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heykellyjensen 's review for:
Apple in the Middle
by Dawn Quigley
This reads far more like middle grade than YA, and the writing itself is pretty elementary. But, it's a powerful story about a girl who has grown up without much investment in her Native heritage after the death of her mother after a car accident (Apple was born early, her life saved after the accident). She's since lived in the Minneapolis suburbs with her wealthy white father and stepmother, without much contact with her family in the North Dakota Turtle Mountains, who are Ojibwe. But when her dad and stepmother decide to go on a long summer vacation, Apple gets the chance to spend the summer with her grandparents in North Dakota, along with her big extended family.
The book follows as she learns more about her own cultural heritage and comes to understand her mother better. It's written with dialect and integrates Michif throughout where appropriate.
While the writing isn't spectacular, it's a story that's so rarely told. Besides Apple not having a connection to her background because of her mother's death, she'd also sworn it off because of a horrific slur she was called once. Being different in her town wasn't a good thing -- and this summer allows her to not only lean into her background and appreciate it, but she learns that one of her weirdest personal quirks is, in fact, one of her real spiritual gifts.
This is an ownvoices read, and it's a really fabulous addition to the tiny collection of contemporary Native American stories in YA. Again, I think this is more middle grade and will really work for those tween and younger teen readers, but any YA reader seeking out a story like this will be pleased.
The book follows as she learns more about her own cultural heritage and comes to understand her mother better. It's written with dialect and integrates Michif throughout where appropriate.
While the writing isn't spectacular, it's a story that's so rarely told. Besides Apple not having a connection to her background because of her mother's death, she'd also sworn it off because of a horrific slur she was called once. Being different in her town wasn't a good thing -- and this summer allows her to not only lean into her background and appreciate it, but she learns that one of her weirdest personal quirks is, in fact, one of her real spiritual gifts.
This is an ownvoices read, and it's a really fabulous addition to the tiny collection of contemporary Native American stories in YA. Again, I think this is more middle grade and will really work for those tween and younger teen readers, but any YA reader seeking out a story like this will be pleased.