About the Book- Firekeeper’s Daughter
As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.
The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don’t add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicine. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.
Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.
Debut author Angeline Boulley crafts a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
The thing about the book is that the thing that bothered me about the book is what made it special too.I kept going back to it again and again.
Read on for our review of the book
Our Review of Firekeeper’s Daughter
I loved the book but it is also a fact that the book completely drained me out. While no doubt that the book is an encyclopaedia for the Ojibwe tribe culture and a very vivid insight into the life of a native teen, but with like any encyclopaedia, after a certain point it is just too much and exhaustive. The weird thing is that I want to crib a lot about the sheer volume of the book but I also realise that without the aforementioned volume, the book wouldn’t be what it is. It would have been just another YA thriller with just a native teen as its central character. So I am in a complete dilemma over this book.
Firekeeper’s Daughter actually stands out because, perhaps it is the only book where you get such an in-depth and detailed experience of the native life, the Ojibwe tribe and culture. The author has created such strong narration that you really feel as if you are living in this community and watching everything going on right in front of you. For someone completely new to Native tradition, lifestyle, everything said and shown in the book is mesmerising and fascinating. It was a completely new world for me, new customs, traditions but slowly I felt that the book was having more of this cultural education and the plot was getting a second-hand treatment. At one end I want to say that the book is a mountain of fillers. But then the fact is also that it is an actual education to the whole culture and lifestyle of the tribe.
The book stands out because it has such a raw and pure portrayal of the native, especially Ojibwe culture. Part of its beauty comes from the fact that the author herself is an actual member of the tribe mentioned in the book. So who better than her, to guide us through the community ..right?
I only had one issue with the book that in educating about the culture, the plot was left hanging for attention. It was just tagging along until someone noticed it. But when it gets noticed it would drastically change everything.so now you can’t complain because the sudden plot development was so good that you forget everything else. Then It again gets muffled among the cultural tour. But without the cultural tour, there is no point in the book too. So that’s why I keep repeating that I am totally confused about the book. There is something about the book that despite it being so voluminous and having fluctuating story pace, I kept going back to it again and again. The thing about the book is that the thing that bothered me about the book is what made it special too.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would say that anybody picking up Firekeeper’s Daughter needs to be a bit patient and aware of the fact that they would be staying quite a while with the book. But the very volume is what makes it worth it because it gives such a deep and clear vision of the native lifestyle, culture and real-life struggles. The plot has a fluctuating pace but the end result is too good to ponder over the pace or the volume of the book. I would say that everyone should give it a try to understand the native culture especially Ojibwe
Squirrel Rating
Gossip Corner
According to Bibliofile, Firekeeper’s Daughter has been picked by Obama’s Higher Ground Production company to develop the book into a Netflix Series. Stay tuned for more info.
Book Recommendation
1. House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
2.The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
