A powerfully layered YA debut that adroitly balances a thrilling crime plot, a fake relationship, and a thoughtful exploration of identity and belonging. 18-year-old hockey star Daunis dreams of leaving her small community on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and making a fresh start in college. But after she witnesses a terrible crime, Daunis is persuaded to go undercover to nail the dealers whose deadly new drugs are ravaging her Anishinaabe community. While seeking justice for her best friend, Daunis also grapples with burgeoning feelings for her handsome hockey player crush and navigates often-tense relationships within her own family. (While sensitively handled, triggers abound, including murder, suicide, sexual assault, and racism.) Native American narrator Isabella Star LeBlanc’s brilliant performance captures the pulse-pounding first-person narrative drive and the new-to-me Ojibwe phrases and practices in this brilliant YA debut. Narrated by Isabella Star LeBlanc.

I couldn't wait to return to Sugar Island in Anishinaabe author Boulley’s much-anticipated (and standalone) sophomore novel, set ten years after the events of Firekeeper’s Daughter. Unlike her studious twin, Perry Firekeeper-Birch wasn’t initially interested in the Ojibwe summer internship program, but when she incurs a big debt, she has no choice but to get to work. Her job assignment centers on her tribe’s struggle to reclaim the remains and sacred objects of her ancestors from disinterested profiteers. The more Perry learns, the more determined she becomes to right this wrong, with a little help from her friends. A heist novel that’s both thrilling and thoughtful, with a winning protagonist you’ll want to root for.