I continue to be absolutely blown away by Angeline Boulley's books. I never know what to expect of the plot (this one was complicated!), and I learn a lot along the way. Lucy was raised by her white father, and loved him so much. He tragically died of colon cancer when she was young, so she was left with a horrible stepmother, and then put in the foster care system. Lucy learns that her mother was an indigenous person, and gets caught up in a big dangerous world where she feels like the only thing she can do is run away. Then she meets her dead sister's best friend and ex-boyfriend, and they take care of her. They show her what a real family is like. I could say so much more, but I don't want to spoil the book. I would definitely use it in my classroom to teach about the importance of the Indigenous Children's Welfare Act. I highly recommend this book to young adults, and adults of all ages.

Thank you NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

This book was just phenomenal. A captivating story that had me on my toes the whole way through, and in all of my feelings, too! I appreciate the history and cultural aspects that are woven in throughout. I loved this book

This was an incredible read from Angeline Boulley. For me, it was up there with Firekeeper's Daughter. It came with quite a few trigger warnings that are definitely worth paying attention to because it is a tough read at times. The main character lives a tough life, but the story was incredibly engaging and kept me invested from the very first page.

Angeline Boulley has done it again!
This author has a way of writing books that are simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful. This book covers so many difficult topics like corruption in the foster system, extreme religious beliefs, and issues with the Indian Children Welfare Act. The author manages to weave in each of these topics with care while sharing important facts.

I loved how this book was told in the past and present. Hearing Lucy’s story of growing up in foster care intertwined with her current struggles made the story feel complete. I highly recommend this one as well as this authors previous books! They are just the right mix of mystery, sorrow, perseverance, and love.

I was provided both an ARC and an ALC of this book via Netgalley.

This is a tough book to read. It follows Lucy, a teenager who has had a very rough childhood and has navigated the foster system for the last five years since her father passed away. Lucy has done what she needed to do to survive. She has been lied to and betrayed by the people she trusted, including her father, and now based on decisions she made to protect herself she is being followed to protect the secrets she has uncovered.

This reads like a companion novel to Boulley's debut [book:Firekeeper's Daughter|199437737]. It has been several years since I've read that and I have not read Warrior Girl Unearthed yet, but I was able to follow along with this easily and recall many of the events that occurred in that book with the context given in this book. We reunite with Daunis and Jamie from book 1 as they nurse Lucy back to health after a terrible "accident" at the diner where she worked. There they explain to Lucy about her Native American heritage and their connection to her late sister. This story is told in both the present during Lucy's recovery from a broken leg and her research in to ICWA (Indian Children's Welfare Act), and during the past beginning when she was 6 through her father's battle with cancer and her journey through the foster system after his death. The timeline eventually meets up in the present when she is 18 living with Daunis and Jamie, when she finally explains to them what she is running from and who is after her and why. Lucy's story is filled with twists and turns and is truly heartbreaking as we learn of her experiences in the foster system, some good, some terrible.

I enjoyed reuniting with characters from the previous books and how the story ended overall. It really brings to light how Native Americans are treated and how children of all backgrounds are treated in the foster system. This book is an emotional rollercoaster that brings to light important topics.

Sisters in the Wind is Angeline Boulley’s third Native novel, all of which have mystery/thriller elements. Her novels are YA due to the main characters’ ages, though I don’t find her novels to read YA and would strongly urge anyone not to let that designation alone prevent them from reading Boulley’s novels! Boulley’s novels are interconnected and Sisters in the Wind takes place chronologically between her first (Firekeeper’s Daughter) and second (Warrior Girl Unearthed) novels.

This novel follows Lucy, a young woman who has aged out of foster care. Lucy was raised by her father until his death in her teenage years, and she didn’t know her mother was Ojibwe until after his passing. Some Native characters we have met in Firekeeper’s Daughter reach out to Lucy and hope to help guide her home to her community, but Lucy must first outrun some demons from her past.

I adored this book!! This felt on par with Firekeeper’s Daughter (a favorite book of mine) and I would also strongly recommend reading Firekeeper’s Daughter first (though Warrior Girl Unearthed does not need to be read before this one!)

This novel tackles several heavy subjects. Boulley does not shy away from the grim realities faced by many Natives and foster children. An emotional ending!!!

4.5⭐️s but I acknowledge my bias in that rating. My bias comes from Boulley being one of mine and my family’s favorite authors to support, me having met Boulley, the books being set in Michigan (my homestate), and me personally loving Native books! This book was also all about foster care and the Indian Child Welfare Act which are directly in my daily professional purview!

Massive thank you to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley! Miigwech!

This book took me through so many emotions!

I was pleasantly surprised to see how this story was intertwined with the characters we meet in Boulley’s Firekeeper books.

Boulley has an incredible talent of writing on such important topics. One of the main plot lines of this book is the foster system and its faults as well as ICWA and how important it is for tribes to raise their youth, for there is no future of the tribe without the youth. It is so unfortunate this book is relevant as ICWA continues to be under attack in attempts to overturn it.

Lucy’s story carried so many realities for indigenous youth navigating the foster system. She was told to hide the fact she was native as that would just complicate things.

I was so excited to see Jamie and Daunis and then rekindle their romance. I was curious how their story would end knowing from Warrior Girl Unearthed she ends up with TJ… I was devastated to realize Jamie dies and the child Daunis has is is 😭😭

This book just gave me all the feels - Boulley is an auto read author for me. I cannot wait to see what important stories she has to share with us next.

Thank you Macmillan, Angeline Boulley, Isabella Star LaBlanc, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Angeline Boulley has done it again. She's written a story that's hard to put down, but is also steeped in Native American issues and history, with characters that are emotionally complex. And if you're looking for a book that picks up the lives of the main characters in Firekeeper's Daughter, you won't be disappointed. This is a standalone book, but if you haven't read the previous two, I recommend reading them first.

Lucy Smith was raised by a single father who told her nothing about her mother's Native heritage. When he died, she was placed in a series of foster homes. Now at 18, she's on the run, placing her life and the lives of those she gets close to, in jeopardy. When a Mr. Jameson shows up at her workplace offering to reconnect her to her mother's family, her first impulse is to run, as fast as she can.

While Firekeeper's Daughter explored drugs and criminal justice for Native populations, and Warrior Girl Unearthed explored the looting of Native graves and selling of artifacts, this book explores the Indian Child Welfare Act, a law passed in 1978 to keep more Native children in their tribal communities. The Act is designed "to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards for the removal of Indian children and placement of such children in homes which will reflect the unique values of Indian culture." In other words, it recognizes that Native children benefit from connections with their culture and family and prioritizes such placements.

An engaging thriller, Boulley also explores issues in the child welfare and adoption systems, which historically have separated children from Native families. Lucy is told by a social worker that her possible native heritage will only complicate things, so she's never given an opportunity to learn where she comes from. She only knows that her mother gave her up willingly. She loved her father, so she's hesitant to explore her mother's history. But she's alone, and in danger.

Having worked with a foster care program, I was grateful that Boulley included at least one foster care setting that was not abusive. I know there's plenty of abuse out there, but I also know there are good foster care homes where children are cared for. I hope people don't come away from this story, or others, with the idea that all foster homes are corrupt.

I appreciated the slow building of Lucy's relationships with Daunis and Jamie. Lucy has lots of reasons not to trust them, and it's interesting that she's able to bond more quickly with Jamie than with Daunis, because she sees Daunis as representing the mother who abandoned her and needs time to be ready to accept her Ojibwe heritage. I also loved the way Boulley integrates Ojibwe language and cultural practices throughout the novel. Since Jamie and Daunis need to explain these to Lucy, it's educational for the reader as well.

I liked the theme of fire and ash that recurs - fire is both a destructive force and a spiritual one. Lucy's first foster parent describes fire as "speaking to the chaos within us". One character is described as a "gas can looking for a match". When Lucy loses her temper with Jamie and Daunis:

"The instant the words leave my throat, I wait for the relief. The anticlimactic part when the top of the volcano blows into the sky and the hot wind carries the ash far away. Instead I'm a pyrotechnic flow of regret."

In contrast, fire is an important symbol in Ojibwe ceremonies, present during the four-day mourning period after someone passes away and travels to the next world. Her father's friend Abe Charlevoix describes fire as a means of communicating directly with the spirits. And in a more practical sense, tribal communities understood that while destructive, fire is a force that needs to be managed.

Arguably, Boulley's use of fire as a plot device is a bit heavy-handed - fires follow Lucy wherever she goes. But that's a minor issue.

It's entirely coincidental that I read this right after The Berry Pickers, a novel in which a four year old Mi’kmaq girl is taken from her family and raised without any information about her birth family and heritage. Like Lucy, Norma is occasionally asked if she's Native but she's always been told she is not. While the situations in these two novels are quite different, both are an exploration of cultural and racial identity, and the importance of knowing where we are from. I recommend both books, though I liked Sisters in the Wind more. I was somewhat frustrated with the slow pace and inaction of the characters in The Berry Pickers, though I won't say more about the plot to prevent spoilers.

As with Boulley's other books, I loved everything about this one, and will happily recommend it to everyone I know. Her writing is great for teens as well as adults, though it's often classified as YA. It deals with very heavy subjects, but it's also a book you'll have a hard time putting down.

Note: I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley and publisher Henry Holt and Company. This book published September 2, 2025.

I absolutely loved being back in this world and having characters from Firekeepers daughter play a role in this new story with Lucy. I found the foster care world for native children a very interesting backdrop and it gave me a lot to think about since the author used the story to educate readers on this topic. I loved Lucy and her courage and resilience. This was going to be five stars but the events at the end seemed overly traumatic considering everything Lucy and the others had already gone through.

Another fantastic story by Angeline Boulley, creating a realistic and troubling narrative about the failures of the foster system, the generational trauma that can follow a family across decades, and the true power of a community that loves, supports, and draws into its fold those who were lost through systematic hostility of the broader culture. The characters are flawed and realistic, and the trauma they face is unsettling and all too common. Healing generational trauma is messy and difficult, with no perfect solutions and no easy resolutions, but this story is one of the hope that can be found in reconnecting with the community you never knew you belonged to.

This books was, by turns, realistic and also sad, hopeful and intelligent - a good mix of fiction and fantasy coupled with the realities of these situations. A lovely insight into complex emotions and situations, coupled with a great story that kept you guessing until the end. Bravo! Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this early copy.

Angeline Boulley's Work never disappoints and this novel makes me remember why she is an auto-buy author for me. The twists and turns will leave you on the edge of your seat as you follow along with the story. If you want a guaranteed great time, pick up this novel today.

There's no way for me to write the perfect review I envisioned because this book left me needing to take a lengthy break between finishing and reviewing. Now, every thought I had has settled and I'm left with "It's perfect" and "Someone please pick this up for a 16+ episode season".

For reference, I have over 425 highlights and 60+ notes.

Angeline Boulley does it again, bringing characters to life off the page as you read along. I was already crying pretty well immediately and connecting with characters just a fast, feeling all of the emotions on their behalf and wanting to reach out physically for them. This is a read that can be relatable to any age group despite the Children's publishing imprint – the idea that 17 and 18 year olds could feel the way I felt at 26 was noteworthy for me.

"The card has a black bird graphic and unfamiliar words: Gaagaagi Noodin. The back of the card lists a cell-phone number and an e-mail address, and there's a handwritten message: Lucy, come home where you are loved."

Watching our main character, Lucy, build bonds with other characters and her heritage was beautiful from page to page. We see her lack of trust in those around her through every step of the way as those feelings change into something else. Angeline builds suspense chapter to chapter with flashes of the past explaining the future in a way that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. "Is it this, is is that? Okay I think it's this" but then it isn't anything I had theorized (or it was). A true mystery and suspense read. As any Native read, there are good points of comedy throughout the book as well.

"Good people say goodbye."

It's hard to leave a thorough review without spoilers because even saying something like "This book offers a good picture of Bipolar Disorder without making it a focal point", just for example, I feel would give pertinent details away that the readers should find organically. (To be clear, what I felt was well-represented without saying so is not Bipolar Disorder.)

Sisters in the Wind offers a good commentary on identity issues for tribal members and those disconnected alike. There is so much to be learned despite this being a work of fiction. The use of Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) is written so thoughtfully, allowing readers to learn new words naturally as well as the pronunciation of them as we follow our main character's journey. Readers even learn about Indian Law and policy through the use of real-life excerpts instead of simple references.

One of the major themes in Sisters in the Wind is adoption and foster care. My pokni (grandmother) participated in one of the first waves of Indian Child Welfare Act aka ICWA adoptions – if not the first – when she adopted my Uncle Richard and Aunt Cheryl. The initial plan was to foster or adopt one child before finding out that child had a sibling they would be separated from otherwise: a reality for many Native children in the system. The controversy surrounding the premise of ICWA makes a book like this all the more important because it blends that living documentation and actuality with an imaginary world to makes it feel like you're escaping reality if you haven't been through it or been witness to it. For a work of fiction to depict this reality in a way that feels so raw and real is rare.

"When social workers don't get trained specifically on ICWA, they miss opportunities to impact Native children's lives because they aren't challenged on their biases and assumptions." Jamie walks around the room, gesturing and emphasizing key words. "Like not asking whether ICWA applies because the child doesn't 'look' Native to them. Or assuming that if a child isn't enrolled in a tribe, ICWA doesn't apply to them. The law applies to children who are enrolled and those who are eligible to be enrolled."

By the last page, you will surely be reaching for a tissue just pages after yelling at the book as if your voice could change the course of life for these characters that has already been written.

While this is part of the Firekeeper's Daughter storyline and world, it can be read as a standalone. (Though I would absolutely recommend reading Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed too!)

Yakoke (thank you) to Angeline Boulley, NetGalley, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Henry Holt and Co. for providing an e-ARC. All opinions are my own and given freely.

Sisters in the Wind is a powerful story about family, belonging, survival, identity, reclaiming your heritage, and strength.

Told in the same vein as Firekeeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed, Sisters in the Wind brings to light the history of stolen Native children and combines that with the contemporary dangers teens are vulnerable to today. It also sheds light on the foster care system and the ways it can be abused and detrimental to children.

Sisters in the Wind takes place five years after the events of Firekeeper's Daughter, and five years before the events of Warrior Girl Unearthed. So, even though it was written and published third, it is chronologically the second book.

Told between the present and the past, Sisters in the Wind, is about 18 -year-old Lucy Smith. After her father died five years ago and she was thrown out by her step-mother, Lucy was placed in the foster care system. Lucy's first placement was a good one, but after that her time in foster care brought pain, abuse, sadness, and more to Lucy. So when the sharp-eyed and kind Mr. Jameson, a lawyer who helps Native American children, comes looking for her, Lucy wonders if hiding from her past will ever truly keep her safe. Mr. Jameson and his friend, a strong Native woman, tell Lucy they want to keep her safe and protect her. They also tell Lucy the truth her father hid from her: She is Ojibwe; she has – had – a sister, and more siblings, a mother and grandmother who’d look after her, and a home where she would be loved. But Lucy soon realizes someone is out to get her and her past is catching up with her. She has to decide if she will trust Mr. Jameson and his friend to keep her safe, or if she will take matters into her own hands.

This book brings back familiar characters from her previous stories. That includes Daunis. Warrior Girl Unearthed left some questions about Daunis' story but Sisters in the Wind answers those, as well as bringing back some other familiar faces and connections to characters from both Firekeeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed. It was nice to have those connections established and to fill in the gaps of Daunis' story.

Sisters in the Wind is just as powerful as Angeline Boulley's other stories. Lucy endures a lot during her time in foster care; things that no child/teenager should have to experience. But her story brings to life the reality of the foster care system and the issues teens face today. In addition, Boulley does a wonderful job of continuing to educate her readers about Native American heritage and culture. You get a real feel for the sense of pride she takes in her culture, and her passion for sharing Native culture with others.

This is a heavy story with a lot of heartbreak, but it is also an encouraging one that demonstrates how you can overcome your past and fight through your battles.

Angeline Boulley has solidified herself as an auto-buy author for me. This third installment in the Firekeeper’s Daughter universe is another five-star read. I chose to listen to the audiobook to hear the anishinaabemowin words authentically read. It was superbly narrated by Isabella Star LeBlanc.

This book takes place between Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed and focuses on Lucy Smith, a foster teen who discovers her Ojibwe heritage after the death of her father. Her story joins with characters from Firekeeper’s Daughter as she is trying to escape someone from her past. With their help, she is able to finally embrace who she is, but also learn about the systems that have kept indigenous children away from their culture for generations. 

Boulley pulled me through twists and turns I didn’t see coming until she wanted me to. She also answered questions that lingered from Warrior Girl Unearthed. This non-linnear storytelling allowed events to unfold in a way that was satisfying and expertly executed. Is it too soon to wish for the next book?

I know this is a story I will keep coming back to.

Lucy Smith was raised by her single-dad and never knew her mother, or that she was half Native American. The book opens as Lucy has decided to run from the life she has lived for the past six months. Before she can run, the diner where she works is bombed and she ends up in the hospital. When she wakes, she is met by John Jameson, a lawyer for the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and Daunis Fontaine, the best friend of her dead half-sister that she never knew existed. They tell Lucy that she is half Ojibwe and that her birth mother is alive and wants to meet her. Lucy wants no part of this because the reason she decided to run is that she is being followed and fears for her life.

We then flash back to Lucy’s life with her father and a string of foster homes she lived in after his death. The book is told in dual timeline, part following the events of the diner bombing and part with Lucy’s life in the foster homes.

Angeline Boulley never fails to tug at my heartstrings with her books, and I have enjoyed learning more about Ojibwe culture with each one. Set between Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed, this book also filled in some of what Daunis was up to during that time. You don’t have to have read the other books to enjoy this one, but I think the story is richer if you do.

Another raw, unflinching story from Angeline Boulley that will leave you in tears.

I am a longtime fan of Boulley's work, and Sisters in the Wind might just come out as my favorite book of hers. Set between the events of Firekeeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed, we meet Lucy, a young Indigenous woman who has suffered in the foster care system after losing her father, and is doing everything in her power to escape the pain she has endured once and for all. Daunis returns as she helps Lucy recover from an injury, while also trying to connect her back to her Ojibwe culture, roots, and community that she has been kept from all her life.

As always, Boulley is a master at crafting a thrilling, heartfelt yet painful story that highlights the importance of community, family (chosen and blood), culture, and loving imperfect people (including yourself). And of course, emphasizing and teaching the atrocities that have been and continue to be brought upon Indigenous peoples. This is why I love Boulley's writing; her characters are so multi-faceted and real, vulnerable and messy, and never is it their intentions to be anything but human. I loved that throughout the story, we see Lucy's armor build up and fall away with every chapter, and the ending had me sobbing and clutching my ereader to my chest.

I will forever be blown away by Angeline Boulley's books, and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next.

This was a really beautiful but heartbreaking story. There characters went through too much and I learned so much about ICWA and Native culture. The ending was a bit unsatisfying for me. I wanted more about the aftermath after Jamie died and when Lucy met her birth mother. They mentioned the funeral and the naming ceremony, but I would have loved to see more of that. Angeline Boulley writes such creative, thoughtful, and interesting stories, so I will definitely keep reading her books!

This is a story of a young Ojibwe woman's coming of age where she is forced to fight against many things:
● Her ancestry as a partially Indian woman.
● The foster care system
● Her past aggressions she committed when trying to right wrongs done to her as well as those she loved and cared about
● Males treatment of her…gawking at her as she develops early is only one thing she has to deal with
● Knowing who will tell her the truth and protect her
● Adults wielding power over her

It is such a sad thing to be a put into the foster care system, a place where children without parents to take care of them should have a second chance of being cared for properly. Many instead including our protagonist Lucy, were put in situations where they had no protection. They were placed where the foster parents had all the power and were believed over children being abused.

Lucy's woes were increased by the prejudice of many individuals against “Indian” people.

The pace of this book was fast and both of the dual time lines were action packed as they converged to meet.

Lucy and several other key characters were so well written. That included the black, the white and the morally grey characters.

There were so many other extremely interesting characters including the other teens in foster care along with Lucy, the foster care officials as well as relatives.

Books like Sisters In the Wind are so important. A magnifying lamp should be held up to spotlight works like Boulley's that bring attention to the prejudicial words and actions that our indigenous peoples must endure.

Having read both her first book The Firekeepers Daughter and her sophomore novel Warrior Girl Unearthed I am so grateful for the work she continues to do. She is certainly a writer I will continue to follow.

I highly recommend this well written and heart felt novel.

A huge thank you to one of my very favorite authors Angeline Boulley and her publishing house, Henry Holt and Company for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Sisters In The Wind. As always a thank you to NetGalley for facilitating the reading of advance reader copies.

Publication day is September 2nd

I really like Angeline Boulley and the way she writes suspenseful, real life YA books. I always feel like I come away learning something new about Indigenous people in the United States.

Lucy Smith has been in foster care since her dad died five years ago and has learned foster placements have a wide array of good to bad.

After fleeing several bad placements, she’s on her own now. She’s working and living in her own place but she’s being followed and it’s about time for her to flee again.

After a “freak” accident at work leaves Lucy in the hospital, she meets Jamie and Daunis (yesssss from Firekeeper’s daughter!) and they are helping her recover.

Lucy begins to learn about her mother, who her dad never talked about. Lucy’s mother is Ojibwe, she’s alive and she wants to meet Lucy.

I enjoyed the storytelling and the suspense but WOW the last 20% of the book went so fast that I still have questions?

100% recommend this book and Boulley’s other books.

Has anyone else read all 3 so we can talk about the return of Jamie?!!!!!!!!🥹

Thanks to #netgalley, the publisher and author for this e-arc. It’s out today, 9/2!!