From the burning heart of a fire keeper's daughter on Sugar Island, the story of a girl named Perry committed to freeing the Native American remains of "warrior girl" and twelve other ancestors has risen from ashes.
Winner of the Printz Medal, Morris Award, Amazon's Best Young Adult Book of 2021, TIME Magazine Best Young Adult Book of All-time, and many more, Angeline Boulley was home this past weekend to visit family and talk about her latest book, Warrior Girl Unearthed.
It is a sequel to "The Fire Keeper's Daughter," published in March of 2021, and soon to be adapted into a Netflix series under former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground. The instant New York Times Bestselling novel was listed for 31 weeks. "Warrior Girl Unearthed" has remained on the New York Times Bestsellers list since its release in early May.
Boulley engaged fans at Island Books and Crafts in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. during a book signing last Saturday afternoon. The small bookstore on Portage Avenue has currently sold more copies of The Fire Keeper's Daughter than any other in the nation, demonstrating great local support for Boulley, as she creatively spreads awareness of issues plaguing Native American tribes throughout the country.
Boulley explained, "I first got an agent in the summer of 2019 for The Fire Keepers Daughter, and my agent said, 'When the manuscript goes out on submission to publishers in the fall, they're going to want to know what else you have? Do you have another novel that you're working on?'"
The goal was for a two-book deal. Boulley, who was living in Washington, DC and working for the US Department of Education at the time, gave it some heavy thought.
"I didn't have anything," she said. "The Fire Keepers Daughter has been on my mind in one way, shape, or form since I was 18 years old. I had the idea at 18. I didn't start writing until I was 44 and then it took 10 years to finish a draft that I felt could get me an agent. It did."
She felt she ended the first book and its main character, Daunis, in a solid place.
"I was out for a walk one Sunday, when all of a sudden this character's voice popped into my head: 'I stole everything they think I did, and even stuff they don't know about, yet,'" said Boulley. "I thought, 'Who is this?'"
A teen girl sitting in a police station, waiting for her parents to show, flashed into Boulley's mind. She developed a main character named Perry Fire-keeper Birch, one she has often referred to as an indigenous Lara Croft.
"She's indigenous and returning items back to tribes," Boulley explained. "She's decided that she's had enough of the delays in repatriating ancestors, and she is going to do it, herself.
Perry started out as a six-year-old and one of the twins in The Fire Keeper's Daughter.
"Perry is dropping her sister off the at the tribe's summer internship program, and they share a jeep that their Auntie Daunis gifted to them for their 16th birthdays," Boulley revealed. "Perry doesn't want to be part of the internship program. She just wants to fish every day, hang out with their dad in in their Garden, and play with the dog -- Elvis. Jr., and drive real fast in this Jeep. She doesn't get too far from me. Dropping her sister off for the first day when a mama bear crosses the road and she wrecks the jeep."
But it's more the merrier at a family fish dinner that same night...
"One look at Auntie Daunis ruins my fried perch feast..." Boulley read a small portion of Warrior Girl Unearthed to Island Books and Crafts fans:
"She stomps toward the campfire with her huge dark eyes, blazing. Her messy brunette topknot adds three inches to her already considerable height, and with the stacked heels on her black ankle boots, she is halfway between six to seven feet. Auntie could be the medicine man's twin, dressed in black jeans and a black Henley. Her slash of red lipstick is pressed in a disapproving glower. I silently curse whoever snitched. Jack. Zack. Officer What-The. Anyone on a ferry to the mainland. Everybody except Stormy Nodin because he speaks only to pray. Conveniently, mom and pops go inside the house for more potato salad. Pauline is as mute as Stormy, who is filling up perch like it's his last meal. Even Elvis Junior goes silent. Closing my eyes, I brace for impact. 'Were you speeding?' 'It was a bear and her cub.' 'Were you speeding?' she repeats. 'A bit.' 'You speed like that with my kid in the car?' 'No.' 'Zack said $3,200 in damages,' Auntie says. Pauline looks like she is going to burst into tears. Screw that. I ain't scared. 'I paid Zack. You owe me,' she says. Shit. His terms would've been better. Zack said he'd accept an OUI with two years of interest for when I turn 18 and start getting per cap, the profit-sharing dividends that our tribal citizens receive from Superior Shores Casino. I am tempted to mention that the Jeep's bumper was duct taped to the frame a long time ago. The metal gate was not its first battle. That good pony has seen some shit. My sister is a genius, but I am not. I await Auntie's sentencing. 'The Kinomaage program has one internship spot still open. You start tomorrow at 9 a.m. Every paycheck will be turned over to me until then. Show up to the tribal museum. Your supervisor is Cooper Turtle.' Pauline gasps loudly, but I feel the sharp intake in my own lungs. And with that, my summer of slack goes up in smoke. Just because."
Reluctant summer intern Perry learns about the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), enacted on Nov. 16, 1990, to protect Native American graves and sacred objects.
"It has been 33 years," Boulley said to shed light on the act's progress, or lack thereof. "As of September of last year, there were more than ancestors being held than had been repatriated. So, I dedicated my second book to the 808,000 ancestors still waiting to come home, and all of the people working toward that end."
Boulley said she loved writing the story of an apathetic teenager, fueled by passion only after learning the truth. Now, Perry will take matters into her own hands in Warrior Girl Unearthed.
The Fire Keeper's Daughter was picked and read by Reese Witherspoon for her Hello Sunshine Book Club. It has won the American Indian Youth Literature Award for Young Adult, 2021 Kids' Indie Next List Selection, Entertainment Weekly Most Anticipated Books of 2021 Selection, and PopSugar Best March 2021 YA Book Selection.
At the time of its publication, Good Morning America called it, “One of this year's most buzzed-about young adult novels.” National Public Radio (NPR) referred to it as an "Absolute powerhouse of a debut."
Within a single, short month, Warrior Girl Unearthed worked its way up to the Amazon Best Book of the Month list, Indigo Teen Staff Pick of the Month, and Indie Next Pick.
NPR has called this one "A riveting, culturally focused thriller. Boulley has become a must-read author." School Library Journal wrote that it was "A compelling narrative about one teen’s attempt to undo some of the injustices her community and people have faced." Booklist wrote, "Incredibly engaging... This quick follow-up to Boulley's best-selling, award-winning Fire Keeper’s Daughter carries over all the same intrigue, tension, and heartbreak."
Kauffman and Associates Director of Education Aaron Payment, former Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Chairperson, beamed with pride at his first cousin's success.
"She, very accurately, depicts our culture and people," he said of Boulley. "Her dad is my uncle, teacher, and hero — Henry Boulley, Sr. He is our fire keeper."
Local sophomore Kamryn Corbiere was excited to report that she will be attending Phillips Exeter Academy this summer. She loves reading and especially enjoyed Boulley's first book.
"I just started binge-reading it," Corbiere said. "I liked trying to find all of the details that gave me a sense of community, like Sault schools and the college."
Boulley based The Fire Keeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed on Sault Tribe and locals in the Sugar Island, Sault Ste. Marie, and surrounding areas, using her creative licence as an author.
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