Firekeeper's Daughter is not what you expect from a YA novel. Partially because, despite the characters young ages, the content is very serious. To any parents of teens wanting to read this book, it may be best for older teens. I don't usually start with content warnings, but there are some big ones for this book that I think need to be mentioned - drug use/abuse, murder, violence, rape. With those being said, this book is not graphic. In my opinion, it handles these difficult topics as realistically as possible. Angeline Boulley does a wonderful job of describing difficult situations enough that the reader can understand and sympathize with characters, but without going into excess detail.
I am by no means an expert on ANY Native American culture, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the traditions described in relation to this particular tribe. From my perspective as someone on the outside, this book beautifully displayed the difficultly of balancing traditions and modern life as well as tribal politics and the reality of the struggles tribes face when interacting on a federal level.
I am by no means an expert on ANY Native American culture, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the traditions described in relation to this particular tribe. From my perspective as someone on the outside, this book beautifully displayed the difficultly of balancing traditions and modern life as well as tribal politics and the reality of the struggles tribes face when interacting on a federal level.