I Can Make This Promise
Written by Christine Day
Narrated by Kyla Garcia
4/5
()
About this audiobook
In her debut middle grade novel—inspired by her family’s history—Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family’s secrets—and finds her own Native American identity.
All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she might be about her Native American heritage, Edie is sure her family doesn’t have any answers.
Until the day when she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic—a box full of letters signed “Love, Edith,” and photos of a woman who looks just like her.
Suddenly, Edie has a flurry of new questions about this woman who shares her name. Could she belong to the Native family that Edie never knew about? But if her mom and dad have kept this secret from her all her life, how can she trust them to tell her the truth now?
Christine Day
Christine Day (Upper Skagit) is the author of The Sea in Winter and I Can Make This Promise, which was a best book of the year from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, NPR, and the Chicago Public Library, as well as an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book and a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book. You can visit her online at bychristineday.com
Related to I Can Make This Promise
Related audiobooks
From the Desk of Zoe Washington Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emmy in the Key of Code Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Show Me a Sign (Show Me a Sign Trilogy, Book 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sea in Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Efren Divided Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Go First Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Land of Forgotten Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amina's Voice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Junie Kim Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clues to the Universe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Set Me Free (Show Me a Sign, Book 2) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stella by Starlight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Genesis Begins Again Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sisters of the Neversea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amina's Song Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As Brave As You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsettled Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More to the Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Good Kind of Trouble Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mañanaland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Dream of Space: A Newbery Honor Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lupe Wong Won't Dance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Orphan Island Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blended Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something to Say Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Soft Place to Land Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Children's Family For You
Escaping Peril (Wings of Fire #8) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Berenstain Bears' Nature Rescue: An Early Reader Chapter Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Prince Caspian Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Night Divided Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Magician's Nephew Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 (I Survived #1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where the Wild Things Are Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ramona Quimby Audio Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On the Banks of Plum Creek Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline: Full Cast Production Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Farmer Boy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wish Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret Garden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Series of Unfortunate Events #3: The Wide Window Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silver Chair Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues, Book 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl Who Drank the Moon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Battle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of My Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fortunately, the Milk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wolf Called Wander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Graveyard Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Tree Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Odd and the Frost Giants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wildwood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for I Can Make This Promise
56 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow, what a powerful book. That ending! Definitely deserving of the award gracing the cover. And the narrator managed several different voices so well.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holy cow, I did not see that coming.
I mean, I was excited to read a book about a Native child in Seattle. More excited when I found that it's a debut novel from a Upper Skagit author, and that it's talking about local tribes. Even more excited when it's a contemporary heroine, and the story confronts microaggressions heads-on. It's a great book -- would be a great book if that was all. But that's not all. This tells a history that I had no idea existed. This tells a point of view that pulls every part of the book together, and delivers that experience powerfully.
Yep, I'm being vague. Go read it. And then join me in waiting for Christine Day's next books to come out. An author to watch and appreciate. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book had me crying a bit at the end. I found Edie to be a compelling character. She felt she was getting left in the dark by her parents when she finds a box in the attic labeled Edith with head shots (that look a lot like her) and letters. She wants her parents to explain, but she has to find the right way to get there. It's also clear she has questions about her identity. She's part Native, but she doesn't know her nation. Her mom was adopted into a white family. There are just a lot of questions she can't answer. Then there is some friendship drama and growing pains. I found this book to be quiet, powerful, lovely, and hopeful despite the heartbreaking secret at its core. It gives some insight into the policies that hurt Native American kids and families for a long, long time. Explores tribal heritage in the Seattle area. The adults in Edie's life love her and each other so much, and still they struggle with when is the right time to let her in on this part of their family story.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Edie is the daughter of a white father and a Native American mother. Edie doesn’t know much about her heritage despite the curious questions people ask her. Her mother, adopted as a baby by a white family, doesn’t talk much about her childhood or culture either. In the attic, Edie and her friends discover photos of a woman who looks just like Edie. There are also letters, postcards and a notebook. Edie secretly goes through the letters and postcards without telling her parents, hoping to find answers about her little-known background. Unique #ownvoices story featuring a history that many kids will not be aware of, of native children being separated from culture and family.