Tag Archives: Indigenous

Review: The Fragments That Remain by Mackenzie Angeconeb

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The Fragments That Remain by Mackenzie Angeconeb

The Fragments That Remain
Mackenzie Angeconeb
Cormorant Books
Published March 8, 2025

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About The Fragments That Remain

First-year college student Andy can’t afford to slow down. Study, volunteer, work, make new friends, fall in love ― whatever it takes to keep her from obsessing over her brother Ally’s death, which was ruled suicide by overdose. Navigating a new life chapter without her “honorary twin,” Andy writes letters to him as she strives to embrace her bisexuality and her Indigenous identity. Once she discovers Ally’s hidden poems, Andy pours over them to make sense of her brother’s life ― and his death.

Back in senior year, Ally dreamed of being a poet. His parents encouraged him to write as a hobby, but they always expected him to inherit the family-owned bookshop with his sister. Ally wrote to cope with his emptiness, until he turned to drugs to fill the void.

Reaching for her brother through unanswered words, Andy must reckon with living a once-shared life alone.

My Review

This novel is divided into three parts. Andy’s letters to her brother make up the first and last parts of the book. The middle part is made up of poems her brother Ally wrote and left in a box she finds partway through the story.

The letters read like diary entries. They show Andy processing her brother’s death, dealing with grief, and her struggle to form new connections with others. At times, Andy circles between grief and depression, vividly describing her emotional pain. When she discovers the poems, she wrestles with wanting to know Ally’s thoughts and worrying she’ll discover something she can’t unknow.

I found her journey easily relatable. She had a lot of guilt over her brother’s death. At one point, she experiences rejection and has an explosively angry reaction. She doesn’t become violent, but she feels incredibly betrayed and says some hurtful (ace-phobic) things. As she processes her feelings and reflects on her behavior, she realizes she acted badly and apologizes.

I love her mom’s reaction when she tells her parents she’s dating a girl. Her mom is so chill about it that her dad thinks maybe she doesn’t realize what Andy is telling them, so he repeats it, and her mom is like, yeah, I know, but what’s her name? It is a sweet moment.

On the whole, I enjoyed the book. I think readers who enjoy stories that reflect on unexpected tragedy or address the fallout of addiction or loss will want to read The Fragments That Remain.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing, references to sex (not shown on-scene).

Spiritual Content
Andy reads her letters aloud and thinks of it as reading them to her brother’s spirit. Vague reference to praying to whatever gods are listening.

Violent Content
References to drug overdose/death by suicide.

Drug Content
References to drug use.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson

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Those Pink Mountain Nights
Jen Ferguson
Heartdrum
Published September 12, 2023

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About Those Pink Mountain Nights

In her remarkable second novel following her acclaimed debut, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, which won the Governor General’s Award and received six starred reviews, Jen Ferguson writes about the hurt of a life stuck in past tense, the hum of connections that cannot be severed, and one week in a small snowy town that changes everything.

Over-achievement isn’t a bad word—for Berlin, it’s the goal. She’s securing excellent grades, planning her future, and working a part-time job at Pink Mountain Pizza, a legendary local business. Who says she needs a best friend by her side?

Dropping out of high school wasn’t smart—but it was necessary for Cameron. Since his cousin Kiki’s disappearance, it’s hard enough to find the funny side of life, especially when the whole town has forgotten Kiki. To them, she’s just another missing Native girl.

People at school label Jessie a tease, a rich girl—and honestly, she’s both. But Jessie knows she contains multitudes. Maybe her new job crafting pizzas will give her the high-energy outlet she desperately wants.

When the weekend at Pink Mountain Pizza takes unexpected turns, all three teens will have to acknowledge the various ways they’ve been hurt—and how much they need each other to hold it all together.

My Review

The story alternates between the perspectives of Berlin, Cameron, Jessie, and Kiki and centers around their connection to a local pizza parlor that they learn the owner plans to sell. Kiki’s chapters are in verse and start in the past leading toward the time when she disappeared. All four voices are distinct in the way they perceive the world and respond. Berlin’s grief over her recently lost friendship and the pervasive numbness she feels colors all of her experiences. She tries to keep up with school and work as if everything is normal, but it has become an immense struggle.

Cameron has big feelings about his family, especially his missing cousin, but also his younger sisters, whom he feels he must protect, and his father, who treads the water of his own grief. Cam hasn’t felt seen or understood by Berlin, but as they begin to get to know one another again, they form a surprising bond that helps them both in unexpected ways.

Jessie has a spectacular voice, too. She uses words in interesting ways and brings a lot of humor to the page, which might seem odd, since she carries her own grief and sadness, too.

This is a messy story with messy characters being real about how hard life can be sometimes, even for people who, on the outside, seem to have everything going for them. It’s also a story about internalized prejudices and how invisible they can be without deliberate action to root them out.

Ferguson is a hard-hitting author who trusts readers to be able to face hard truths and delivers compelling characters.I seem to be reading her books backward, since I started with her most recent release, A Constellation of Minor Bears, and then read this one. Up next: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, which I’ve heard great things about.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Cameron and Berlin are Native. Kiki is biracial, Black and Native. Jessie is a cancer survivor and is LGBTQIA+. Cameron has a learning disability.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A handful of F-bombs and other swear words.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. Kissing between boy and girl. An implied sexual relationship between an adult and a teenage girl. A girl makes reference to an adult who routinely comes on to teenage girls. References to the fact that a girl enjoys making out with people.

Spiritual Content
References to Métis and Cree beliefs and rituals. Berlin and Cameron find a severely injured wapati (elk) and help end her pain. Both feel the presence of the wapati’s spirit in their lives in different ways after that and follow its leading.

Violent Content
References to a sexual relationship between and adult and a teenager. Nothing happens on scene. Cameron ends the pain of a severely injured wapati. Some characters make ani-Indigenous comments or statements. Major characters push back on those. Characters encounter anti-Black statements in a social media campaign. The story explores the impact of anti-Black feeling and actions toward a Black man and young Black and Indigenous woman. The novel also discusses the disparity in police response to missing Native women compared to other missing persons cases.

Drug Content
References to a teenager smoking.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

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Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

Normally, I start a post like this at the beginning of the season and add to it as I finish reading each book. That gives me a diary-like record of my experience with each book, which I enjoy looking back at later.

This time, I forgot to start the post and only remembered about it in mid-November when I began making my calendar of list posts for next year. At any rate, I did manage to get my Fall 2024 backlist reading list together, and I’m excited to talk about some of these books.

I somehow managed to get to a lot more backlist titles than I thought I did. My guess is that this is because I read many of them as audiobooks. A few that I read as ebooks or hard copies were basically mood reads.

I’ve had some of these books high on my reading list for quite a while, like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, Show Me a Sign by Ann-Clare LeZotte, and Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Others, like Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price, The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich, and We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride, are newer to my reading list, but I am really glad I got to them.

Note: This post contains affiliate links that do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. Thanks for using them to do your shopping.

Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is one of the top ten most frequently banned books in the US. It’s about two best friends who learn that a classmate has been diagnosed with cancer.

Published March 1, 2012 | My Review to Come

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: stuff stuff

Published April 6, 2021 | My Review to Come

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This feels like a convention-setting novel, and I’m glad I read it. Some of the commentary about the characters is very dated, which might make it challenging for today’s readers. It’s a fascinating mystery, though.

Published June 1, 1997 (Orig. 1978) | My Review to Come

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Weirdly, I read Warrior Girl, Unearthed before I read Fire Keeper’s Daughter, so there were a couple of elements of the plot that I already knew about. I did enjoy getting to see Pauline and her sister as younger kids and reading Daunis’s story. It’s a tightly plotted, intense book. Highly recommended.

Published March 16, 2021 | My Review to Come

The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan

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What you need to know: I read Anne Frank’s diary earlier this year, and I immediately put this book on my reading list after that. The book carefully tracks an intricate investigation into who betrayed the Frank family. It’s an amazing book.

Published January 17, 2023 | My Review to Come

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Five teenagers spread across the US who become involved in human trafficking. This one is pretty dark with fairly straightforward characters. It’s one of the most frequently banned books in the US.

Published August 25, 2009 | My Review to Come

The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart #2) by Stephanie Garber

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My thoughts: Evangeline’s adventures continue! This might have been my favorite book of the three. We learn more about the fairytale for which Evangeline is named and what Jacks is truly after. It’s a pretty wild ride.

Published September 13, 2022 | Review to Come

We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A powerful novel-in-verse about magic, depression, and the power of the stories we tell ourselves. Amber McBride is pretty much an auto-buy author for me. She’s amazing.

Published January 10, 2023 | My Review to Come

A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart #3) by Stephanie Garber

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The finale of the series. I think the second book was my favorite, but I definitely wanted to know how things turned out for Evangeline and her love. If you like Garber’s work, I am pretty sure you’ll like this series.

Published October 24, 2023 | My Review to Come

The Game of Silence (The Birchbark House #2) by Louise Erdrich

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What you need to know: Omakayas’s story continues as her family faces new threats to their way of life. Her dreams prove a powerful force, but is she brave enough to listen to them? I am loving this series so far.

Published June 16, 2006 | Review to Come

Show Me a Sign by Ann-Clare LeZotte

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is the first book about Mary and her community on Martha’s Vineyard. I wish I’d read this one first, though I don’t think you have to in order to follow the series. Reading this book made the areas of focus in the other books make more sense to me. It’s a fabulous historical fiction book.

Published March 3, 2020 | My Review to Come

Coyote Queen by Jessica Vitalis

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The back cover copy calls this book moving and voice-driven, and boy is it both of those things! An unforgettable tale of a girl with a troubling home life finding her voice.

Published October 10, 2023 | My Review to Come

Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The story of three friends and their connection to a local pizza parlor and a missing girl. Moving, thoughtful, and intense. Each point of view has amazing characterization.

Published September 12, 2023 | My Review to Come

This Town is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris

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What you need to know: An incisive exploration of relationships and activism and the opportunity to continue to learn and grow. Powerful storytelling here.

Published June 20, 2023 | My Review to Come

Did you read any books in the past few months that came out before 2024?

Did you do any reading over the fall season? If so, what were your favorite books?

Have you read any of the books on my Fall 2024 Backlist Reading list? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Review: The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich

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The Game of Silence (Birchbark House #2)
Louise Erdrich
HarperCollins
Published June 13, 2006

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About The Game of Silence

Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, The Game of Silence is the second novel in the critically acclaimed Birchbark House series by New York Times bestselling author Louise Erdrich.

Her name is Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop, and she lives on an island in Lake Superior. One day in 1850, Omakayas’s island is visited by a group of mysterious people. From them, she learns that the chimookomanag, or white people, want Omakayas and her people to leave their island and move farther west.

That day, Omakayas realizes that something so valuable, so important that she never knew she had it in the first place, could be in danger: Her way of life. Her home.

The Birchbark House Series is the story of one Ojibwe family’s journey through one hundred years in America. The New York Times Book Review raved about The Game of Silence: “Erdrich has created a world, fictional but real: absorbing, funny, serious and convincingly human.”

My Review

It’s easy to see why this series has won the awards and received the acclaim that it has. The author welcomes readers into the story of a young Ojibwe girl as she navigates changing seasons, life as a middle child, and the recipient of a powerful gift of dreams.

Omakayas learns about medicine from her grandmother. They collect plants for different purposes and help others who fall sick or become injured. She watches her older sister growing up and falling in love, though she doesn’t fully understand what’s happening and feels shut out of her sister’s thoughts and feelings sometimes.

The relationships between characters strike the perfect balance between presenting information as a child would understand it and offering clues that older readers will interpret to more fully explain what’s happening. This is especially true of the relationships between female characters, such as Omakayas and her older sister, her mother, and her grandmother.

The story also includes characters who don’t fit the traditional expectations for women or men. One example is a woman named Old Tallow, who lives on her own with several dogs and is a renowned hunter. Another instance is Omakayas’s cousin, Two Strike Girl, who refuses to help with what she terms “women’s work” and impresses the tribe when she brings down a bull moose with a single shot. The tribe leaders sense that she could become a great leader, or she could make choices that put her life or the lives of others in danger. They feel it’s important to nurture the girl’s strong spirit and understand her path will look different than the others’.

Readers who enjoy mid-nineteenth century history, especially American history, will enjoy this clever, beautiful story about community, family, and finding one’s own path.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Omakayas and her family are Ojibwe. Most characters in the book are Ojibwe.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Omakayas witnesses and participates in spiritual practices and rituals of her people. Her family are friends with a priest who serves at a church in a nearby town, but they do not share the same beliefs. There are references to other tribe members who practice Catholicism.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone hunts and shoots a moose. Omakayas helps her grandmother, a healer, remove a frostbitten finger from someone in their care.

Drug Content
Some tribe members smoke tobacco in a pipe. Vague references to alcohol. (No one drinks alcohol on scene.)

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

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Firekeeper’s Daughter
Angeline Boulley
Henry Holt & Co.
Published March 16, 2021

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About Firekeeper’s Daughter

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in—both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. When her family is struck by tragedy, Daunis puts her dreams on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother’s hockey team.

After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. How far will she go to protect her community if it means tearing apart the only world she’s ever known?

My Review

Firekeeper’s Daughter has been on my reading list since the book came out in 2021. I read Warrior Girl, Unearthed in 2023, which has some of the same characters in it. There are also a few spoilers for this book, so I was prepared for a couple of the things that happened, but I still found the story and Daunis as a narrator especially compelling.

The story follows relationships between Daunis and her friends, family, and community members. These relationships add so much richness to the story. Daunis has connections to elders who share wisdom about tribal life and values. She meets a handsome hockey player who makes her question her views about relationships and whether guys can be trusted.

Her love for her community drives her forward, and that love comes through in every move she makes, even in her most conflicted moments. She has strong relationships with several women. Some of these help her when she needs them. Others need her help.

The story explores how law enforcement can neglect or harm tribal communities, especially Indigenous women. One of the things Daunis wrestles with is whether her role in the criminal investigation will help or hurt her community. She’s determined to make sure she helps, but so many pieces of the investigation stand outside her control.

Conclusion

Firekeeper’s Daughter created a lot of buzz the year it came out, and justifiably so. The story had me completely captivated and pulled me into the heart of an Indigenous community grieving over the loss of young lives and the people working hard to understand why it happened. It’s a powerful story with a lot of suspense and a bit of romance.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Daunis is biracial. Her mom is white, and her dad is Ojibwe. Most major characters are indigenous.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some F-bombs and other profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. At one point, a boy and girl have sex– only sparse details are included. Someone prepares to assault a girl. The assault is implied and not described, but it’s referenced later. A boy kisses a girl without consent. A boy makes a sexual comment about a girl. Someone brags about sexual exploits.

Spiritual Content
References to prayer and tribal practices such as making offerings at river crossings. References to tribal teachings, stories, and medicines.

Violent Content
Someone attacks a girl. A boy punches another boy after he makes a sexual comment about her. References to a fatal car accident. A girl punches a boy in the face. Someone drugs a girl. A girl finds the body of a missing person. A group kidnaps two people and threatens them. Someone causes a car accident.

Drug Content
References to alcohol and drug addiction. References to creating methamphetamine and distributing it. Someone gives Daunis a beer at a party.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson

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A Constellation of Minor Bears
Jen Ferguson
Heartdrum
Published September 24, 2024

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About A Constellation of Minor Bears

Award-winning author Jen Ferguson has written a powerful story about teens grappling with balancing resentment with enduring friendship—and how to move forward with a life that’s not what they’d imagined.

Before that awful Saturday, Molly used to be inseparable from her brother, Hank, and his best friend, Tray. The indoor climbing accident that left Hank with a traumatic brain injury filled Molly with anger.

While she knows the accident wasn’t Tray’s fault, she will never forgive him for being there and failing to stop the damage. But she can’t forgive herself for not being there either.

Determined to go on the trio’s post-graduation hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, even without Hank, Molly packs her bag. But when her parents put Tray in charge of looking out for her, she is stuck backpacking with the person who incites her easy anger.

Despite all her planning, the trail she’ll walk has a few more twists and turns ahead. . . .

Discover the evocative storytelling and emotion from the author of The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, which was the winner of the Governor General’s Award, a Stonewall Award honor book, and a Morris Award finalist, as well as Those Pink Mountain Nights, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year!

My Review

I’ve heard so many great things about Jen Ferguson’s books that I’m only sorry it took me so long to read one. This book tackles some complex issues through characters who struggle to communicate their thoughts and feelings in ways that aren’t hurtful or difficult. (So relatable! Especially thinking of myself as a teenager.)

I really appreciated the author’s content note at the opening of the book, which offers some context for and information about the difficult topics (fat abuse, fatphobia, ableism, and racism) that the story includes. Those things often stay on the fringes of the novel but could still be really difficult for some readers. The author also includes a note at the end of the book in which she shares more about how our culture responds to fatness, disability, and our relationship to the traditional unceded lands of Indigenous people. There’s great stuff to be read in those notes.

The novel also contains some great stuff. At its core, it’s about the relationship between Molly, her brother Hank, and their best friend Tray. The relationships have become more strained since Hank’s climbing accident, and it’s unclear whether they can reconcile.

The narrative mostly shifts back and forth between Molly and Tray’s perspectives. Occasionally, Hank’s AITA posts appear between chapters, describing his thoughts and feelings and commenters’ responses. The book is divided into parts labeled according to the parts of a song. Tray is a songwriter, so some of his conflicts are resolved with and through music. Molly is a science girl, so she thinks about the science of injuries and healing. She thinks about stars and facts.

Ultimately, A Constellation of Minor Bears is a book about dealing with the unexpected. It’s about how relationships change, and how we need each other, but not always in the ways others want us to need them. It’s about figuring out how to listen to one another without judgment.

Plot-wise, the story starts off a little bit slow. Molly and Tray are so uncomfortable together. Once Brynn joins the group, the pace and energy really pick up, and I wanted to read from there all the way through to the end.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Tray and Molly are Métis. Molly’s brother Hank is white and disabled after a climbing fall. Molly is bisexual. Hank is gay. Other minor characters are queer. Molly and another character are plus-sized.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A fair number of f-bombs and other profanity. The crew have a joke that when someone says something ridiculous, they’ll call it out as bear sh**. Someone responds by clarifying that they mean no offense to any bears. It adds some lightness to difficult conversations and situations.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
References to Métis spiritual practices, rituals, and stories.

Violent Content
Contains some ableist comments. Contains instances of abuse and fatphobia (most happen off-scene). References to anti-Indigenous comments and actions.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol. References to side characters smoking weed. One character is hospitalized after drinking far too much.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.