Hearts Unbroken

August 1, 2018
"Suburban," Muscogee (Creek) girl Louise "Lou" Wolfe confronts the politics of being Native in an overwhelmingly white high school while finding first love.Smith's (Muscogee) (Feral Pride, 2015, etc.) novel begins "in the residual haze of [Louise's] junior prom." Heedless of Lou's identity, "WASPy boyfriend" Cam insults Native people and then further invalidates the hurt Lou feels. A three-chapter interlude of summer months establishes characters and relationships. The remainder of the story occurs during the autumn of Lou's senior year. Working for the Hive, the school newspaper, she teams up with possible love interest Joey Kairouz to uncover who's behind Parents Against Revisionist Theater and its attempt to pull the curtain on the school's ethnically inclusive fall production of The Wizard of Oz. Anonymous threats, vandalism, and power abuse by parents, school officials, and community members give Smith's story potential to become an Indigenous version of The Chocolate War. Unfortunately, a chapter devoted to explaining the difference between "color-blind" and "color-conscious," overly didactic attempts to teach readers about verbal and visual microaggressions and Native stereotypes, and parenthetical asides that read more like authorial intrusions as opposed to the inner thoughts readers would assume from the story's first-person narration hold it back.Endearing enough for Smith's fans, too many subissues hinder an organic unfolding to convert new readers. (author's note, glossary) (Fiction. 14-18)

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September 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 In a time when #ownvoices stories are rising in popularity among YA readers, this brings an insightful story to the conversation. Louise is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation whose family has recently moved to Kansas. She starts working on the school newspaper, and her little brother Hughie gets cast in the school's production of The Wizard of Oz. But a local group, Parents against Revisionist Theater (PART), does not agree with the casting of Hughie and two other students of color in the play, and this leads to some hard experiences and conversations for all involved. While the subject matter of the story is highly relevant, the writing feels disjointed, with short chapters coming across like vignettes as opposed to one cohesive story. This happens within the chapters as well, where scenes often shift abruptly without warning. A romantic subplot accompanies the more politically charged main narrative, as attraction flares between Louise and her newspaper partner?but culture clashes intrude even here. Despite its flaws, this is truly a thought-provoking and educational novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
Louise Wolfe--a high-school senior, budding journalist, and member of the Muscogee Nation--works on the school newspaper, where she meets half-Lebanese/half-Scottish Joey Kairouz, an ambitious photojournalist. Lou learns how to write about controversy with the school's "color-conscious" casting of its Wizard of Oz production. Lou and Joey's love story deepens over the course of the novel, and Smith effectively presents the continuous microaggressions Lou faces as a young Native woman. Glos.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2018
Louise Wolfe, a high-school senior, budding journalist, and member of the Muscogee Nation, breaks up with her white boyfriend when he makes an offensive joke about Native people. She throws herself into her work on the school newspaper, where she meets Joey Kairouz, an ambitious and assertive photojournalist whose father is Lebanese and mother is Scottish. Lou learns to navigate how to write about issues such as the controversy surrounding the school's color-conscious casting of its production of The Wizard of Oz, and her family must navigate the subtle and explicit incidents of racism that arise in the course of the community-wide conversation about the play's cast. Lou's younger brother is cast as the Tin Man, and Lou helps him address some hateful incidents and comments as well as the fact that Oz's creator, L. Frank Baum, famously wrote anti-Native, pro-genocide newspaper editorials. The love story between Lou and Joey feels a bit shallow early on, but deepens over time, and Smith effectively presents the continuous microaggressions Lou faces as a young Native woman alongside the central narrative arc of the school play. christina l. dobbs

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from October 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-An aspiring journalist navigates friendship, first love, and racial politics in this absorbing novel. Louise Wolfe regrets dumping her first real boyfriend via email instead of face-to-face, but his offensive remarks about Native Americans crossed a line for this proud Muscogee (Creek) teen. As senior year begins, she's focused on helping her little brother, Hughie, adjust to high school life, and on earning her desired beat on the school newspaper. Competing against and falling for Joey, a new kid with a passion for photojournalism, is an added bonus. But when Hughie finds himself at the center of a divisive community conflict centered on the casting of the school production of the Wizard of Oz, Louise struggles to balance her responsibilities as a journalist with a desire to protect her family. Louise is an immediately relatable and authentic teenage voice. Bighearted, ambitious, intelligent, she also has plenty of blind spots, particularly where her relationships are concerned. While most of the secondary characters are only lightly sketched, Louise's quirky, loving family dynamic comes through strong. Realistic profanity and age-appropriate sexual situations are depicted. VERDICT Blending teen romance with complex questions of identity, equality, and censorship, this is an excellent choice for most collections.-Chelsea Couillard-Smith, Hennepin County Library, MN

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