Firekeeper's Daughter

"This audiobook is read by Isabella Star LaBlanc, who has not narrated a lot of audiobooks before. I think this was her first, and it was an impressive first. This book is probably for a little bit older of a young adult audience, 14 and up, just based on the intensity of the story. It’s a great combination of a young adult thriller and a love story. There’s a lot about understanding yourself and your family as well. It’s an engrossing story, and there’s something powerful about hearing that authentic narration where you’re getting a sense of any unfamiliar language that you might come across, but also just the cadence, and all those different characters coming to life through the narration. It’s really a powerful listening experience. It’s a story of a community, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians on reservation in Michigan. The story takes place on and off the reservation. The main character, whose name is Daunis, has grown up between those two cultures. She gets caught up in an investigation into a new street drug that has very devastatingly been impacting their communities. The FBI recruits her to try to find out where it might be coming from, because it might have something to do with Indigenous practices, they’re wondering if there’s a certain material that is getting used in this drug to make it more dangerous. So there’s this very serious examination of the way that those kinds of drugs can impact and devastate communities. And it’s also the story of Daunis trying to discover her own path within this community and her place within it. She’s getting pulled in two different directions because the FBI is coming at her with one perspective, and then she also has her community which she’s trying to protect from outside influences. There are a lot of twists to the story and it’s a very impressive debut. It’s one that I gifted a couple people after I read it, knowing that it would make a great listen even for adult listeners who enjoy reading young adult fiction. There are, exactly. I think hearing Isabella narrate you get to know all of these characters even better, because you hear them through her voice. It makes for such a good audiobook and it definitely was a very impressive debut for both of them, for the author and for the narrator. Yes, indeed, that certainly is a part of her journey throughout the audiobook. There are parts where she’s not feeling at home either on or off the reservation, and then there is the romance which also pulls her in different directions. But there’s so much love from within her community that really makes it a beautiful audiobook to listen to. Sign up here for our newsletter featuring the best children’s and young adult books, as recommended by authors, teachers, librarians and, of course, kids. It was a year with so many brilliant audiobooks out there, and so many ways to enjoy literature through audio. I know that it was a difficult year for many as well, with many students quarantining at home from school, or doing remote school, and audiobooks have been an excellent way for young listeners to feel connected to others. For any of your readers who want to try an audiobook who maybe haven’t before, take a look at the full list of all the different categories . There are so many excellent audiobooks, it makes a lot of sense to look for something that would appeal to you as listener or to your kids and give it a try and see, because these are a lot of the best from the whole year! And it can be surprising. Something like Stuntboy , which is really different from anything I’ve heard before, might be an exciting way to get a start with audiobooks and help listeners be introduced to that as a way to read and a way to find joy in literature."