Firekeeper's Daughter

Bookseller recommendation

“This story of a young woman roped into a federal investigation of a drug ring tearing her Ojibwe community apart is riveting and sorrowful. Daunis is an 18 year old non-enrolled Ojibwe with plenty of ambition and skills and won't see a clear path to her future that doesn't involve working in her community. This book moved me in so many ways but Daunis' connection to her elders and their traditions really drove this plot. While her parents' choices keep her from acceptance and death seems to haunt her, Daunis stays focused on her values: preserving and protecting the Ojibwe way of life for the next 6 generations. I loved how Boulley wove the Anishinaabe language, traditions and teaching into this story without spelling it all out for non-Native readers. This book tells the story of some of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) and helps us connect with the stories more personally.”

— Jessica • BookBar

Bookseller recommendation

“Firekeeper's Daughter is a wonder! We so rarely hear YA through an Indigenous people's voice and this book does it so very well. Main character Daunis Lorenzo Fontaine lives a fine line between her white French Canadian mother and her Ojibwe father in a complicated family dynamic. She is smart, hockey talented, driven, and tenacious as she navigates the murder of her best friend Lily, rampant drug culture, and the journey to find herself. Angeline Boulley seamlessly incorporates the Ojbiwe language and lifeways that both inform and educate the reader in this amazing story that will stay with me long after I have moved onto other books. A MUST-read (or listen)!”

— Rebecca • Rediscovered Books

Bookseller recommendation

“One of my fave titles of all-time. Mystery, love, Indigenous knowledge - all the things!”

— Julie • Gather Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“A young adult thriller about Daunis Fontaine, a half-Ojibwe teenage girl whose dreams of going away to college are ended when her best friend is shot and killed, Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter is a rich portrayal of life on and around Daunis’s Michigan reservation. Knowledge of native plants, FBI informants, high school hockey, and the all-too-real drug epidemic are some of the many threads of this story that is at once a nuanced portrait of contemporary Ojibwe culture and a propulsive nail-biter. Whether you like to read about dramatic events or ordinary daily life, Boulley and her unforgettable heroine have you covered! ”

— Rachel • Celia Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“Daunis Fontaine, a bi-racial Ojibwe-Italian-American girl has just graduated high school and has deferred enrollment at the University of Michigan to attend the local state school. She plans to spend more time with her best friend Lily, her ailing Grandmother, and her mom who was recently rocked by the sudden death of her brother, Daunis’ uncle. But then tragedy strikes, and Daunis is the eyewitness. And she is thrown headfirst into an FBI investigation of meth addiction and distribution within the reservation her family lives on and the greater Upper Peninsula area. A nuanced and compassionate look at addiction and the justice system and the risks one girl takes to help her friends, her community, and herself. The truth is a tangled web that it seems only Daunis is willing to carefully pick apart to not only expose the criminals but heal the victims as well. A little bit of romance, a little bit thriller, a whole bunch of hockey, STEM nerds, Firekeeper’s Daughter was engaging and gripping. PS I desperately need an Auntie spin-off.”

— Cassie • Wellesley Books