By Angeline Boulley ★★★★★
Firekeeper’s Daughter came out in 2021, but I didn’t get around to reading it until 2022, so it makes this year’s list! The story centers on Daunis Fontaine, a high school senior living in Sault St. Marie with blood ties to the nearby Ojibwe tribe. She has put her dreams of playing college hockey on hold in favor of family commitments, and she’s working to find her place and figure out her future.
Then, she witnesses a shocking murder-suicide, and against all odds she finds herself thrust into an undercover FBI investigation. Her task: help agents track down a dangerous new drug that is spreading through her community as well as other Native American tribes. As deaths continue to mount and Daunis continues to be in the middle of the investigation, the danger of her situation continues to rise as well.
It’s a first novel, and at nearly 500 pages I think there may have been an unconscious desire to get everything into this first book. But despite perhaps trying to tackle too much, it’s really good! From a basic plot standpoint, it’s a compelling and pretty well-crafted mystery. When you layer in all of the undertones in the book -- a young woman trying to navigate her way through a pivotal time in her life, the Native American experience (I learned a ton about the Ojibwes and Native American culture in general through this book), and the challenge of a person who by being part of two cultures really feels like she belongs to none -- it elevates from a very good plot-driven mystery to just a very good overall book.
Previous Best of 2022: #6 - Seventeen: Last Man Standing
Next Best of 2022: #4 - All My Rage