Is it hard to read?
No, the prose is conversational and direct, with a linear story told through Daunis’s observant first-person voice. The greater challenge is emotional: addiction, grief and sexual assault are serious subjects.
Fiction · Novel · Mystery & Thriller · Romance
Firekeeper's Daughter
Highly regardedPrintz Award, 2022Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 34 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 512 pagesSquare Fish · 2023
- Reading time
- 10 h 15 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Moderate
- Emotional intensity
- 5 / 5
About 10 h 15 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 21 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
In Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine postpones leaving for college to stay near her family, caught between her wealthy white mother's relatives and her late father's Ojibwe community on Sugar Island. She grows close to Jamie, a new player on her brother's hockey team, but witnessing a murder draws her into an FBI investigation of meth reaching the community. Working undercover, she uses her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe medicine while questioning whether the investigation will protect the people she loves.
Reader notes
The YA crime thriller takes time over family relationships and Ojibwe teachings, all filtered through Daunis's observant first-person voice. The prominent romance includes brief, non-graphic sex; addiction, grief and sexual assault are serious subjects.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Conversational · Direct
- Tone
- Dark · Intimate · Suspenseful
- Structure
- Linear
- Driven by
- Character · Mystery · Relationships
- Point of view
- First person
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 2 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Addiction
- Belonging
- Community
- Family
- Identity
- Trauma
Content notes
- Violence
- Strong
- Sexual content
- Mild
- Swearing
- Strong
- Substance use
- Strong
- Abuse
- Mild
- Self-harm or suicide
- Mild
Standing and awards
Highly regarded
- Printz Award, 2022
- Edgar Award, 2022
- William C. Morris YA Debut Award, 2022
- Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis nominee, 2023
Series and reading order
Sugar Island
- 1Firekeeper's Daughter · This book · 2021
Questions readers ask
Is it a fast-paced thriller?
Not really, the pace is moderate, with time spent on family relationships and Ojibwe teachings alongside the undercover investigation. The tone is dark, intimate and suspenseful.
How explicit is the romance?
The content notes flag mild sexual content.
What difficult content should I expect?
Strong violence and substance use are central to the crime story: Daunis witnesses a murder and becomes involved in an investigation of meth reaching her community. Addiction, grief and sexual assault are serious subjects, and the language is strong.
Do I need to read anything else first?
No, this is the first entry in the Sugar Island series. It introduces Daunis, her family relationships and her involvement in an FBI investigation.
How long is it?
512 pages in the Square Fish 2023 paperback edition.
Which edition is shown here?
Square Fish · 2023 · paperback. ISBN 9781250866035.
How long does it take to read Firekeeper's Daughter?
About 10 hours 15 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 512-page Square Fish edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Angeline Boulley
Angeline Boulley writes young-adult mysteries rooted in her Ojibwe community and the Sault Ste. Marie region. Her plots move quickly through investigations, threats, and concealed motives, but their suspense grows from questions of tribal citizenship, institutional power, justice, and belonging. She presents Native communities as internally varied, with conflicts and solutions arising among people who know one another rather than from a simplified encounter with outsiders. Firekeeper’s Daughter follows that method through a murder and drug investigation, while Warrior Girl Unearthed uses a heist-driven mystery to address repatriation, ancestral remains, and missing Indigenous women. Ojibwe words enter the dialogue as lived language, with context that allows nonfluent readers to follow them.
If you liked this
Edition and details
- Publisher
- Square Fish
- Publication year
- 2023
- Format
- paperback
- Pages
- 512
- ISBN
- 9781250866035
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 2021
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Mystery & Thriller · Romance · Young Adult · Mystery and thriller · Detective fiction
- Editions
- 14
- Languages
- 3 (English, Spanish, Unspecified)