Blog Tour: Book Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Having absolutely loved Firekeeper’s Daughter I was so excited for Warrior Girl Unearthed. And I absolutely loved it. It is fierce, gripping, and heartfelt. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.

Summary

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that was entirely not her fault, she’s stuck working to pay back her Auntie Daunis for repairs to the Jeep.
Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn’t feel so lost after all.
But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains, and Perry and the Misfits won’t let it go on any longer.
Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline’s perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right – for the ancestors and for their community.

Review

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

TW: trichotillomania (SC), racism

Warrior Girl Unearthed is a multi-faceted powerful story about injustice and community. Boulley explores what it takes to be a warrior. All the decisions we have to make. From the very beginning, it’s a story about family and community. The ones who support us, call us out, and protect us. Continuing the themes from Firekeeper’s Daughter of delving into the idea of justice. Of acknowledging the ways the justice system has failed marginalized communities, created in order to perpetuate wrongs, while also figuring out how to work within the frameworks.

It fill you with rage. The ways in which ancestors, family memorabilia, and pieces of their history has been ‘waylaid’ and held from them. All the crimes which are still being perpetuated. With this anger and injustice, Warrior Girl Unearthed manages to deliver a story full of hope. Of seeing the possibilities for a way forward. Perry’s journey to figure out what she wants to do and who she wants to be is emotional and powerful. About the actions we can take in the face of these ongoing crimes.

Warrior Girl Unearthed is a must read. It’s about the power of intentions, the means to an end, and what it means to fight back. Boulley cements her place in my list of favorites.

Book links:

About the Author

Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island. Firekeeper’s Daughter is her debut novel.

Author Links:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19633027.Angeline_Boulley

Website: https://angelineboulley.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelineboulley/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FineAngeline