Plot or Premise

A young Indigenous teen growing up in Northern Michigan on the border with Canada deals with love, friends, hockey and crime in her community.

What I Liked

Daunis is trying to figure out who she is — as a person, as an Ojibwe native, as a friend, as a daughter. She lost a family member under a cloud, and some young members of her community have been overdosing of late. It’s cool to see the personal side develop as she meets a new member of the local hockey team, and tries to resist his charms without much success. Meanwhile, there are lots of side developments. There’s a particular scene with her community as she turns 18 that is really moving and heartwarming. I liked the overall story enough just to read about her, without introducing the whole “FBI informant” role as they investigate drugs coming into the community. It is not a typical style of story that I like, but it was amazingly well done, and I enjoyed visiting the community through her eyes.

What I Didn’t Like

Some of the action stuff is a little overdone, but not enough to pull away from the overall story.

The Bottom Line

Come for the mystery, stay for the story