My first book finished for #IndiAThon, I’m already learning a bunch. This book felt especially personal because I’ve spent time in the region where it was set.

I Can Make This Promise

Summary

Edie has spent her whole life knowing her mom was adopted by a white couple. She may be curious about her Native American heritage but Edie doubts her family has any answers. She spend some time on a reservation setting off fireworks ( since they are illegal in Seattle). She meets a boy who instantly knows she’s Native and she starts to question her own status, when she questions her mom on Native things she seems to clam up.

There don’t seem to be any answers until the day she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic. There are letter, signed “Love, Edith” pictures of a woman that looks just like Edie, and the letters tell a story of a story more complex than Edie could have ever dreamed.

But her mother and father have have kept this secret from her all her life. Could she be part of a Native family and not know it? How can she trust them to tell her the truth now, with the help from another supptotive family member she gets the fully story of her mothers past, victories and sorrows.

She also learns a lot about the meaning of coming home.

Review

Edie is a wonderful character who really breathes life into this novel. But so is Edith with her letter and photos, she gives a powerful portrait of the past and her attempt to change things. Edie mother’s life is an example of the lack of power Native peoples still didn’t have over their own children, The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978! 1978! Was passed to give native people’s more power over their children’s lives but still sadly there are still many cases. I can’t believe I’d never seriously heard about the law before this book. I plan to read more about it as well as the tribes mentioned towards the end of the book.

Amazon: I Can Make This Promise

Image by thomastwcom from Pixabay