tragic history.

We need more novels like these on the shelves.

I received an advanced copy from through the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hearts Unbroken tells the story of Lou Wolfe who is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation (an indigenous person). The Wolfe family has recently moved to East Hannesburg, Kansas from Texas during the middle of her junior year. After her athletic boyfriend Cam criticizes his brother’s Native fiance based on racist stereotypes, Lou dumps him via email and decides to make senior year a fresh start, including who she hangs out with.

Lou joins the journalism class at school, and on the first day, she meets Joey, a new student, who instantly catches her eye.

Simultaneously, the new theater director announces a color-conscious casting approach to the school’s fall musical and instantly stirs up controversy from a a group of parents who call themselves “Parents Against Revisionist Theater” and are hellbent against this decision. This same group of parents also fought against book selection in the library and stirred up trouble in the journalism class last year as well.

This book was absolutely terrific. First, it’s important to note that this is an own-voices novel but don’t walk into this book expecting the author to do all the educating for you. If you are unaware of Native history in the U.S., the author does mention several resources at the end of the book to help guide your research. Furthermore, the author also uses Mvskoke language sprinkled throughout. Rather than the typical editorial choice to italicize words in another language, this uses the standard text format which is a refreshing change to see. (I will say that if you’re not used to non-English words not being italicized, it’ll take some time to become used to it, but I think it’s a positive change.)

The author also includes a character who is Lebanese-American (Joey) and characters that fall into the LGBT+ community. Additionally, faith is actually a part of the characters’ lives which is seldom seen in YA but a nice change. Religion is presented in both a positive and a negative light which is also refreshing to see (as most YA books tend to only present it in a negative light). Socioeconomic status is all brought into light as well as the main character’s best friend has to constantly work to try to help make ends meet for her family.

While some people may criticize and say that it’s all too much, I found the diversity within the story to be extremely true to life and felt extremely natural within the story.

This is a book that will cause you to question your own judgments and own actions or lack thereof. It will infuriate you at times (and yes, Lou will infuriate you at times too because she is a flawed person…but we all are), but it will also cause you to cheer for Lou as well as the rest of the journalism class.

When this comes out, you will definitely want to read it.

Final rating: 5/5.

Thank you for this early copy!

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a diverse young adult novel that deals with important topics! :)

This is a fun, intelligent YA novel about the difficulties of navigating high school and romantic relationships while also trying to stay true to and uphold a wider cultural identity.

I’ve not read many books centred around the experiences of Native people in the United States, and nor do I know a great deal about Native history and culture.

I’ve seen news stories which highlight the commodification of Native culture and dress – such as the debate around changing the name of the ‘Washington Redskins’ US football team, as the existing name and logo furthers harmful ethnic stereotyping – as well as stories which highlight Native discrimination and denial of rights, such as the protests at Standing Rock about the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Hearts Unbroken takes a more specific and personal look at these wider issues, through focusing on the experience of Louise and her family as urban Indians in Kansas, where The Wizard of Oz is an emblem of state pride, despite the fact that its author literally called for the genocide of Native Americans.

I like how the novel uses a very specific situation to explore lots of different issues; Louise’s brother is cast as the Tin Man and has to deal with backlash about ‘politically correct’ casting, the family face anonymous hate speech questioning their place in the country, and there is exploration of how far individuals can go in taking a stand against entrenched prejudice without forfeiting their own opportunities in life.

Louise and her brother are torn between feeling the duty to speak up or they are betraying their Native heritage and identity, but also doing what they want to do without having to consider the wider or symbolic meaning of their actions.

I’ll be honest; the love story between Louise and Joey never fully captured my heart, mostly because I found Joey a bit too self-righteous, though I by no means hated him as a character. I like the dynamic between the members of the school newspaper, and their commitment to calling out the problematic behaviour of the school and community, but I think that the novel occasionally sacrifices personal character moments in favour of making bigger points.

Louise is a likeable narrator, who has a warm and open relationship with her parents and wider family, not being afraid to talk to them about her relationship and worries. It’s really sweet, especially when she and her dad are building miniature hobbit holes in their front lawn. I love how unashamed she is of her sexuality as well as her commitment to fighting slut-shaming in her high school, and when her and her boyfriend get intimate its not all one-sided with her only doing things for him. Also, I appreciate the fact that she is not perfect and still has learning to do, because this is something that I think is true for all people no matter how old they are.

I would recommend this book to fans of diverse YA fiction which engages with contemporary social issues, as well as those looking for a fun and slightly different read.