A review by bubblewombat
Whiskey Tender by Deborah Taffa

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

5.0

Everyone should read this book. Or listen to it, as I did. The narrator did such a fantastic job bringing the story to life, I adored her narration. I know she's also in Wandering Stars which is one of my next listens and another few books on my tbr. I can't wait to hear more from her.

In Whiskey Tender we follow Deborah, as she grows up, not really sure where she belongs. We get to know her, her family, her tribal traditions and even learn some history along the way.

I was already familiar with the history, but I love that it was included. Especially in such a skillful way where it compliments the story instead of being a "random" block of historical text in the middle of storytelling.

What I never really thought about, is that a tribe may not have many traditions or know about them, and how that might feel for members of said tribe. Taffa tackles that in the book very well.

Also, seeing how she was treated for not being a part of the dominant tribe in the area, or being native in general was very eye opening.

Agreeing with everyone who said this should be in school (and all) libraries. It's simply a must read.