A gripping thriller told in dual time periods explores the personal and generational trauma of Lucy, who in 2005 has just aged out of the foster care system. When an attorney, Jamie, tracks her down to tell Lucy that her Ojibwe maternal relatives have been searching for her, Lucy is confused and on edge. She also knows that she’s being pursued—the reader doesn’t yet know why—and plans to run, until a pipe bomb badly fractures her leg. Recovering under the care of Jamie and Daunis, who know Lucy’s family, Lucy confronts the fact that her white father never told her the truth of her heritage. Jamie, who works to reunite adopted Native children with their Native family members, teaches Lucy about the Indian Child Welfare Act. Flashbacks recount Lucy’s childhood and adolescence growing up first with her father, who died of cancer; the con-artist stepmother who abandoned her; and a series of foster families where abuse (emotional, sexual) was rampant. Lucy’s final and longest placement is with a farming family where multiple teens, many of whom are pregnant when they arrive—or become pregnant after moving in—live together. Realizing that all on the farm is not as idyllic as it seems, Lucy begins investigating and finds that her past and present are more entwined than she ever imagined. Like Boulley’s other books, this emotional page-turner features a strong, clever female lead and deftly tackles systemic issues affecting Native communities. (Age 14 and older)

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick!

From the instant New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed comes a daring new mystery about a foster teen claiming her heritage on her own terms.

Ever since Lucy Smith’s father died five years ago, “home” has been more of an idea than a place. She knows being on the run is better than anything waiting for her as a “ward of the state”. But when the sharp-eyed and kind Mr. Jameson with an interest in her case comes looking for her, Lucy wonders if hiding from her past will ever truly keep her safe.

Five years in the foster system has taught her to be cautious and smart. But she wants to believe Mr. Jameson and his “friend-not-friend”, a tall and fierce-looking woman who say they want to look after her. They also tell Lucy the truth her father hid from her: She is Ojibwe; she has – had – a sister, and more siblings, a grandmother who’d look after her and a home where she would be loved.

But Lucy is being followed. The past has destroyed any chance at safety she had. Will the secrets she's hiding swallow her whole and take away any hope for the future she always dreamed of?

When the past comes for revenge, it’s fight or flight.

Angeline Boulley's award-winning canon of books puts compelling characters and fast-paced action at the center of narratives rich in historical context. Read Firekeeper's Daughter; Warrior Girl Unearthed; and the soon-to-be-released Sisters of the Wind in any order; but like the world itself, there are echoes within each for the other stories.

Pick this up if you love:
- quiet girls with dark pasts
- explosive opening scenes
- wolves in sheeps’ clothing