Cynthia leitich smith author of white teeth

 

Harvest House is the latest YA novel by acclaimed Muscogee Nation author Cynthia Leitich Smith. The novel is actually a stand-alone follow up to an earlier apparently acclaimed YA novel, Hearts Unbroken, but this novel is entirely stand-alone (I haven't read that earlier novel and didn't even known of its existence prior to reading this book and was totally fine reading this book). Also, unlike that book, this book is a genre book, with it featuring a ghost story at its core, as our protagonists deal with not just a made-up haunted house, but also a potential real haunting at a cross-roads of an Indigenous girl who supposedly died at the scene years ago.

The result is a really effective and strong short novel, which features a teen indigenous protagonist Hughie Wolfe as he tries to deal with a number of issues faced by indigenous teens these days: such as a white woman who doesn't understand and refuses to listen when she's dealing with harmful tropes (an Indian Burial Ground), showing solidarity and helping fellow indigneous youth and others dealing with prejudice, and (to a much lesser extent in this book) straight up racist conservative people. Hughie also has to deal with typical teen issues, like trying to get into and have a relationship with a girl he likes,

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