I was so excited to get an ARC of “Sisters in the Wind” by Angeline Boulley. I’ve been a fan since listening to the audiobook of “The Firekeeper’s Daughter”.
“Sisters in the Wind” is the 3rd book in the Firekeeper series, but it can be read as a stand alone.
This mystery follows Lucy as she navigates grief, the foster care system, and learning more about her Native heritage. Boulley has a way of writing stories that are simultaneously beautiful, painful, and thrilling. Sisters in the Wind is available NOW at your favorite bookstore or library.

"Sisters in the Wind" is a powerful read! Lucy has been drifting through the foster care system ever since her dad died, with no real sense of home. Then a mysterious lawyer, Mr. Jameson, and a new ally, Daunis, show up—and secrets begin to unravel. This story is intense yet full of moments that make you reckon with history, identity, and what is left behind when systems fail the people they’re meant to protect.

The story pulled me in, the message stayed with me, and the ending absolutely gutted me. I’d definitely recommend it—especially if you loved "Firekeeper’s Daughter" and want to see more of Jamie and Daunis, or if you’re drawn to Indigenous voices, legal/mystery elements, and books that stay with you long after you’ve finished.

Thank you to NetGalley, Angeline Boulley, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

Angeline Boulley rips my heart out once again. What an incredible writer. I loved seeing Daunis and Jamie again. I'm tempted to knock it down a star for the ending and what happens to my favorite character, but it was all just so good. I love her writing style, characters, and how I learn but not in a preachy way when I read one of her books. What a master storyteller.

Lucy Smith's father died 5 years ago. Lucy has been on the run ever since rather than become a ward of the state. Her father had hoped that his new wife would love and care for Lucy when he was gone, but it quickly became clear that the new Mrs. Smith had no intentions of caring for Lucy.

Now, after a horrible "accident", Lucy meets Mr. Jameson, who tells her that her father hid her Ojibwe heritage. She has a family she never knew about, including siblings and a grandmother. Lucy must now come to terms with who she really is and why her father hid it from her. This YA book is a mystery about a young woman claiming her heritage. #gifted

Trigger Warnings

Foster care, abuse, neglect, and drug use

Why Jackie loves it

Angeline Boulley is a master storyteller who weaves historical context into her novels. The characters in this book overlap with the characters from her other books. This story is heartbreaking and compelling from the first page. Lucy has a dark past, but her story is one of many children that is overlooked.

Angeline Boulley does it again. A phenomenal story about identity, family, and the failures of the American foster system (especially if your indigenous). Like her previous novels her story has a theme. Where her last book, Warrior Girl Unearthed, was all about the missing and murdered indigenous people crisis. Sisters in the Wind was about ICWA, National Children Welfare Association. In the story, main character Lucy, is denied her heritage and sent into the foster system after the death of her white father. But, if the right people had been looking out for her, she would have been protected and given a home within her native community. The story is a page turner and quite sad, prepare your tissues. Though, there is a hopeful and happy ending. While this story stands alone, I would recommend reading Firekeepers Daughter first, because this story is a continuation and has characters and references from the previous book. Will be recommending to kids and adults in addition to adding to my library. (Thank you to Henry Holt and Netgalley for the ARC)

Thank you to Angeline Boulley, netgalley and Henry Holt and Company publishers for providing me a copy of Sisters in the Wind.
I have read previous books by Angeline Boulley and was excited to read Sisters in the Wind.. This book was classified as Young adult but, to me it wasn't the typical YA. Sisters in the Wind is an amazing book that kept me on the edge of my seat. The book had all the characteristics to make it a compelling story, mysteries, life, death and memorable relationships. This book tugged at my heart strings and the emotional roller coaster that I rode. I am eager awaiting this authors next book.

I have very quickly become Angeline Boulley's biggest fan. This was extremely well done and Lucy had my heart from the beginning. A bit different from the first two novels with a foster care and found family storyline, but still weaves in the great storyline of finding out she is Ojibwe. For something labeled as a mystery I did not expect such the heavy emotional pieces to this and the tears that fell. But, again, that is the power of Boulley's writing. I will be recommending this for all my students to read and have purchased a copy for my classroom library.

Wow! Angeline Boulley does it again with another great story of suspense set against the backdrop of northern Michigan's Ojibwe community.

Five years in the foster care system has taught Lucy Smith to be cautious and smart. She wants to believe Mr. Jameson and his “friend-not-friend,” a tall and fierce-looking woman, who say they want to look after her. They also tell Lucy the truth her father hid from her but she often suspected: She is Ojibwe; she has – had – a sister, and more siblings; a grandmother who’d look after her and a home where she would be loved. But can Lucy really trust them when so much has gone wrong since her father died.

Told through dual timelines we learn of Lucy's tragic past and her tenuous present as she begins to trust and believe again. Boulley's writing is captivating and heartfelt. She leads readers through the poorly conceived and even more poorly executed Indian Child Welfare Act which placed native American children in fosters homes without consideration for heritage or tradition. I love how Boulley brings these traditions to life through her writing with care and compassion.

This book is also a punch to the gut. It is raw and unflinching in its portrayal of a system that fails children far too often.

I confess I was an emotional wreck after reading this, especially having read Boulley's first two books. Nonetheless, it was a story full of love and hope and a promise of a better future for Lucy and her new-found-family.

Readers should be aware of potential triggers that are noted up front by the publisher. Also know that most of these do occur off-page so they are not gratuitous or in your face.

I read a story collection recently that included a short story by Angeline Boulley. I recognized her writing immediately. She’s an amazing storyteller.

Sisters in the Wind is a standalone novel, but it has characters in it from Firekeeper’s Daughter. I loved getting to see those characters again. The only downside was that it pulled my attention away from what was happening to Lucy sometimes. (I don’t want to say anything that spoils Firekeeper’s Daughter for anyone who hasn’t read it yet. But I was on the edge of my seat watching the characters reappear in this book.)

The timeline jumps back and forth between Lucy’s past, showing scenes moving toward the present, and the present, in which Lucy knows she’s in danger but we don’t know why. As the story unfolds, the mystery of who’s following Lucy and how much danger she’s in slowly becomes clear, and the tension ratchets upward.

I liked Lucy as a character. Her relationship with her dad shows how young she is when he dies. It’s clear to the reader that her dad has some issues, but Lucy idolizes him in a way that kids do with their parents. Later in the story, she begins revisiting some of the things her dad said to her and some parts of his story that, upon reflection, don’t add up. Her growth there was nicely done and felt pretty realistic.

In terms of Boulley’s other books, this one takes place between Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl, Unearthed. Each book explores a cultural issue and how it affects Native communities. Sisters in the Wind discusses ICWA and how foster care has been used in the past to disrupt tribal connections and culture. That’s not what the story is truly about, but because of Lucy’s experience in care, it comes up and she gets involved in an organization trying to help.

ALL the stars! Oh my goodness gracious, my heart is in shambles. I'm not sure why Angeline didn't mark this book as the sequel to Firekeeper's Daughter, because it really needs to be, since the story wouldn't make sense unless you've read Firekeeper's Daughter first. I experienced all the feelings during this book: anger, profound sadness, frustration, indignation, horror, joy, love, hope, sorrow, terror, injustice, plus many more. I couldn't really ask for more out of a book; it was educational and engaging, it was equally heartwarming and heartbreaking, and it was very thought-provoking. As great as the US can be at times, this country has also done some god awful and unforgivable things. Overall, I absolutely LOVED this book and will absolutely read this again.

This book is technically a young adult book, but man, is it heavy. It reads more like an adult novel.

Format: ebook

Thank you SOOOO MUCH to NetGalley, Angeline Boulley, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC! It was an absolute honor to review this book.

Lucy Smith had a sheltered but happy life with her father but five years after his death she is on her own and trying to stay ahead of someone who is after her. When Jamison and Daunis enter her life and let her know about her previously unknown Ojibwe heritage and family she doesn't know who to trust or who is actually on her side. This story flashes back to her time in foster care and the impact of the system on Lucy and other kids, weaving in the Indian Child Welfare Act and prejudice against Native Americans into a story that really drew me in. Great pacing and a compelling main character in Lucy who the author really made me care about made this a book I really enjoyed. I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher.

“Sisters in the Wind” is a book that can be devoured in a single sitting. I know because that’s what happened when I opened it up.

Orphan Lucy Smith knows she is being followed. In order to keep her past from catching up with her, Lucy moves frequently, but has become comfortable in her apartment and at her waitressing job. When a mysterious, and good-looking, stranger shows up at the diner more than once (and WHY does he keep looking at her like she’s under a microscope?), she knows it’s time to bolt, but first she has to find out what he’s up to. He says he can help girls like her. After years in the foster care system, Lucy knows that trusting a stranger can have disastrous consequences.

The story alternates between the present day as Lucy fights to protect herself and learns who she can trust, and the recent past where the reader learns how she ended up in the foster system and what happened to her while she was in it. The integration of the two parts is seamless.

Angeline Boulley’s third book, as with her previous books, explores the lives of indigenous women and girls in contemporary society. As with previous stories there is contextualization that shows how this particular story fits into the larger picture of indigenous history in the United States. In this story, the backdrop is the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and how it is and is not applied to indigenous children who end up in the foster care system. The best fiction makes the reader want to know more. In this case Boulley compels us to learn more about the ICWA and how the American legal and foster care systems, at times, ignore the mandate.

“Sisters in the Wind” is not to be missed and is great for readers who enjoy contemporary mysteries and vivid characters.

I received an advance review copy for free from Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book absolutely broke my heart. I am a huge fan of Firekeepers daughter so this had a lot of expectations to live up to and it met them. Angeline is an expert at the particular type of thriller and mystery she writes, making them very character forward in a way that leaves me in tears every time.

Each book I read by Angeline Boulley blows me away every time, and I am so hopeful that she never stops writing. All of her books, this one included, shed light on a topic dealing with indigenous people that the average person probably doesn't know or understand. I feel so much smarter and more empathetic every time I read one of her books. In Sisters in the Wind, we are dealing with some very serious trauma, and I ate this shit up. I couldn't get enough! I will say I do feel like it's a disservice that her books aren't grouped in a loose series. I understood it for book two, because while we're on the same reservation and we see some past characters in the background, it truly isn't a "continuation" of book one. This one, however, felt very much like a continuation, and if you don't read Firekeeper's Daughter before reading this one, the entire book is spoiled. Overall, this book was outstanding as usual, deserves to win every award possible, and I eagerly await her next book.

I’ve enjoyed all three books in this series and loved seeing Daunis’s story continue. I also loved the new characters.

Another wonderful book from Angeline Boulley! Very intense and suspenseful and moving. I couldn't put it down because I had to find out what happened to Lucy. I also enjoyed learning more about Native American history and culture through the telling of Lucy's story and that of her family members. I've read all three of Boulley's books at she's a must read for me at this point. Great for high school students to read as well.

SISTERS IN THE WIND by Angeline Boulley (Firekeeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed) received an impressive six starred reviews. It is a rather tragic tale of Lucy, a young girl whose father dies when she is just 13 and who spends the next five years mostly in foster care. Some of her placements are heart-warming but most are heart-wrenching, and she develops resilience and self-reliance while also forming bonds with fellow foster care teens. Like many of Boulley's characters, Lucy has Native American heritage. She encounters racism, human trafficking, drug use, even murder. The writing is excellent (even with the frequent flashbacks), but this is a difficult story to read at times: Publishers Weekly describes it as "a devastating yet gripping tale of finding family, recontextualizing faith, and reclaiming ancestry that serves as a searing critique of the ways that systems can fail vulnerable youth." School Library Journal calls SISTERS IN THE WIND "a gritty story of trust and betrayal" and Booklist says, "this unforgettable novel is impossible to put down." While this story works as a standalone, Boulley chronicles events between her two previous novels and has incorporated many of those characters. All three mysteries are excellent.

Her best yet. Compelling and heartbreakingly honest about loss and grief and the myriad ways that the American government has betrayed the most vulnerable.

Sisters in the Wind is not a direct sequel to the Firekeeper's Daughter novels, and yet, in a way, it continues the story. Lucy Smith is a former foster child; her father died when she was 13, having never told her who her mother was. Like many foster children, Lucy was shuffled between multiple homes, of varying quality and levels of abuse; the novel alternates between the present day and a recounting of the events in her various foster homes that brought her to her current situation. She is rescued from the consequences of the actions of some of her former foster parents by Daunis Fontaine and Jamie Jameson, who support her through her recovery from the explosion of her workplace, as well as the physical, emotional, and psychological issues from a lifetime spent believing her mother never really wanted her, on top of the issues caused by her years in foster care.

This is a wonderful, engaging, and yet very difficult book to read. It deals openly and clearly with difficult topics, ranging from foster care to sexual abuse to the evils of the past, such as the removal of Native American children from their parents to "proper" homes. I didn't - quite - read it in a single sitting (the plane landed and I had to stop reading), but I would have if I could have.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Beautifully written and so devastating. This is a must read based on the content discussed. Just know it's really heavy and take care reading.