Warrior Girl Unearthed

I checked this out from my local library. It is a September book club read for me.

As a club, we read Firekeeper's Daughter earlier this year, and we were blown away by the intensity of the narrative and the knowledge it imparted. I was thrilled when a librarian pointed out that there were enough of the sequel in the system for the club to read it when meetings resumed in the fall.

I wish I could give this 4 1/2 stars, but Goodreads doesn't allow for halves. I found this to be a slower start than the first book, largely because Perry's impetuous attitude didn't engage me as much as Daunis's did. Once it got going, though, wow.

This book picks up about a decade after the first one and follows Perry, who along with her twin Pauline, was just show more 6 in the previous work. She is now a teenager with a full attitude, ready to spend her summer slacking off by fishing--until has an accident while speeding and dings the Jeep she shares with Pauline. She is forced to pay off the repairs by joining a tribal internship program.

Perry soon discovers the full disgrace of the United States government's program to repatriate stolen and looted dead Native Americans and their property, and gets deeper into that dilemma even as other women she knows go missing. The twin plots--the tragedies of the past twined with the present grief--make for a gripping narrative that I wish was just confined to horror fiction. That's why this isn't a book that I can say I enjoyed, because that feels like it trivializes the atrocities that this work addresses with passion and eloquence. Rather, I'm left more educated, and embarrassed for my country, and angry at continued injustices.

The end of this book, as with the first in the series, is brilliant and breathless. Boulley is an extraordinary writer. show less

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has a summer filled with growth in this second mystery steeped in Anishinaabe culture by Angeline Boulley.

Perry is the laidback twin and, while her sister Pauline is looking forward to a summer internship program, she's looking forward to hanging around and fishing. But a bear in the road and too much speed cause a car accident and her Aunt Daunis demands that Perry take part in the internship too as a cost for getting the car repaired.

Perry is assigned to intern with Cooper Turtle who runs the tribal museum and finds herself cleaning glass cases. She spends her lunch break trying to find a new job. But she soon becomes fascinated with the museum and with Cooper's efforts to bring Native bones and artifacts back show more to the tribe from the universities and museums that are holding them for study.

Perry's main complaint is that Cooper is working to slowly. She wants her ancestors back home immediately. But repatriation isn't the only thing on Perry's mind. Native women are disappearing, and it doesn't seem like law enforcement on or off the reservation is doing enough to try to find them.

Perry's overenthusiasm costs her job with Cooper and causes her internship to be switched to another department. In fact, she seems to move to a new department each week as her bosses keep moving her around. On Fridays, the interns are all gathered together for team building and other activities. Perry becomes part of the team that includes her school friend Shense Jackson, a 16-year-old single mother, her childhood friend Lucas, and new-boy-in town Erik. They name themselves Team Misfit Toys.

There's a lot going on in this mystery which includes a murder and a heist of bones gathered by a local non-Native landowner and an encounter with the man who is kidnapping native women in their area. I found the whole story fascinating and compelling. I couldn't put the story down and, when I did have to do other things, I was still thinking about the events of the story. I highly recommend this book. show less

Perry Firekeeper-Birch wasn't planning on being an intern in the tribal summer program like her twin, Pauline, but when she crashes the Jeep their Auntie Daunis gave them for their 16th birthday, this is how she's paying back the repairs. She's assigned to Cooper, a man who runs the tribal museum and who is a bit quirky, and she soon learns about the local college's archival collection of indigenous bodies and burial artifacts. She promises to bring the one known as Warrior Girl back to Sugar Island for a proper burial.

This novel tackles a lot: not just the history of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, but also the indigenous girls and women who go missing, and the ways in which laws about jurisdiction on tribal show more land can be twisted to mean rape goes unprosecuted and unpunished. Perry is a great character, passionate and as impatient as you might expect a teenager to be with Cooper's steady, by-the-book progress in fighting for the return of indigenous bodies and artifacts. The plot, in my mind, wasn't as clear and easy to follow as [Firekeeper's Daughter], but the end brought the various threads together in a satisfying way. show less

I thought topping Firekeeper's Daughter would be difficult, but I was wrong, very wrong. This book was so good, I deliberately held back from reading the last few chapters so I could savor the ending. Most of us want a book to entertain us. When it does that and then immerses us in a world of highly relatable characters it's even better. But, when it does both and THEN makes us aware of an aspect of history we're probably not familiar with, or didn't understand its magnitude, and does so in such a way that we 'get' it, that's a rare and superb accomplishment. Perry is a terrific flawed protagonist and she's supported by an amazing group of characters. This is a book where there's a mystery, but the historical aspects, and the show more interweaving of the players are equally compelling aspects. I sure hope the author continues writing because I'll read anything she creates. show less

After a bear and her cub cause Perry Firekeeper-Birch to get into a fender bender with a metal gate, she’s had to kiss her chilled out Summer of Slack goodbye in order to pay her Auntie Daunis back for the repairs. Now, she’s working in The Kinomage program, at the museum with Cooper Turtle. It’s not all bad though, she’s with the other outcasts in the group, Team Misfit Toys. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer can still be fun.

While working with Cooper Turtle, Perry attends a meeting at a local university where she meets the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives. After finding out how her ancestors are show more treated, Perry is determined to help return Warrior Girl to her tribe. She learns everything she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The law was passed back in 1990 and museums all over the United States have found legal loopholes to hold onto remains like Warrior Girl and others. The college has twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains and Team Misfit Toys are determined to bring them home through a heist.

I absolutely adored Firekeeper’s Daughter and am constantly recommending it. This book is no different. This is another powerful and beautifully written story that really focuses on the injustices that happen within the Indigenous Communities both here in the United States and around the world. I always learn so much reading these books. Like, I know America has a horrible relationship with Indigenous and Native tribes, but to hear just how badly and cruel museums are handling the NAGPRA is so horribly sad. This book is set in 2014 and talks about how long it was taking museums to do something that was issued into law 20 years ago - it’s over 30 now and it’s probably not any better.

Perry is a bit impulsive and immature, but so works so well for this story. She loves her community and culture so much and will do everything she can for them. Perry grows so much in this story and I adore her so much.

This book is a 10 year follow up to Firekeeper’s Daughter but could totally be a stand alone too. Though I would highly recommend reading both because you really get the depth to the community, history, characters, and practices mentioned.

*Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co for a digital advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review show less

Another phenomenal book by Boulley. I loved watching Perry go from dreading work to working so hard for her community, both past and present. I will admit, I kept waiting for things to go wrong, and the suspense was worth it. I also loved how this was a quasi sequle to Firekeeper's Daughter, but also worked as a standalone. I hope Boulley keeps returning readers to Sugar Island and raising such important awareness.

Also, my brain kept calling this book "Warrior Girl Unleashed", which I think still fits the story and Perry pretty well.

Only my 2nd 5-star read this year, Warrior Girl Unearthed is so much more than a story. It is the author's love for her community and the deep desire to overcome the atrocities committed against the Native Indians. It is a beautiful story that depicts the discrimination faced by the Native Indians and resourcefully educates the readers on the issue. It is a book about family, community, and friendship. It is a mystery thriller but also a subtle history lesson. It also has a heist.

I could not find anything that I did not like about this book. It is so beautifully written and it perfectly encapsulates the author's emotions. I could not stop myself from feeling what Perry Firekeeper-Birch was feeling through the book and it was hard to show more reason with myself that it is just a story. Because, honestly it was not just a story.

I am so glad to live in the same world as writers like Angeline Boulley who use their voices in such a powerful and moving way. The characters are so well written and the story takes you on so many rollercoaster rides. The twists and turns imbibed with history lessons make this book unputdownable.

I AM SO GLAD I PICKED UP THIS BOOK. I think everyone should read it.

Another good thing about the book is that it silently spreads the message that, 'no matter how good the intentions are, shortcuts have repercussions. I felt like for the demographic of readers that are exposed to this book, that was an important message. show less