2021-22 Yellowhammer Book Awards
2021-22 Yellowhammer Book Award Winner!
Fire Keeper's DAughter
by Angeline Boulley
Fire Keeper's Daughter is a Historical thriller with a secret drug ring, undercover FBI agents, and hockey. It's a slow burn mystery that gives the reader insight into Ojibwe culture, historical context, and the devastation of drugs on a community. It is beautifully written with enriched vocabulary, relevance to the new ELA Course of Study for 9-12, as well as Digital Citizenship lessons.
Readers will enjoy the depth of this stand alone novel!
From the book jacket:
"Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.
Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.
Now, as the deceptions―and deaths―keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known."
2021-22 YellowHammer Book Award Honor Books
In the Wild Light
by Jeff Zentner
Love is a Revolution
by Renee Watson
Ground Zero
by Alan Gratz
Living with Viola
by Rosena Fung
2021-22 Top Ten Selections
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
In the Shadow of Fallen Towers by Don Brown
Starfish by Lisa Fipps
Living with Viola by Rosena Fung
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
The Golden Hour by Niki Smith
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
Love is Revolution by Renée Watson
In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
2021-22 Committee Members: Laura Graves Massey, chair; Julia Morrobel, Christina Norman, Jennifer Powell, Jennifer Speigner, Melissa Summerford, Summer Upton, Jacquelyn Wilson