ARC Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Warrior Girl Unearthed
Author: Angeline Boulley
Publication: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (May 2, 2023)

Description: #1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.

Sometimes, the truth shouldn't stay buried.

My Thoughts: Perry Firekeeper-Birch has a summer filled with growth in this second mystery steeped in Anishinaabe culture by Angeline Boulley.

Perry is the laidback twin and, while her sister Pauline is looking forward to a summer internship program, she's looking forward to hanging around and fishing. But a bear in the road and too much speed cause a car accident and her Aunt Daunis demands that Perry take part in the internship too as a cost for getting the car repaired.

Perry is assigned to intern with Cooper Turtle who runs the tribal museum and finds herself cleaning glass cases. She spends her lunch break trying to find a new job. But she soon becomes fascinated with the museum and with Cooper's efforts to bring Native bones and artifacts back to the tribe from the universities and museums that are holding them for study.

Perry's main complaint is that Cooper is working to slowly. She wants her ancestors back home immediately. But repatriation isn't the only thing on Perry's mind. Native women are disappearing, and it doesn't seem like law enforcement on or off the reservation is doing enough to try to find them.

Perry's overenthusiasm costs her job with Cooper and causes her internship to be switched to another department. In fact, she seems to move to a new department each week as her bosses keep moving her around. On Fridays, the interns are all gathered together for team building and other activities. Perry becomes part of the team that includes her school friend Shense Jackson, a 16-year-old single mother, her childhood friend Lucas, and new-boy-in town Erik. They name themselves Team Misfit Toys.

There's a lot going on in this mystery which includes a murder and a heist of bones gathered by a local non-Native landowner and an encounter with the man who is kidnapping native women in their area. I found the whole story fascinating and compelling. I couldn't put the story down and, when I did have to do other things, I was still thinking about the events of the story. I highly recommend this book. I've already ordered my Keeper copy.

Favorite Quote:

I stare at random tourists and wonder how they would react to their ancestors being stolen for research. I'm guessing they would see it as sacrilege. So why were my relatives fair game?

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.