Play Book Tag discussion

Wow! Beautiful and gut-wrenching at the same time. The book follows 12 characters as they converge at a Powwow in Oakland. Each character has a backstory and a reason for attending the powwow. Most of them are Native Americans living in Oakland. Their lives are filled with racism, addiction, and violence. History is part of the narrative as each character struggles to find an identity as an urban Native American living in a white world. Another book that got me thinking about today's America through eyes very different from my own.

We are the memories we don't remember, which live in us, which we feel, which make us sing and dance and pray the way we do, feelings from memories that flare and bloom unexpectedly in our lives like blood through a blanket from a wound made by a bullet fired by a man shooting us in the back for our hair, for our heads, for a bounty, or just to get rid of us.

As many others have noted, it is at times difficult to follow the characters and their relationships to each other. But it was totally worth the effort to go back and skim through some of the earlier chapters to figure this out. In the end, I am not sure it really matters if you lose a few of those threads. The book is still incredibly impactful.

I loved this as well. I read Wandering Stars this year and I think they would both be more impactful if read somewhat close together.

I read this last month and was so impressed with it too. A wonderfully original voice

I somehow missed this one with my indigenous theme last year. It’s nice to see all the love for it. I’ll add it to my long possibilities list for this month.

Fran, Wandering Stars sounds good for Fall Flurries, don’t you think? It could work for October or November. I should be done with other challenges by then, though I think BWF isn’t done until Dec 1st.

I read this for Debut last month and loved it!