Sixteen-year-old Perry Firekeeper-Birch isn’t thrilled to be a summer Kinomaage program intern. Unlike her twin sister, Pauline, she doesn’t have big college dreams but does need to repay Aunt Daunis for car repairs. Perry’s tribal museum position immerses her in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Low compliance since NAGPRA became law in 1990 makes the soul-disturbing sight at nearby Mackinac College of Native bones in stacked boxes and sacred and treasured items disrespected and misunderstood even more agonizing. For fiery Perry, quick action seems better than long-term negotiations for their return, and two impulsive decisions threaten her internship and burgeoning romance with fellow intern Eric. Perry’s summer is also shadowed by the disappearance of several young local Indigenous women. After the murder of a college trustee leads Perry to another horrifying, heartbreaking discovery—a silo full of Native ancestral remains—she discovers more than old bones are hidden on the land. Navigating both tribal politics and intense feelings, Perry is grounded by her family (Ojibwe/Black), friendships, and Sugar Island Ojibwe culture and community, where she speaks both Anishinaabemowin and English. The connection between history and present-day violence is found in both government policy and individual acts of racism and misogyny in this riveting mystery/thriller set in 2014. A story distinguished by rich, nuanced characterizations and many moments of humor and warmth is also tender, tense, and eventually terrifying before seeing Perry safely home and considering a surprising future path. (Ages 14 and older)

An Instant New York Times bestseller!
A #1 Indies Bestseller!
A Publisher's Lunch Best YA of 2023!
An Amazon Best Book of the Year!
Winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award!
A Horn Book Fanfare Title!
A BookPage Best Book of the Year!
An Indigo Teen Staff Pick of the Month!
An Indie Next Pick!
FIVE STARRED REVIEWS FOR WARRIOR GIRL UNEARTHED!

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.


Sometimes, the truth shouldn't stay buried.

Pick this up if you love:
● high stakes heist
● will-they-won't-they romance
● family secrets spanning decades