Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsberg​

I want to thank Rebecca and her students for all of their book suggestions throughout November. 
To our readers, we'll be here next Friday.

Stay well and keep reading,
​Leilya

Firekeeper’s Daughter written by Angeline Boulley (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) is a Young Adult novel following an 18 year old hockey player named Daunis. Taking place in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on Ojibwe land, Daunis is left in shambles after many of her classmates are struck by tragedy through drug addiction and abuse. There is something going on in her small town, and there seems to be secrets surrounding who is involved in making and dealing lethal meth to minors in their community. It is up to Daunis to find the mole and stop the destruction in her town. She teams up with the FBI and finds out secrets about her community and her family. 

​Looking For Smoke is a book that I wasn’t looking for, but one that I needed. I really wanted to read a book that reflected the season of fall and luckily, I stumbled upon Looking For Smoke.
This debut novel by K.A. Cobell (Blackfeet Nation) is full of twists, whodunnits and suspense. If you are looking for a fast-paced mystery/thriller that will make you feel deeply and craving to learn about Indigenous communities and culture, this is the perfect book for you. Looking For Smoke follows four different teenage Blackfoot Community members during Indian Days held by the Blackfoot Reservation. We get to see all these characters: the new girl Mara, class clown Brody, grief-stricken sister Loren, and tough guy Eli, as they grieve a missing member of their community and try to solve the murder of another. This novel had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was causing such grief and fear in this Indigenous community. I found it empowering and powerful learning more about the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women’s epidemic (MMIW) and getting a glimpse into Blackfoot culture. 
You can learn more about the novel and purchase your own copy here https://kacobell.com/ at K.A. Cobell’s Website. Join our characters as they grieve, heal and piece together who is causing harm to their community.

Hearts Unbroken literally dropped into my life this month. I was walking to the faculty lounge from my office, and I passed by our department’s table of free books and there it was: a book I had been longing to read but hadn’t yet had the chance to! I picked it up without hesitation, took it back to my office, and, once I started it, I couldn’t put it down!
            

If you are hoping to read a book about friendship, family, and the importance of home, this book is for you. I absolutely love the way Cynthia (Mvskoke) centers characters in her books. In Hearts Unbroken, we follow Louise Wolfe as she enters her senior year at East Hannesburg High. She’s just broken up with the most popular guy at school (just ask him!), and all she wants is to do well this year and become a top journalist for the school’s newspaper, The Hive. When the new drama teacher announces that she’ll be taking an “inclusive approach” to all future casting for performances, she creates a domino effect forcing Louise, her family, her school, and her community into a reckoning with the community’s less-than-inclusive history. Join Louise through the twists and turns of the first few months of school; there are some stormy days, but there’s definitely a rainbow at the end of them. [More on Hearts Unbroken at the end of the month in Rebecca’s Wednesday post!]
            You can read the synopsis and find an excerpt from the book here (https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/ya-books/ya_index/hearts-unbroken/ ) on Cynthia’s website. ​