Firekeeper’s Daughter (audiobook) by Angeline Boulley
Bibliographic Information
Title: Firekeeper’s Daughter
Author: Angeline Boulley
Narrator: Isabella Star LeBlanc
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Copyright Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1250766564
Page Count: 496
Genre/Format
Mystery/Thriller/Romance - Book
Awards or Honors
Printz Medal Winner
Morris Award Winner
American Indian Youth Literature Award YA Honor Book
Walter Dean Myers Award Winner
Reading Level/Interest Level
14-18 (Kirkus Reviews)
Plot Summary
Daunis, an 18-year-old living in Northern Michigan, finds herself torn between her father’s community, the Ojibwe, and her mother’s wealthy white family. She has decided to attend a local community college instead of a bigger University that is further away so she can help take care of her grandmother who recently had a stroke. The story is set in the early 2000’s, and methamphetamine addiction is plaguing her community. She is living a somewhat normal young adult life, pining after a new hockey player on her brother’s team, Jamie, when her best friend is murdered, and she is thrown into an FBI investigation. Daunis explores a relationship with Jamie while using her strong chemistry and biology skills to help the FBI investigation uncover who is behind a lethal new drug that is being sold to other Native communities. She must decide if she can trust the FBI and learns she must question everything she thought she knew to be true.
How I felt when the FBI recruited Daunis to be a CI
Author Background
Angeline Boulley is full-time author, but previously worked in Indian Education. Most recently, she served as the Director for the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education.
She is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan. She currently lives in southwest Michigan but will always call Sugar Island home.
(Boulley, n.d.).
Critical Evaluation
I enjoyed Daunis’ stream of consciousness and point of view in this book as she deals with racism and sexism. Her character grew throughout the book, and I found myself rooting for her healthy love story happy ending. Familial and cultural themes of identity were strong and left me feeling happy for the protagonist. There were heavy elements in the book including drugs, addiction, violence, sexual assault, and abuse. The protagonist is a strong heroine, though, and she shows the reader how she chooses to deal with these issues in health ways.
Creative Use for a Library Program
Partner with a local Native American group to host a choker workshop where teens can learn about the history of chokers and make their own. Program idea from Livermore Public Library.
Speed-Round Talk
18-year-old Daunis is biracial and feels a little out of place in both of her ethnic communities. She just graduated high school but decides to put her first university choice on hold after a family tragedy. She then witnesses her best friend being killed and becomes wrapped up in an FBI investigation as a confidential informant to help her community fight the meth drug problem that has rocked her world. Will she be able to work with a Federal government agency and not tear her community apart?
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation
The book includes elements of violence, drugs, addiction, sexual assault, and abuse. It has been challenged and banned in some schools and libraries. The book has won numerous awards and has four starred reviews. All teens will deal with some or many of these issues at some point in their lives, and this book gives a humanistic look at these issues with realistic consequences. There is no romanticization of the issues.
Reason for Inclusion
This book is inclusive of a tribal community in Michigan and the protagonist shares details of her life and teaches the reader how to not be a bigot towards Native people. This story is a great window and doorway for non-Native people, but any teen who has multiple ethnic identities may be able to relate to the protagonist. Teens should enjoy the mystery and suspense of the plot. Teens who enjoyed Breaking Bad may like this book.
Bonus Information
Readers can continue the story in Warrior Girl Unearthed, a stand book that picks up ten years after Firekeeper’s Daughter.
References
Boulley, A. (n.d.). Angeline Boulley. Retrieved October 26, 2024 from https://angelineboulley.com/about-angeline-boulley.html
Boulley, A. (2021, March 16). Firekeeper’s Daughter. Henry Holt and Co.
Kirkus Reviews. (2020, December 6). A suspenseful tale filled with Ojibwe knowledge, hockey, and the politics of status [Review of the book, Firekeeper’s daughter, by A. Boulley]. Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/angeline-boulley/firekeepers-daughter/
Livermore Public Library [@livermorelibrary]. (2024, October 18). On Monday, October 21, at 6 p.m. we're having Tina Henson from the @nativeamericancenter_trivalley host a workshop, for teens and [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/livermorelibrary/p/DBRbPgNMWYY/
Pudgy Penguins [@pudgypenguins]. (2023, August 7). Sad Still Waiting GIF by Pudgy Penguins [GIF]. Giphy. https://giphy.com/gifs/pudgypenguins-nervous-worried-pacing-CRFnpb7s2jjlwJsjlf
*Book Cover Image is property of publisher, Henry Holt and Co.; taken from Amazon.