A high-energy, action-filled work of speculative fiction that’s a follow up to The Marrow Thieves alternates in short chapters between the points of view of French, captured and imprisoned in one of the “residential schools”; Rose, who has gone in search of French, accompanied by Derrick; and other members of their Family. French’s brutal experience while imprisoned includes no-win choices: Does he give up hope or does he pretend to believe Canadian government propaganda and work as an agent, helping capture other Indigenous people as a potential way to escape and return to the Family? Becoming the bearer of other prisoners’ final messages adds to his pain, as does a shocking discovery. Rose and Derrick fall into the clutches of a cult-like group angling to steal their blood, but form an alliance with one of the members, non-binary Nam. The rest of the Family learn that changes in the government’s approach to stealing Indigenous people’s marrow means pregnant Wab and her future baby are at particular risk. With the guidance of a member of a resistance group of nurses from the “schools,” they leave the encampment that was starting to feel like safety to sneak over the U.S. border. As with the first book, various characters’ “Coming To” stories fill in details of their lives, the fall of society, and the importance of the bonds they’ve formed. Tense and intense, this riveting work with beautiful descriptive writing demands familiarity with the first book while setting the stage for book three. (Age 14 and older)

From the acclaimed author of The Marrow Thieves comes a thrilling new story about hope and survival that New York Times bestselling author Angeline Boulley called “a revelatory must-read.”

A 2022 American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book

Years ago, when plagues and natural disasters killed millions of people, much of the world stopped dreaming. Without dreams, people are haunted, sick, mad, unable to rebuild. The government soon finds that the Indigenous people of North America have retained their dreams, an ability rumored to be housed in the very marrow of their bones. Soon, residential schools pop up—or are reopened—across the land to bring in the dreamers and harvest their dreams.

Seventeen-year-old French lost his family to these schools and has spent the years since heading north with his newfound family: a group of other dreamers, who, like him, are trying to build and thrive as a community. But then French wakes up in a pitch-black room, locked in and alone for the first time in years, and he knows immediately where he is—and what it will take to escape.

Meanwhile, out in the world, his found family searches for him and dodges new dangers—school Recruiters, a blood cult, even the land itself. When their paths finally collide, French must decide how far he is willing to go—and how many loved ones is he willing to betray—in order to survive.

Hunting by Stars is an engrossing, action-packed, deftly drawn novel that expands on the world of Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning The Marrow Thieves, and it will haunt readers long after they’ve turned the final page.