There There

It took me a while to return to this book but after the first few chapters, everything started to make sense. Not all 12 characters are fully developed but the ones that had more chapters were really interesting to read. I especially like the three brothers of Loother, Lony, and Orvil. I like how everyone is connected in someway leading up to the pow wow. I also like how Tommy Orange wrote himself into the book as Dene Oxendene, also wanting to tell Native stories through an unfiltered lens. 5/5 recommend to anyone who wants to read more about Native experiences.

Depressing but good

A collection of indigenous stories about 12 people who are unknowingly connected in that they’re all about to collide at an upcoming powwow event. Incredible and poignant, this was an amazing book that brings to light part of America’s atrocious past and how it still impacts native Americans generations later. Full of historical details and personal traumas. This is not an uplifting story, but the best historical fiction works aren’t cookie cutter happily ever afters. Book #68 in 2024

Second time reading, both audio books. Which is why I forgot id read it already. Multiple narratives. The Alcatraz section was informative, rounding out the bits of history already known.

This neatly woven tale of several people’s path and underlying motivations for attending a pow wow in Oakland. The stories were uniformly heartbreaking and yet the people’s will to live was strong. All of the people were grappling with what it means to be native. I was frustrated at the lack of resolution in the end.