Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book!
I was completely blown away by this book in the BEST way possible. I went into reading it without knowing much about the story, and ended up staying up until 3:30 am to finish it because I couldn’t put it down! Firekeeper’s Daughter is a #OwnVoices YA thriller that immerses the reader into Ojibwe culture and traditions, while calling attention to some of the issues the Indigenous community faces in modern times. Personally, I know that I have a lot more to learn about Indigenous people/culture in the present, as well as the Indigenous history of the land I currently live on. This book did not shy away from addressing difficult topics, so I will not shy away from going beyond what I read in this story to gain a better understanding of Native peoples.
The plot of the story was very engaging, with big reveals placed throughout the book to help the pace of the story flow naturally. I really enjoyed the fact that this was written in a first person POV. As the protagonist, Daunis, put together clues and tried to solve the dangerous mystery affecting her community and beyond, it felt as though the reader was right there with her, to the point where I really couldn’t predict much and the predictions I did make were often way off. This is a story I truly think everyone would enjoy and I can’t wait to start recommending it to people!
Content warning: drug use, mention of overdose, murder, grief, sexual assault, racism

Daunis Fontaine is at a crossroads. She has graduated from high school and must decide if she should attend college closer to home or follow her dreams a little farther away. She is in between relationships and needs to decide if she should pursue the handsome new player on her brother's hockey time. And lastly, and most urgently, she must decide who she can and cannot trust within her community when she is thrust into the midst of a homicide investigation when she witnesses a murder firsthand.

I absolutely loved this book and could have finished it in one sitting. I must admit, it played right to my areas of interest. I am a science educator who loves a good mystery and puzzle. Throughout the book, Daunis sprinkles in her scientific observations from her science and medical training, which became fun easter eggs for me, since I was also familiar with these references. Additionally, I really appreciated how Boulley structured the mystery and it unfolded in an organic way that had me continually on the edge of my seat, wanting to see what happened next.

I have not read a lot of Indigenous literature and, for me, this continued to be incredibly helpful in learning more about the Ojibwe community, along with the language and traditions. These elements of the Anishinaabe language and culture were integral elements of the story an were incorporated in a way that both supported and enriched the plot of the story.

Overall, I was incredibly moved and inspired and look forward to Boulley's next release. I would highly recommend giving this one a read!

The name is deceiving: this is not speculative fiction! The Firekeeper in question is (deceased) Levi Firekeeper, father to Duanis, and a member of the Sugar Island Ojibwe. Duanis is not a member, since her birth certificate doesn't list Levi as her father (and her mother is white), but she is a part of the community. Readers will learn much about the teachings, ceremonies and language via Duanis' story, as well as the hockey-obsession in Sault Ste-Marie that spans both Native and white communities. I loved the immersion into Duanis' life as she offers semaa and prays, participates in the pow wow, honors her Elders and receives teachings.

No, not spoiling any of this for readers - the blurb will give enough away. All I can say is that this is yet another example of an #ownvoices book that provides a new way to look at a long ignored community.

eARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

This was like nothing I’ve ever read and I loved it. It was refreshingly new and I hope this goes mainstream and is read by everyone. It was well written, eye opening, confronted complex issues everyone should reflect on and understand, and was all around extremely powerful.

MY REVIEW: 4 Stars ⭐️

There needs to be more Native American authors and books!! We need them in High Fantasy and Young Adult! This one is another crime type book and I would like to see the native people in fantasy and all other rolls. That being said, this was still a wonder debut novel by the author.

The strength of the main character, Daunis, is fantastic! There are a lot of hard and sad things she has to go through. I found the family and side characters great too!

* Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillian for a digital copy of this book?

I am having trouble putting into words how much this book moved me, I am not sure there are words enough. A book about the power of women, traditions and the evils that lurk beneath, this story weaves together indigenous stories with the modern day drug problems as it gives a history lesson on the atrocities against indigenous tribes. The language, in all tongues represented, was powerful and full of respect and honor for traditions and ways of indigenous peoples. I am so excited to get this book for my classroom and to share this gorgeous book with my students

I loved this book and plan to use it in a research study and a presentation to teachers. I'll also be using it in my classroom.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

4.25 out of 5 stars.
This book could have been five stars. There was a lot of teenage angst in this book, which kind of turned me off, particularly regarding teenage relationships and how much they appear to be adult relationships to the teens at the time. I know, I know...this is how being a teenager actually is. But it just...I didn't appreciate it. There were so many relationships it was hard to keep up with them after a while.

This book was excellent, though. Daunis is a Native American teenager living in Michigan with her tribe. She was raised by her single mother who got pregnant as a teenager, was sent away to have Daunis, and when she returned, the child's father was married to someone else and they had just had a child of their own.

That child, Daunis' brother Levi, and Daunis are close. They both play hockey. They have a generalized group of friends.

There's "the new kid," Jamie, who befriends Daunis and Daunis starts to have feelings for, right before he tells her that he works with the FBI and his "Uncle Ron" is actually his partner in a case that is trying to find the source of a bad batch of meth that had a whole group of kids from another reservation sick.

They enlist Daunis, because of her genius, to help them with the case.

There are quite a number of holes in this story. For starters, the beginning seems to build up to Daunis doing experiments with meth to recreate what made the kids at the other reservation sick, but she ends up researching hallucinogenic mushrooms on Sugar Island. There is a lot of talk about The Little People, but we never end up finding out what is actually happening. They are a huge part of the hallucinations and Daunis determines that they were not, in fact, hallucinations, but part of their culture and they were turning up to warn the kids about the bad medicine, but it feels like there was a lot left out of that part of the story.

There was a lot of emotion in this. The turmoil that Daunis experienced being a confidential informant was very believable. There were some devastating incidents that had me about crying, and Daunis' reaction after one of them was just...gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. Defense mechanism. I suppose.

The ending was complete and satisfying.
Excellent read. Highly recommended.

Boulley takes readers into the world of Daunis Fountaine. Daunis staddles her world as a member of her tribe, but not enrolled. Anishabee, but also white. A fantastic hockey player, but not male. When the meth trade that is seeping through her reservation comes way too close to her personally and the town and the people she loves, she makes a choice.
The choice to help the FBI but to remain true to her cultural teachings leaves her again straddling two different worlds.
This book tackles so much, love, drugs, sex, violence, family connections, living life in balance, living a cultural life in a modern world. I cannot wait to share this book with others!

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-arc for review. I absolutely loved this book. The plot reminded me a lot of Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. A lot of similar topics are covered like drug and addiction problems on reservations, assault and the inefficiency of federal police services to reservations. Although this book is decidedly YA it doesn't shy away from dark and difficult themes. The main character is beautifully written and it was incredibly enjoyable to join her on a kind of coming of age journey as she discovered herself and her place in her community and the larger adult world. All this without even getting into the mystery/thriller aspect which had a good amount of twists and surprises. An all around excellent book!

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

This book is amazing! The book follows Daunis who doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere in her community. Her dad was a member of the Ojibwe tribe but her mother is from the local community. She is supposed to go off to college in the fall, but tragedy strikes and her plans change. She has to find out what is happening to her community. Teen readers will really enjoy it.

This is definitely a powerful debut and I think it's going to mean a whole lot to Indigenous reviewers. While the pacing was off in areas, it didn't necessarily distract for the goodness of the story.

This is a bit different from other coming of age/YA books I've read as it focused on Indigenous people in Canada. It was darker than expected, and it was a bit confusing to follow, at times. Overall, the writing was solid. The pace and various twists kept me engaged.

This book surprised me in the best possible way! I’m not a huge fan of YA writing, but the premise sounded mature and intriguing so I gave this a shot. Honestly, I’m not sure why this is labeled as YA, other than the fact that the protagonist is 19, when it should be competing as one of the top thrillers of 2021.

Daunis is a stunning protagonist—believable, smart, self-reliant, and blessedly flawed—and the trials the faces are difficult to read but important to acknowledge. There should definitely be a trigger warning for sexual violence and drug-related violence. This is not what anyone would call a happy book, but to see Daunis overcome again and again makes the journey worthwhile.

I also really enjoyed learning about Daunis’s Native American culture and how her two communities function together. The fact that it’s Indigenous People’s Month here in the US is just one more reason to pre-order and support this compelling debut author!

Overall, I would probably not recommend this all to my students, at least not without warning them of the content. I will, however, be recommending this to all of my adult friends. It will definitely be topping some best-seller lists, and for all the right reasons.

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has always struggled to find balance. Born from scandal she treads lightly between her biracial culture; attempting to appease both sides of her family. As an unenrolled tribal member of the Ojibwe reservation she honors the ways of her tribe and dreams of attending university to study medicine. When she meets Jamie, the handsome new recruit on her Brother Levi’s hockey team, she must choose between her heart and her head. After witnessing a murder, Daunis finds herself in the middle of a criminal investigation that promises to tear her community apart. Daunis must make a choice as deceptions and deaths threaten to tear her world apart.

Firekeeper's Daughter is a fantastic YA debut novel by author Angeline Boulley. The gorgeous cover art and plot synopsis drew me in and I really enjoyed having a chance to read this novel. I will say that I struggled a bit in the beginning as there is a lot of fascinating cultural information that I wanted to try to absorb and understand. After Daunis witnesses the murder, the pace really picks up and it turns into a thrill ride I couldn't put down. There was some subject material that may be triggering for some readers including: Interpersonal violence, rape, and drug addiction. I really enjoyed Daunis's character-a strong, intelligent, and compassionate protagonist who would do anything to protect her family and the community she loves. This beautifully written novel is a must read for 2021!

Social Justice Topics:
▪️Racial Discrimination
▪️Drug Use

Grade Level: 9th and up

This book encapsulates everything I love about YA: mystery, touch of romance, and social justice. Although it took a while to find out the mystery impact of the novel once it hit... holy moly was it there. Whenever I had to put the book down to live my normal life I couldn’t stop thinking about what had previously happened, and guessing what would happen next. I couldn’t even escape the book when I slept! This hasn’t happened to me since I read The Hunger Games when I was in middle school. Romance is often too much the main aspect of YA books, but in Boulley’s novel she made it part of Daunes’s story (the main character), but she was her own character. Her life and who she was as a woman was not defined by her relationships and she made that clear. Which I absolutely loved! For social justice, Boulley was masterful with showing the discrimination against Native Americans by outside perspectives while also showing us the beauty of Native culture.

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley’s debut novel is one of my favorite books of the year hands down—even though it doesn’t come out until March 2021. I already preordered this book, and I already can’t wait to read it again. I am so grateful for @netgallery for letting me read this book 4 months early.

This book is simultaneously easy and difficult to read. Fast-moving plot, vivid characters, and well-conveyed information about the Anishinaabe of St. Saint Marie wrap together in a good young adult novel. But the themes of the drug wars and betrayals and loss are dark and heavy—and realistic. No easy answers are given. Well worth the read.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received a copy of this book from Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) and Netgalley.

This book is so fantastically powerful! It deals with an indigenous teenage girl named Daunis who is drawn into the world of mayhem.

Given the subject matter this one could've been obnoxiously preachy but manages to stay grounded.

The tension is skillfully woven and the mystery is a doozy

This story from this debut author grabbed me from the start and kept me totally immersed. A strong, self-described nerdy young female struggling with the normal problems of belonging, with the added element of being half Native American. A rich combination of a young person’s struggle with identity while adding in the unique challenges of being associated with a tribe and the problems of meth use and addiction. Add in a pulse-pounding mystery on top of it, and you have a true page-turner. One note to readers: given the graphic description of meth use and the drug trade, I would advise parents that this book is for young adults on the older end of the YA age group, not for younger YA readers.