Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Abstract

Reviewed by: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Boulley, Angeline Firekeeper’s Daughter. Holt, 2021 [496p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250766564 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781250766571 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr. 7-10 Eighteen years ago, Daunis’ birth was a bit of a scandal, the result of a much-frowned-upon relationship between her white mother and her Anishinaabe father, but now, even as an unenrolled member of Sugar Island’s Ojibwe Tribe, she finds comfort and community in her father’s Firekeeper relatives. Everything goes to hell, however, when her best friend Lily is killed by her drugged-up boyfriend, and Jamie, the new guy Daunis has just started a relationship with, turns out to be an FBI agent investigating meth distribution in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Daunis agrees to go undercover to help Jamie find out where the drugs might be coming from, but as she digs deeper, she realizes her discoveries might irreparably damage her Ojibwe community. A perfectly calibrated pace and a constantly shifting list of suspects keep the tension high, and several red herrings are effectively deployed to surprise even the savviest of sleuthing readers. Unfortunately, the dialogue is frustratingly stiff, often serving more as exposition than realistic interaction, and too many disparate threads (including Daunis’ sexual assault by a friend’s father) are left unaddressed, crowding out the major plotline. Daunis makes an effective guide, however, through her Ojibwe community and traditions, and the tribe’s emphasis on the past informing the present plays out both thematically and in the action. Despite the book’s flaws, Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, provides an #ownvoices thriller that may intrigue. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois