Firekeeper's Daughter

By Angeline Boulley

A ground-breaking, heart-racing thriller perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange

An instant no. 1 New York Times Bestseller, April 4 2021

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for YA Fiction, 2021

Winner of CrimeFest Best YA Crime Fiction Prize, 2022

Shortlisted for Waterstones Children's Book Prize, 2022

A Time magazine pick for Best YA of All Time, 2021

KEEP THE SECRET. LIVE THE LIE. EARN YOUR TRUTH.

Eighteen-year-old Daunis has always felt like an outsider with her mixed heritage, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation.

After she witnesses a shocking murder, Daunis reluctantly agrees to go undercover for the FBI, who are convinced a drug trafficking ring are behind it. But secretly she pursues her own investigation, tracking down the culprits with her knowledge of traditional medicine.
As the bodies pile up, Daunis finds herself caught in a web of deceit that threatens the people she loves the most.

‘Raw and moving’ Cosmopolitan

‘A story that grips like a bulldog clip on your heart’ Katherine Rundell, author of The Good Thieves

‘Thrilling and heartwrenching’ Aisha Bushby, author of A Pocketful of Stars

‘A swift-paced, compelling thriller’ Guardian

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rock the Boat
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781786079053

Angeline Boulley

Angeline Boulley is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan. She gained attention for her debut Firekeeper's Daughter thanks to We Need Diverse Books. It became a NYT No. 1 bestseller and has now sold in 20 territories worldwide. The book won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2022; the YA Goodreads Choice Awards; the CrimeFest Best YA Crime Novel Prize.; the ALA Printz Award and Morris Award; the Walter Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature; and is Carnegie Medal Nominated. Firekeeper's Daughter is soon to be made into a Netflix series. Angeline lives in Michigan but considers Sugar Island home.

Reviews for Firekeeper's Daughter

[opheliedepoortere · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It could have been a bit shorter, I would have given it the full 4 stars then.

[sjgirl-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Initially I was fine with the slow pace, it made sense to take time to introduce the characters, the community and the culture, really set the scene and get the reader invested before things escalated, only that sluggish feeling never went away, even at the height of the action, the book kind of did that horror movie thing where every time the heroine wriggles free of one jam she falls directly into another which for me almost always feels more tiresome than propulsive. I liked Daunis, she cares about her family and community, she’s smart, she’s persistent, I just wish she’d been an amateur sleuth here stepping on the toes of law enforcement, I could have bought into that, instead I struggled with the plausibility of the FBI recruiting an eighteen year old informant, teaching her to make meth and asking her to source ingredients all because she excelled in high school science? There was no one else who could compare samples to photos online? Wouldn’t the FBI have their own experts who test drugs and identify ingredients? There were also already two undercover officers who seemed interested in solving the case yet we never see them so much as ask anyone (other than Daunis) a leading question or really do anything that resembled undercover investigative work. They mostly just accompanied Daunis places and conveniently disappeared from those scenes while a teenager with no investigative experience was always the only one ever shown investigating anything. The guilty, as well as the method for transporting the meth seemed too obvious and then there was the Scooby-Doo of it all, that moment where the guilty just proudly unburden themselves of the who, what, where of their criminal enterprise, spelling everything out. It’s a clunky way of conveying information and that wasn’t the only time this book tended towards info dumps which is an understandable issue for a first time author but something the editor probably should have intervened on. Despite decent chemistry, the romance didn’t entirely work for me, either. Since Daunis has baggage involving guys lying to her and this guy seriously lies to her, it puzzled me as to why she showed so little resistance to him and I wondered at his lack of resistance to her, too, when he seemed ambitious and involvement with Daunis could have hindered those ambitions. For me, it would have made more sense if the romance had been restricted to the tension and sparks of them denying/not acting on their attraction. The author crafted other far more compelling aspects of this novel that unfortunately more often than not took a backseat to the investigation and the romance. The book was at its best, the writing at its most confident and least labored whenever the book pushed the genre stuff aside. I would have been more than satisfied to read an entire book about Daunis and Lily’s friendship, about their status issues and how any change in that may have affected their tight bond, about Daunis interacting with the elders, about Daunis dealing with her grandmother’s racism, about the experience of two Indigenous girls in college which I mean how many books have ever shown Daunis and Lily’s real-life counterparts what college life might look like for them? This could have been that book, it should have been, there are already enough half-baked crime stories in the world.

[stevesbookstuff · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Angeline Boulley’s debut novel sweeps you right into its story and hustles you along with barely time to take a breath, until it finally deposits you onto the last page. At least that is what it did for me. Despite its 488 page length I finished the book in two sittings. The story is told from the viewpoint of Daunis, a smart and athletic young woman who is a fresh high school graduate. As the book starts she is about to tell her mother and grandma that she’s foregoing her dream to go to the University of Michigan and will instead stay in Sault Ste Marie and start college at Lake State University.Daunis Fontaine has always thought of herself as an outsider. With a white mother and an Ojibwe father, Daunis lives near the Ojibwe reservation. But because of “bad choices” made at the time of her birth, Daunis’ father is not named on her birth certificate, robbing her of official membership in the tribe. She’s staying in town because of the death of her uncle, and because her grandma had a stroke at her high school graduation party and has been in a nursing home since. When her step brother learns she’s not leaving he decides to introduce her to Jamie, the new guy who’s just moved to town and joined the hockey team. Sparks begin to fly, despite Daunis’s initial hesitation.But as the story develops a series of deaths related to meth use happen, and we learn that Jamie might not be who he seems to be. Daunis suddenly finds herself enlisted as a confidential informant in an FBI investigation into a drug ring impacting native communities.From there things race along as Daunis begins to piece together the clues that will point the FBI to the drug ring, who are operating right under the noses of the local community.There is a fascinating amount of Ojibwe culture that the book brings out, along with a wonderful exploration of Sault Ste Marie and the neighboring Sugar Island, ancestral land of the local Ojibwe band.In the author’s note Boulley says that the inspiration for the book came from an incident in her high school years. A friend mentioned a new guy at her school because she thought he seemed the author’s type. Though Boulley never met him she later learned that he was actually an undercover narcotics cop. She then mentions her love of the Nancy Drew books and says she has been working on the story over the years since. The result is a lot more than a simple Nancy Drew story. There is a layer of realism in the racism, drug deaths, murder and rape which happen in this book that Nancy Drew stories don’t typically deal with. And another layer on top of that in the rich Ojibwe cultural details and Upper Peninsula setting. The all too common lack of justice for Native American women adds a further layer as the book reaches its conclusion. Poking around on Goodreads I see that Boulley has another book expected to come out next year featuring some of the same characters from this one. I’m looking forward to it!

[terran_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked everything about this book. It was a realistic portrayal of young Native Americans who wish to be a part of the modern world as well as honoring their elders and traditions. The history of prejudice and mistreatment has shaped much of the present reality of Native life and resulted in a great deal of abuse and addiction. But young people are capable of accomplishing individual goals while remaining true to their culture.

[emquixotic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow this book seriously blew away my expectations. This is less young adult and more "new adult" and adult. I wouldn't recommend this book to immature teens or teens who may be unable to handle the traumatic events. The main character, Daunis, is 18 and ready to begin her first year of college--which was supposed to be UM Ann Arbor but she's decided to stay home for a year and attend Community College.A lot happens in this book including rape and the main character witnessing a murder. It takes place in 2004 which I'm so curious if teens reading this will enjoy or just be confused by. I graduated in 2004 (HS) and really enjoyed the references the author made to set the scene. Looking forward to seeing this author talk about her book and so excited there are more Native American authors writing stories about their tribes and experiences.

[dairyqueen84 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked a lot about this book but I don't think I loved it as much as many other people. I loved the Indigenous point of view, main character, traditions, and culture in the book. Boulley did a great job weaving native language into the narrative with translation. Sometimes there appeared to be no translation which was confusing. She integrated romance and mystery for a compelling read, especially toward the end of the book. At times, especially the first half of the book the story was slow and plodding. Worth the read, though, for the insights into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, indigenous culture with its problems and triumphs.

[deslivres5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

YA Mystery novel which takes place in the Sault Ste. Marie area of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, so close to Canada, at first I thought it actually was the setting.Heartbreaking tragedies frame this crime/murder mystery.Native American cultural representation, bi-racial representation, women in hockey rep.The actress Isabella Star LaBlanc was a fabulous narrator of the audiobook.I really didn't like something which happened at the end of Part 2 of the novel: Daunis is portrayed as so smart and strong but something terrible that happens seemed so out of character to me that I was spitting mad that the author would do this. So mad, I was gonna DNF this one.But I pushed through and in Parts 3 and 4 I realized that including it really helped to further shed light on the myriad of injustices Native Americans face and Native American women in particular.

[bodagirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a story of layers: contemporary setting, respect for and participation in traditional practices, conflicting identities, coming of age story, detective story, and a little romance. I appreciate all of the knowledge that Boulley incorporated throughout the novel, though it did feel a little heavy handed at times, having Daunis give detailed explanations to Jamie repeatedly. I value that so many of the issues of native and indigenous identity were confronted and discussed unflinchingly. Neither the took away from the detective story aspect and many of them (meth epidemic and violence against native women, notably) added to the complexity of the mystery. The fact that the ending wasn't exactly a happily ever after kept this book rooted in reality, when it would have been so easy to tie everything up in a nice bow that so many books in both the mystery and romance genres do.LaBlanc's narration was also top notch. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook to hear the anishinaabemowin rather than trying to decipher it from the printed page.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

audio teen/adult fiction - crime/suspense in Ojibwe tribal reservation, Upper Peninsula Michigan (TW: rape and sexual assault, guns and violence, drug overdose--though not overly graphic)The blurb doesn't sound particularly intriguing, except for the indigenous perspective, but this title got a ton of buzz from librarians and reviewers leading up to the ALA awards (it scored those in multiples), and after finishing the book I can see why. I kind of want to go back and reread the whole thing again but will maybe wait until the waitlist at my library has gone down; I want others to have the chance to read it.took a little while to get into the story (lots of characters) but once it got going it really got going. This has everything: danger/suspense, a probably unwise but irresistable romance, terrific storytelling, excellent narration, strong female characters, complete betrayal, world-class hockey, you name it.

[katielibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

ARC courtesy of NetGalley. What a beautiful book. Highly, highly recommend.

[jepeters333 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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?

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Daunis is involved in multiple worlds, her grandmother's white Catholic world where a college building bears her last name, and her father's Ojibwa world where a larger extended family including her half brother, captain of the celebrated high school hockey team, is currently at the peak of the world. As she and her best friend Lily get ready for college it seems the worst problems are Lily's ex-boyfriend's descent into drug addiction, the recent loss of her adored uncle who taught high school science and her grandmother's decline following a stroke. The replacement science teacher is Native American and his hockey playing nephew is the new team member. Daumis' brother gets her to be the new player's local guide to the area and all of the sudden there worse and more immediate problems. This is a briskly moving action story which touches all the places and then some of 21st century explorations of growing up while deeply involved in Native American tribal life, and has interesting characters worth caring about.

[junipersun · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A powerful book. There are so many subthemes in this book, so a simple summary doesn't do it justice. Daunis was a hardcore hockey player until an injury and is now pursuing her 2nd passion: science. She had been taught by her uncle, a science teacher, how to breakdown problem solving into steps. This comes in handy as her community is wracked by several drug-related deaths. Daunis is approached by the FBI to become a Confidential Informant and help find the source. Some of the women on her Rez are strong and do what they can to heal those damaged, but the secrets need to come into the light and be accepted before this case is solved.Some important cultural beliefs and practices are used by Daunis as she goes about her life: e.g. helping her elders, putting down 'tobacco' when she crosses a river, praying to start her day, the importance of family. Some Anishinaabemowin words are used, generally followed by an indication of their meaning. The book is divided in 4 sections, correlating with the directions, and an Anishinaabe teaching about that direction.My gut feeling as I finished this: a sad realization that I don't have that sense of belonging in community that is so central to Daunis and to other Native Americans I know who are working hard to make a difference in their communities future.

[kiaya40 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I won this book from a Yall Write Giveaway and all opinions are my own. Also, thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.

I was unsure about this book at first because I didn't know for sure what to expect. After all, there was so much hype around it and in my experience, a lot of the time when books are hyped so much, I usually end up being disappointed in them, but that's not the case with this book. This book really does live up to the hype and more.

I do have to preface that if you don't know much about this book, you should make sure you research it before you read it to be aware of the heavy material in it. Also, there is a lot in this book that is heart-wrenching, heavy, difficult to read, and can be triggering. A few things I can think of for possible content/trigger warnings are drug abuse/overdose, murder/suicide, death, adoption, rape, and abuse.

In general, this is a good book with a great storyline in the suspense/thriller genre. With it being an OwnVoices novel and the MC being a Native teen with this unique perspective and insight, it makes the story even greater and I am appalled at reading some of the things in this book. It's eye-opening and upsetting to read and see this glimpse into what life could be like/is like in an Ojibwe reservation. We really need to hear and read more books like this to help us be more aware and want to learn and educate ourselves about others and how we might be able to help them.

This book is a glimpse into a stark reality for Daunis, who is an unenrolled tribal member, that explores and looks at how it is for her to be in that role, with a glimpse and information about the spiritual roles and traditions of this Ojibwe tribe. Daunis is looking forward to going to college with her best friend, Lily and they are living their normal day to day, having fun when she meets a new guy who joins her brother's hockey team and they become friends and get close until the night of a gathering/party when she is witness to a shocking murder and everything is suddenly changed. Then Daunis finds herself in the middle of an undercover FBI investigation trying to help root out a plague from her community before more lives are lost.

If you haven't heard of this then where have you been and make sure you put this on your tbr list asap and get ready to read it when it comes out this month. Also, another reminder to make sure to be prepared for possible triggering and heavy hard to read topics with this story and also remember to keep kleenex handy just in case. It's a very worthwhile read, one of those heart-stopping, intense and full stories much like life can be.

One little footnote to add-this does also have a bit of language in it if that's something that you prefer to try to avoid in stories when possible.

[fionaanne · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This felt like it needed another round of edits; there's far too much unnecessary tedium and a distinct lack of narrative thrust. The setting is the book's strongest attribute but it's hard to carry a whole story on that.

[ftbooklover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Daunis Fontaine has never been considered as a member of her tribe because her mother is white, but she has learned the ways of the elders and has practiced her tribe's customs all of her life. As the new hockey season begins, Jamie joins her brother's team and seems interested in dating Daunis. However, Jamie isn't who Daunis thinks he is because she finds out that he and his "uncle" are actually undercover agents trying to unearth a meth ring operating on the reservation. When Daunis's best friend is murdered right in front of her, she agrees to join the investigation as a confidential informant and as Jamie's "girlfriend." Secrets and lies lead to devastating information that changes Daunis's life forever.

Fire Keeper's Daughter is labeled as a young adult novel, but should be listed as new adult due to the overwhelmingly adult content including kidnapping, sex, drug and alcohol abuse, rape, and murder. Even though the mystery and romance are engaging, the story seems overloaded with details, slowing down the pace of the book. While the characters are well developed, the number of characters makes it difficult to follow along at times. Overall, Fire Keeper's Daughter is a well written book with more elements than necessary to make it an excellent story.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Daunis Fontaine is 18 and preparing for college with her best friend Lily in 2004. She's a white and Ojibwe woman who's unenrolled because her well-to-do grandparents refused to put her father on her birth certificate, and her identity is complicated by her constant bridging of two cultures. When meth production (and addiction) threatens her community, FBI investigators ask her to be a confidential informant, leaving Daunis feeling even more in-between than usual while she navigates trying to help them and lying to her family to do it.This was SO good. I loved Daunis and her narration as she digs into the mystery and debates how much to trust the mysterious Jamie Johnson, dealing with grief and loss in her family, and so much more. The author herself is an enrolled member of a Sault Ste. Marie tribe, and knows the area she's describing intimately. The complexity of the characters and their community is especially well done, and the investigation becomes riveting in the end as Daunis gets closer to solving who's behind the meth. The story ends in a satisfying way but I thought it left the possibility of a sequel open, and if there is one I will be on the library holds list ASAP.

[oldandnewbooksmell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Trigger Warning(s): Meth addiction, murder, grief, mourning, kidnapping, mention of drug overdose

The Fire Keeper's Daughter is about a young woman, Daunis Fontaine, who, after witnessing a murder, goes undercover for the FBI to expose those trafficking drugs into the Ojibwe community. Even though she never truly felt like she belonged, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she'll go to protect her community.

Oh wow, this is definitely moving into my Top 10 favorite book list for sure! I know it took me a bit longer to read than when I devour other books I love, but besides a few things happening in my personal life, I felt like this book deserved reading and fully understanding. Angeline Boulley writes about Native American culture and heritage, and because there are simply far too little stories being told by and about Native Americans, I felt like it deserves all the attention I could give it to fully understand. This book shines a light on Anishinaabe people and issues that they, and many other Indigenous communities will see themselves reflected in.

I was hooked on this novel within the first few pages - something about the way Boulley wrote Daunis' voice and narrative really caught me. And it stayed that way through the entire novel. This will be one I will be revisiting for sure and one that I will be recommending to everyone I know as well.

I would say this to be a New YA crime fiction. It has elements of YA in it, but also of Adult Fiction as well (hence the New YA part). Don't let the YA part of it scare you away though! This is something I would suggest going into it as blind as you can, regardless of your age. Like I said before, I'm going to be shoving it in as many people's hands as I possibly can.

*Thank you Bookish First and Henry Holt and Company for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Firekeeper's Daughter , a well-written novel, successfully places the reader in a Native American modern environment.People talk about diverse novels a lot. Sometimes, a book merely consists of friends being white, black, brown, whatever, and it's considered diverse. While I agree books should reflect real life where we have friends of many color, I also feel that a truly diverse book teaches me about a culture naturally. The references to culture exist within the story as it does in life instead of placed in where the book is obviously saying, "Hey--look, I'm pointing out my diversity here." What makes this novel better arises from its ability to place you in the Ojibwe culture. Daunis Fontaine's parents tragically fell in love, but they could never be together because her father belongs to the Ojibwe tribe and her mother comes from one of the wealthiest families in town who didn't approve of their daughter spending time with this tribesman. Daunis, therefore, fits in neither world perfectly. Looking forward to a new start, Daunis plans to leave for college until her grandmother ends up in a facility, unable to take care of herself as she approaches the end of her life. Daunis can't leave her anxiety-ridden mother to shoulder the responsibility alone. Daunis decides to attend a local college with her best friend Lily.Daunis surrounds herself with her culture. She feels responsible for her mother and works to keep mom's anxiety level low, visiting her grandmother every morning after her run. Daunis also runs defense for her best friend who has broken up with her drug-addicted boyfriend. She feels close to her half-brother, Levi, who watches out for her even though she doesn't need it. She's more than capable of taking care of herself. They also have a close-knit set of friends from hockey. Daunis and Levi are amazing hockey players, although Daunis no longer plays.Jamie, a new hockey player, arrives and every girl is smitten. Levi asks Daunis to show him the ropes because he has a girlfriend and he knows she won't attack him. Of course, Jamie and Daunis find they are drawn to each other, especially when they have to pretend to be boyfriend/girlfriend. A lot of reservation kids have been injured from a bad drug. There's an investigation to discover who is making and distributing the drug. Daunis feels highly motivated to help and agrees to work undercover with Jamie to discover who the drug makers and dealers are. As the novel progresses, more and more information reveals Daunis's past with her family and friends and why she no longer plays hockey. I ordered this novel for our middle school library because two teachers requested it. I find it to be high school level--not that we don't have some really good readers who will like it. It's reviewed for ages 14+. As we have 15 year old students on campus, this novel is geared to our older students. The novel discusses drug addiction as well as distributing and manufacturing drugs. it doesn't tell one how to do it, rest assured. Perhaps the most mature part of the novel comes with the role of the women. The statistics used represent a woman's life within a reservation, so it's not all women. Of course, what happens to these women happens to women around the world from all socio-economics status and in regards to all colors. Sex and rape are referenced within the context of this community. In essence, this novel requires a mature reader who understands the novel represents life on a reservation and it's a fictional story about tracking down bad people who do not seem to care that their product causes people to die. It's all about the money! It's well-done and has a good message.

[sennebec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This reminds me in very favorable ways of the late Tony Hillerman as well as the terrific author William Kent Krueger. It blends Native American mythology/culture with contemporary issues many teens face. Think fitting in, drug and alcohol abuse, family violence, prejudice and secrets. All of these are mixed together to offer readers a seamless and enthralling plot. It deserves a place on every library shelf.

[liscarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Daunis Fontaine is eighteen years old, daughter of a white woman and an Ojibwe man, an unenrolled tribal member with much-loved family on both sides of the divide. She's had to delay her plans to head off to college with the goal of becoming a doctor, and eventually scientifically studying traditional medicines. Her uncle, her mother's brother died in what appeared to be a drug overdose, and then her maternal grandmother, GrandMary, had a stroke. Her mother needs her support.It's a challenging time for her, but there's a bright spot--the new guy, Jamie Johnson, on her brother Levi's hockey team. Yet something about this nice guy does not quite add up.Answers start to come only after Daunis witnesses a former friend, Travis, shooting his ex-girlfriend, Lily, Daunis's best friend, and then himself. Soon Daunis is recruited as a "confidential informant" in an FBI drug investigation, and is learning secrets she didn't necessarily want to know.This is a really good, moving look at a girl just reaching maturity, coping with conflicted loyalties, competing obligations, and truths about her family that she didn't suspect and wasn't prepared for. It's a painful coming of age for her, and she has to find her own strength. She's not just deciding where her loyalties really lie and what her values really are; she also has to decide what serving those loyalties and values really means. It feels very real to me as the story of a young woman at this point in her life, where she can no longer just trust her elders but has to make her own choices even if it divides her from people she cares about.I'm in no position to evaluate the accuracy of the Native American aspects of the story, but the author is an enrolled member of the tribe she's writing about, and it seems to have been well received.It's a really excellent book, and the narrator did a very good performance of it, also. Recommended.I bought this audiobook.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book had me hooked as Daunis navigates the year after high school, reeling from the death of her uncle and her best friend. A new, handsome hockey player comes to town. While she has always kept her hockey life and personal life compartmentalized, she makes an exception. She soon decides to become a CI (confidential informant) on a drug investigation within her tribe and into the hockey world. While torn, she takes this chance to try to help her people. She is living between two worlds with a white mother and a Ojibwe father. I marveled at how Daunis navigated through all the trauma she experienced over the course of this novel. I appreciated how the author wove in so many cultural traditions as part of Daunis' daily life. Whoa! This is a book that will stick with me.

[whiskeyinthejar-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. It’s hard to explain what it’s like being so connected to everyone and everything here … yet feeling that no one ever sees the whole me.Daunis Fontaine is eighteen years old the year her uncle dies from an apparent drug overdose and her GrandMary Fontaine has a stroke. Daunis has decided to go to a local college that is closer to help her mother through the grief of it all. Jamie Johnson is the new senior transfer and hot new hockey player but while Daunis is drawn to him, he never answers questions and always asks them.Daunis has always felt the divide between her Zhaaganaash and Anishinaabe parentage sides, especially now more than ever as she must decide if she is helping or betraying. To know zoongidewin is to face your fears with a strong heart.Firekeeper's Daughter is a slice of life fictional story that is told solely in first person point-of-view from our main character Daunis. It was an absorbing tale that had me knowing Daunis inside and out but left some other characters feeling a little vague. When Daunis' mother was sixteen, she got pregnant by Levi Firekeeper, it was the tale of rich white girl who's family looked down on the Anishinaabe boy, even though he was an elite hockey player for the local team. More angst follows when Daunis' mom catches Levi cheating, he crashes his car breaking his legs and ending his hockey career and Daunis' grandparents do their best to keep Levi away. Levi ends up dying when Daunis is seven but she has a half-brother, Levi Jr, that she is close with and her Aunt Teddie from her dad's side keep Daunis connected to the Firekeepers. Daunis also has a bestfriend Lily who has a similar background and they bond over how they are descendants but not enrolled members of the Sugar Island Ojibwe Tribe. This push and pull Danuis experiences, sometimes from her own family members, was a big part of the fabric of the story and I thought the author did a great job portraying the emotions that Daunis had to learn to deal with when the racism came from strangers and her own family members. Jamie Johnson is not who he says he is. And this is not a dream.With this slice of life story, we get a little bit of romance, mystery, and some thriller. There's an immediate attraction between Daunis and the new guy Jamie. As Daunis is wary but trying to get to know Jamie, we see her friend Lily dealing with her ex-boyfriend Travis, who was also friends with Daunis. Travis is dealing with an addiction to Meth and we learn that the community has been dealing with an uptick of this. When Daunis witnesses a traumatic event, she sees Jamie and it finally clicks that he's an undercover cop. This is where the mystery comes in and Daunis is now acting as a confidential informant for the FBI and the task force investigating where a batch of meth that severely sickened kids in Minnesota came from and who is selling it. Daunis' activeness and the whole investigation, especially Jamie and his pretend Uncle, is very slow moving and not always front and center. It's a slow burn investigation that focuses more on how drugs come into this community and affects them through Daunis' eyes. There were times I wanted the investigation to be taken more seriously or more action but the focus here is more on Daunis learning how to honor both sides of her heritage and help without betraying her Anishinaabe family. In this Newer New Normal I am living a lie as a confidential informant for the meth investigation connected to the deaths of my uncle and my best friend.Daunis' newer new normal begins about 20% into the story, so Daunis working in the investigation encompasses most of the book. The book is also broken up into five parts and I saw Part One as the intro to Daunis and into the community and sets up Part Two where Daunis is a confidential informant, Part Three we know the investigated players and get a little bit of thriller, and then Part Four is the aftermath of what the investigation revealed. This takes place in 2004 and in a town in Michigan that rests on the border with Canada and I thought the author did a great job setting the time, place, and feel for the community. As I said earlier, Daunis is the standout character and I would have liked some others to be filled out more. I'm not sure we ever really got to know Jamie as much as I would have liked, Danuis' Aunt Teddie deserves to have her story written, and if this gets another book for a series, I want it to be about Daunis' ex-boyfriend T.J. Kewadin. Wisdom is not bestowed. In its raw state, it is the heartbreak of knowing things you wish you didn’t. I thought the ending was rushed and there's a little bit of info dump when players are revealed and motivations explained. There was also a rape scene that I'm not sure was handled as carefully as it could and should have been; it ended up feeling abruptly put in for some heaviness. I think this might read a little slow for young adults but has elements that will work to keep their attention, reading it as an adult, it kept me locked in. This window into Daunis' life was an affecting slice of life story and strong debut, I will definitely be on the lookout for future works by this author.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't stop thinking about this book. the raw, emotional authenticity of it is jaw dropping. It's 2003 and Daunis is torn between two worlds; her tribal heritage on her father and brother's side and her prim, wealthy and white, mother's side. Her father's family took her under their wings even though her father died when she was seven and her mother raises her. Daunis never feels Indian enough or white enough - she is in between. Bad things come in threes and after her Uncle's death and her grandmother's decline she's waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it finally does it is even worse than she expected, Daunis' life will never be the same. How can she go on? And can she get involved and maybe help her community? Or will her involvement bring scrutiny to her heritage and her elders? This book is long and there are a few trigger warnings you should look up (I don't want to spoil too much) - but it is ABSOLUTELY WORTH YOUR TIME! I love that this Indigenous author sprinkled traditions, phrases, words, and experiences throughout this book. It's authentic and eye opening - I learned so much. I vague-booked this review because I don't want to spoil anything - just READ IT!!

[hccpsk · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the author’s note of The Firekeeper’s Daughter, Angeline Boulley says she wanted to write a contemporary, Native Nancy Drew character who used her culture and community as her greatest strength. Daunis Fontaine meets those goals and more. With a Native father and white mother who never married, Daunis never felt accepted in her Ojibwe community. When drugs and murder bring the FBI to her UP Michigan town, she goes undercover to help find out who is behind all of the trouble. Boulley adds just the right amount of romance, family, feminism, hockey, and Native culture to the mystery to bring something for almost every reader. A huge recommendation for YA readers looking for a mystery or contemporary book with a strong female lead and a real social justice angle.

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is so much to absorb in Angeline Boulley’s debut novel. The storyline is excellent, that of a girl beginning her college education being recruited by the FBI as an informer helping to track down the meth that is targeting tribal members. The slow start to the book is most appreciated as you end the story. The early pages set the stage for the Ojibwe way of life as it meets the needs of current tribal members. Daunis Firekeeper is an excellent protagonist. For a young woman, she has an amazing respect for her culture. Her mother is white, her father was Ojibwe. Never marrying Daunis’s white mother, he married a native woman and is later killed. Daunis’s half-brother, Levi, plays a major role in the story, both in the meth issue and hocky. If you live right next to Canada, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Ice hockey rules supreme. If it were just the story plot of capturing the bad meth distributers, the story would be still good, but when you add in Daunis’s observations about a native culture that works to make women self-confident leaders, her respect for elders and the look at science and traditional medicine it becomes almost required reading. There’s a lot of violence in the book, violence against women and violence toward each other. One of my favorite parts is the Women’s Circle, who at night take a man who has mistreated a woman to a secluded area and hand out their own form of justice. The book is aimed at audiences 14 years old and up. It would make an excellent mother-daughter bookclub selections. And as Daunis knows the value (literally keeping her from dying) of strong and worthy elders, a discussion from different points of view would add to the enjoyment of the story. While many would say this is a plot driven story, without the variety and strengths and weaknesses of the characters, the story would not have the depth it does.

[alliepascal-876024 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Daunis Fontaine is half white and half Ojibwe, and her Grandmother Pearl always told her that bad things happen in threes. Within months, her Uncle David died and her GrandMary (Grandmother Mary) had a stroke and is now stuck in a long-term care facility. She can feel the third bad thing on the horizon, so she decides to enroll in a college closer to home, with the idea that she can stop it. Well, the third bad thing happens... But even though she couldn't prevent that tragedy, she's given the chance to help prevent the circumstances that caused it from happening again.This book's greatest strength is it's complete and total immersiveness in the culture of its setting. Boulley doesn't really hold your hand about terms that you might be unfamiliar with, and I actually really appreciated that. That's not to say it's weak in any other respect; on the contrary, I was impressed by this book on the whole. Boulley's writing, the prose in general but especially the dialogue between characters and the way they interact...the way Daunis is with her family, with her best friend, with a stranger who she might be falling for, all feel so authentic. It's engaging as a suspense thriller, and I also loved the complicated relationship Daunis has with JaimeIt might've dragged in parts? 50 or so pages I feel could've been edited out (it's fairly long at almost 500 pages). But really, I barely noticed.Loved loved loved this book.*I received an ARC from the publisher through BookishFirst

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Daunis Fontaine is a young woman pulled between cultures. She is the illegitimate daughter of a White mother and Ojibwe father. Her mother was sixteen when she was born and her White grandparents didn't want her to have anything to do with her father's people. Her mother rebelled and made sure that Daunis knew her father's family. While Daunis loves her grandparents, she also loves and honors her Native family and its traditions.Daunis has just graduated from high school and had intended to leave home for the University of Michigan to begin her studies to be a doctor. But her Uncle David has recently died and her GrandMary has suffered a stroke which has left her mother in a very fragile state of mind. Daunis has changed her plans and is now going to attend the nearby community college with her best friend Lily in order to stay at home and take care of her mother. Only plans change again when her friend Lily is killed by Lily's ex Travis who has become a meth head and who then kills himself. Daunis and her new friend Jamie are quick to come upon the scene. There she learns that her new fried is an undercover cop sent to investigate the growing meth problem on the reservation. Lily agrees to become a confidential informant to try to get to the bottom of the drug problem on the Rez. Her knowledge of chemistry and her in with both the Whites and the Natives puts her in a powerful position to be of help. But it also puts her in a position to learn a number of secrets that she would prefer not to know.This excellent story is filled with information about Ojibwe beliefs and rituals and culture. It is also a great depiction of the hockey culture of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. An it is an excellent mystery/thriller that kept me guessing about the whole situation. Along the way there is a growing love story between Daunis and Jamie that was filled with much more than the usual "getting to know you" of a normal relationship.It was wonderful watching Daunis grow into her own power as a strong Native woman and decide what she wants to do with the rest of her life.