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Indigenous women go missing every year.  Many of them are never heard from and their disappearances are not solved.  Many factors come into play for this lack of resolution in their cases. Warrior Girl Unearthed tells the story of one young lady and her indomitable spirit.   Interning over the summer and discovering the need of her people to hold to their past while battling and living in the present.  I found myself power reading as I wanted to see what resolution could be gained, at least momentarily, in the now, through the actions of Perry and her friends. 

The Details for Warrior Girl Unearthed

Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed
Author: Angeline Boulley
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Series: Firekeeper’s Daugther (pt 2)
Pages: 400
Intended Audience: Ages 14-18
Genre: thriller, young adult, teen, women’s issues, indigenous women, mystery, teenage interns
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
Available formats: Audio, hardcover, Kindle, Paperback
Received: Hardcover with fly

About the book and author

Angeline Boulley is part of the Chippewa Indians of Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Ms. Boulley write about her Ojibwe community.  Her first book Firekeeper’s Daughter was a New York Times bestseller.   Currently she lives in SW Michigan as a full-time author.  She has served in Indian education at the tribal, state, and national levels. 

The book: 

Set in the same community as Firekeeper’s Daughter, and featuring many of the same characters, Warrior Girl Unearthed is the story of an Ojibwe teen who, while working as a summer intern, discovers a plot to profit off robbed Indigenous graves.

A group of friends works with her to solve a mystery and to bring back the remains of her ancestors.   In the process they need to deal with generational grudges, bureaucratic subterfuge, stories of missing women, family secrets, and painful realities about the legacy of colonialism.

Digging Deeper

You will find this a compelling story.   Perry Firekeeper-Birch is a strong minded young lady who doesn’t easily fit a mould.  She finds herself (due to some poor decision-making) compelled to work for the summer, her aunt helping her find a position as an intern. 

From this point forward, Perry’s eyes are opened to bureaucratic nonsense for delaying the return of Native ancestorial remains to the people they belong to.  She sees more deeply the lack of desire to deal with “yet another native woman” going missing.  Instead of this beating her down, she discovers a burning desire to do something about it and to help fix the problems plaguing her people. 

In this read, you’ll see her learning, developing new skills, and broadening her understanding, as we in turn, broaden our own understanding of the issues at hand. 

This is not a book filled with illustrations, but rather with clearly written text and simple ornamentation for chapter headings.  Divided into nine weeks, each week starts with a quote. 37 chapters and an epilogue round out the 400 pages. 

You will find native american words used throughout.  Most of the time the meaning of these words was found within context, but not always.   The “not always part” let me feeling a bit frustrated, but overall didn’t affect the quality of the material written. 

Scene breaks were acknowledged by little flowers, words read or messages given written in a different or darker font.  Dreams were written in italics. 

My thoughts?

I love it when stories well a deeper story.  Granted I LOVE reading so a well-told story that is written strictly for entertainment value is appreciated too!   But sometimes you need a story to be more than entertaining right?  And this story is well-told, drawing us into the life of a young Native American girl who is starting to grow up.  She’s not an easy-going, highly compliant child, but a young lady with a warrior’s heart, who wants to fight for what’s important.  

In Warrior Girl Unearthed, Perry learns how some of that fighting needs to be done within the strictures of today’s society.  Realizing how she needs to learn some new skills, and discovering potential within herself hitherto unknown. 

Do note there is some bad language used in conversation.  Nothing horrible.  Difficult topics of missing women, and sexual assault are addressed.   These are scattered throughout the story, but do not make up the WHOLE of the story. If studying Native Americans in history, this book will bring to life some of the ramifications are of what happened in the past. 

Overall, a well recommended read.