A review by ceallaighsbooks
Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

“‘My story is like a falling star,’ I said as we watched a small universe blaze and fall from the sky. ‘That star was a person. It was a being of fire that laughed and cried. Someone is missing that star in the sky. The star’s lover is bereft, calling its name.’ As I spoke, I realized that I did not want to be alone beneath the eternal sweep of the sky.”

TITLE—Crazy Brave
AUTHOR—Joy Harjo
PUBLISHED—2012
PUBLISHER—W. W. Norton & Company

GENRE—memoir
SETTING—Turtle Island in the 50’s, 60’s, & 70’s
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—Native American life in the 1960’s, art & poetry, Indian school, child & domestic abuse, Indigenous spirituality, mental illness & panic attacks, Indigenous family & parenthood, finding your path/obeying your calling

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERIZATIONS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BONUS ELEMENT/S—I loved how delicate her voice was as she told her story. I also loved everything she says about “the knowing.”

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PREMISE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
EXECUTION—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I often painted or drew through the night, when most of the world slept and it was easier to walk through he membrane between life and death to bring back memory. I painted to the music of silence. It was here I could hear everything.”

My Thoughts:
I’ve been looking for more books written by Muscogee authors and was excited to find CRAZY BRAVE at my local library. This was truly a poet’s memoir and such a beautiful, inspiring read. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy memoirs as this one was excellently and uniquely done.

“There are many doorways in our lives. Some are small and hidden in the ordinary. Others are gaping and obvious, like the car wreck we walk away from, meeting someone and falling in love, or an earthquake followed by a tsunami. When we walk through them to the other side, everything changes.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

CW // domestic abuse, child abuse, racism, genocide, rape, alcoholism (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Further Reading—
  • WHITE MAGIC, by Elissa Washuta
  • THERE THERE, by Tommy Orange
  • THE TRUTH ABOUT STORIES, by Thomas King
  • THE WAYS OF MY GRANDMOTHERS, by Beverly Hungry Wolf—TBR
  • THE WORLD WE USED TO LIVE IN, by Vine Deloria Jr.—TBR
  • THE RIGHT TO BE COLD, by Sheila Watt-Cloutier—TBR
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