Boulley, Angeline. Warrior Girl Unearthed. Henry Holt, 05/2023. 396pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 978-1-2507-6658-8. GRADES 8–12. OUTSTANDING.
Looking forward to a lazy “2014 Summer of Slack” spent fishing, sixteen-year-old underachieving Perry Firekeeper-Birch instead finds herself stuck in an internship at the tribal museum, and unexpectedly positioned on a new path in life. Set ten years after the events of Firekeeper’s Daughter (2021), Perry’s perspective highlights the emotional toll of institutional noncompliance with NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), the 1990 legislation governing the return of human remains and sacred objects to tribal communities, and violence against Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S), issues that remain relevant today. Most characters have Anishinaabe heritage and are described with a range of hair and eye colors. Perry, her identical twin Pauline, and their father are also Black. A welcome #OwnVoices return to Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, and a strong new narrative voice from the women in the Firekeeper family.
Caroline Davis—Alameda County Library