"The ultimate survival game is for girls to survive into adulthood. For the prey to avoid the predators. It's a wry thought that turns somber when I remember my sister.
Some girls don't survive."
If you've read Angeline Boulley's previous books, Fire Keeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed, reading her latest, Sisters in the Wind, may feel like returning to a place you've stepped away from and returned to. The characters and their community are portrayed so vividly and intimately througout these volumes they step off the page and into your mind and ❤️. In her writing Boulley displays these superpowers: the abilities to create a captivating plot and characters who spring vividly to life, to introduce readers like me to a way of life quite different from ours, and to make us care about the issues that white society created and likes to ignore.
For the first years of her life Lucy had lived a quiet life with her father who claimed that her mother had signed away her parental rights. On her 11th birthday she learns that he has colorectal cancer. When surgeries and chemotherapy don't seem to be working he dates and then marries a woman who adopts her. After his death things don't go well. She ends up in the foster care system in some seriously horrific placements.
In 2009 Lucy is out of the system, living independently and working at a diner. One day a stranger, Jamie, asking her questions sets off alarms. She decides it's time to vacate her apartment and leave town. Only the next day at work she's caught in an explosion...
...and wakes up in a hospital bed. She's seriously injured--in no shape to flee anywhere. Jamie and a woman named Daunis seem to be in charge of her. In the hospital at least one of them is always around. And when she's well enough to leave all three end up in a hotel suite.
"The bomb [at the diner] was meant to show how far they'll go to get what they want. Before they try again, I need to be long gone."
The text segues between the time after the explosion where danger becomes more and more imminent and Lucy's earlier experiences in the system which provide clues to why she is peril. The transitions are seamless. In the post bomb present tension builds relentlessly to the point where Lucy sneaks away to resolve the situation, putting herself and others in serious danger.
"An Indian tribe cannot survive without future generations; therefore, Indian children are a tribe's most precious resource. But there are other resources that some non-Natives deem more valuable. I wrote Sisters in the Wind because the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, is under attack and--SPOILER ALERT--the battle has nothing to do with the best interests of Indian children."
This law was enacted to keep Indian families intact. It privileged tribal sovereignty over state law. Those who want to undermine it want tribal sovereignty overridden, so they can have unlimited access to natural resources such as minerals on tribal lands.
This rich, nuanced, and thought provoking narrative is an excellent read for mature YA readers and the college crowd. It could be very helpful in the curriculum of social justice courses.
On a purrrsonal note, last night 🌙 was the end of season Orono Community Garden potluck dinner. The food and company were superb. I'll really miss our little corner of paradise during the frigid Maine winter.
A great big shout out goes out to the 2025 Orono Community Garden crew. Despite raids by deer, groundhogs, we raised and distributed over 1,000 pounds of good organic veggies. Way to go, team!!!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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