Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed       
Author: Angeline Boulley    
Genre: YA, mystery    
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that was entirely not her fault, she’s stuck working to pay back her Auntie Daunis for repairs to the Jeep.

Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn’t feel so lost after all.

But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains, and Perry and the Misfits won’t let it go on any longer.

Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline’s perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right – for the ancestors and for their community.

I enjoyed learning so much about the Anishinaabe tribe and culture. I found those details fascinating. Perry was a great character! She truly learned from her mistakes and grew from that knowledge, and she fully embraced her culture and heritage and determined to honor it in every way she could. I also liked the connections to Firekeeper’s Daughter.

Angeline Boulley is from Michigan. Warrior Girl Unearthed is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review.)

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