Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

 

The plot:  Anna Horn's life is not easy -- she's bullied and tormented at school, she doesn't seem to fit on the rez either, and she's haunted by a ravenous, mythological entity her uncle told her about when she was seven. The tribal stories she once knew are being forgotten, her parents are arguing, her 15-year-od sister, Grace, is sneaking out at night, and there's something mysterious going on in suite 808 at the casino/hotel where she works. And young women from the reservation are disappearing. As Anna struggles to put all the pieces together, Grace goes missing, too. Now it's a race against time if Anna is going to save her sister.

My thoughts:  This novel is both a coming of age story and a mystery with hints of Native American lore and a touch of supernatural horror. The chapters alternate between the days leading up to Grace's disappearance, and the hours afterwards. It was a little confusing at first, but once I got used to the switches in time, I found the narrative to be very compelling. And I really liked Anna and sympathized with all her struggles. And I liked the Native American myths and stories she remembers and tells. But it's also a dark story at times. The plight of young Native American women who go missing or are murdered every year is a heartbreaking one, and Medina does a good job of highlighting this crisis. This novel is propulsive, suspenseful and very well-written.  

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading! 

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

 

From the blurb:  

"1970s Minnesota. It's spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is plowing a field for a local farmer when she discovers a dead man on the kitchen floor of the property's rented farmhouse. The only possible witness to the murder is the young daughter of a Native laborer. The girl, Shawnee, is too terrified to speak about what she’s witnessed, and her parents seem to have vanished. 

"In the wake of the murder, Cash can't deny her suspicions of the dead man's grieving widow. While Cash scours the county and White Earth reservation trying to find the missing mother before Shawnee is placed in foster care, another body turns up. Concerned about the girl and her mother's fate, and with the help of local Sheriff Wheaton, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse."

My thoughts:  Cash Blackbear is young, guarded, and doesn't always make the best decisions. And her intuitive gift, those dreams and impressions that often lead her to the truth, seems to be on the fritz. But she's stubborn and tough and refuses to give up on Shawnee and her mom. And I liked that about her. I hope someday she'll learn to let in the people who care about her, and connect with them on a deeper level. I'm obviously invested in her journey! And these mysteries do such a good job of immersing you in that 1970s time period and Red River Valley setting, with all its injustices towards women and Native Americans. It's another reason I find them so compelling and interesting. This is another 4-star read from Rendon. All four of her Cash Blackbear mysteries are worth checking out. 

Happy Reading!

Other book from this series that I've read and reviewed:

Murder on the Red River (#1)

Sinister Graves (#3)

Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon

The plot:  Minnesota, 1970s. When the body of a young Ojibwe woman is found in the flood waters of the Red River Valley, Sheriff Wheaton calls in his young protege, Renee "Cash" Blackbear to help identify her. Cash's investigation leads her to the White Earth Reservation, the place where she was born, and where she should have grown up except that she was put into foster care when she was young instead. When another young Ojibwe woman is found dead, the only connection Cash can find between them is Pastor Steene and his wife, Lillian, and their unconventional church. And when she visits the church, she sees a dark ghostly shadow outside, something the Ojibwe call a Jiibay. And she knows that there's something not quite right about the place. 

My thoughts:  What makes you want to keep reading a particular series? I look for interesting settings and time periods, intriguing plots, but most of all, I look for real, personable, flawed, layered and likable characters that I can root for. Cash Blackbear is one of those characters. At just 19, she's tough and smart. She's in college but she mostly chooses classes where attendance isn't mandatory because she knows she can not show up and still ace the papers and tests. She earns her money driving farm trucks and playing pool. She's very guarded and struggles to connect with people. And she has a sixth sense when it comes to helping Sheriff Wheaton--an ability to see things that others don't. 

In this book, she's starting to open up with other people, even though it leaves her feeling vulnerable and scared. I liked that she's growing as a person. And I like her toughness and independence, though she does have one reckless TSTL moment in her investigation into Pastor Steene's church that made me shake my head. She does redeem herself a little by being resourceful enough to extricate herself though. I liked her for that, too. I think this third Cash Blackbear mystery just might be my favorite. And as a bonus, I'm now all caught up with this series. 

Happy Reading!

Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon

 

This is the first book in a series centered around Renee "Cash" Blackbear. It's set in the 1970s in the Red River Valley between Moorhead, Minnesota, and Fargo, North Dakota. Cash is nineteen and Native American. She works as a farm laborer driving truck, and hustles pool at night. Growing up, she was bounced around from one white foster family to another. The only constant figure in her life was the local sheriff, who still watches out for her. 

When a man from the Red Lake reservation turns up murdered near the Red River, Cash helps Sheriff Wheaton find out who the man was, and why he was killed. Because they both know no one on the reservation will talk to a white policeman. And Cash has other skills: she can spirit walk, and she sometimes has dreams about the dead that turn out to be true. 

I really liked Cash, which is good because this is a very character-driven novel. And I thought Rendon did an excellent job of capturing the feel of the 1970s, and showing the racism and sexism that existed for a woman like Cash. The mystery was also interesting. My one complaint is Cash's excessive drinking and smoking. The amount of time the author spends on Cash's habit of buying Marlboros, lighting up, smoking, stubbing out butts, sharing cigs, running out, buying more, etc. got old fast and ended up being very annoying. I hope she tones that part down in the next book. Because I definitely want to read the next few books in this series. 

Happy Reading!

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was first published in 1968. It's centered around Abel, a young Native American who returns to New Mexico from serving in the war in 1945. But he is no longer the young man he once was. 

"Abel walked into the canyon. His return to town had been a failure, for all his looking forward. He had tried in the days that followed to speak to his grandfather, but he could not say the things he wanted; he had tried to pray, to sing, to enter into the old rhythm of the tongue, but he was no longer attuned to it."

Things get worse. In 1952 he ends up in Los Angeles, just out of prison, still lost, and still drinking too much. 

Momaday's writing is very descriptive and poetic, though not always straightforward. There are jumps in time and narrative voice that I found confusing in places; there's also a dream-like, surreal quality to his slowly unfolding narrative that I didn't love. It made it hard to connect to Abel. In fact, over half of the novel isn't even told from his point of view. The author gives the reader glimpses from his past, and one memory from his time in the war, and a few scenes with him in Los Angeles, but the biggest part of his story is related by his roommate, Ben. It's a unique way to tell a story but one that didn't quite work for me. 

Abel's story is very sad, and I had a lot of sympathy for him. And I thought this novel was interesting. But I didn't love it. Still, I'm not sorry I read it. Especially because it counts as my "Classic by a BIPOC Author" for Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge. 

Happy Reading!

For a much better review of this book, check out Kathy's at Reading Matters; she's the one who first made me aware of this classic novel.