A review by anishinaabekwereads
Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith

adventurous dark funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

**** I received a finished copy for review from Harper Kids.Their new imprint, Heartdrum focuses on Indigenous voices in children's literature. ****

Disclaimer: I have never read Peter Pan. I have only seen Disney’s version once as a kid. I don't really care about Peter Pan, because believe it or not negative representations actually make Indigenous youth feel really awful.

If there's one thing baby Sasha would have wanted growing up, it's Cynthia Leitich Smith's new middle grade novel Sisters of the Neversea. This Peter Pan retelling by the Muscogee Creek author was a joy to read. We follow Lily, a Muscogee Creek 12 year old, Wendy, white stepsister, and their brother Michael as they journey to Neverland and fight to find a way back home.

This book's Native representation is literally everything. As someone who was an anxious, mature, and skeptical Ojibwe pre-teen, Smith's Lily felt like looking in a mirror even now. The "Indians" in Neverland were Native youth,  diverse as all of Indian Country is: Cherokee two-spirit, Black Seneca, Muscogee Creek, Ojibwe. What's more, these characters so effortlessly provided the perspective of Indigenous youth.

Sometimes it might seem overly political, too "on the nose." That doesn't make it an unrealistic representation of Native kids, who are intuitive, smart, fierce, and vocal. Native kids have to combat negative rep and horrific stereotypes every day. They learn early that they might not be considered "real Indians" or that their families will be discriminated against or that people will always want them to play a certain role,  fulfill someone else's expectations. Seeing Native characters push back against those very expectations is powerful.

This is clearly a middle grade book. There are some spots that provide quick redemption or resolve some conflicts perhaps a little too easily, but I recognize this book is meant for younger readers who may not feel the same way. The pacing, the language took me a few chapters to get into mostly because I don't often read  children's literature. Still, once I picked up the rhythm, I found this absolutely charming and was deeply invested in the fantastical adventures and reunification between Lily, her little brother Mikey, and her (step)sister Wendy.

If you have young readers in your life, consider getting your hands on a copy of this. It's fun, theatrical, filled with sibling love, friendship, fairies, merfolk, pirates, and a baby tiger. This might be best suited for self-guided, mature readers (10+ years) as there is discussion of death (including animals), though I think the subject matter could lend to some good conversations.

CW: transphobia and misgendering (problematized by author), racism, racial slurs against Native Americans; mentions of murder, death, animal death.