dreamgirlreading's Reviews > Looking for Smoke

“Hopefully awareness will spread. She waves her fan of eagle feather in the air to the drum beat, her braids bouncing against her chest in the same rhythm. The jingle dress dance brings healing. She’s dancing for Samantha’s family and for her own. She’s dancing for our community, for our tribe, for all the other tribes battling the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women. She’s dancing for all of the stolen sisters out there.”

During the annual Indian Days celebration on the Blackfeet Reservation, a group of teenagers become suspects for a murdered teenager just months after another teenage girl went missing. Looking For Smoke is a multiple POV YA thriller that follows the teens as they jump into action to solve the mystery because they can’t put any trust into the authorities. They don’t know who to believe when one of their own may be the culprit. Everything takes place within a week or two in a whirlwind. Not only is this book entertaining, the type to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it also sheds light on the very serious issue of the extremely high rate of Indigenous women and girls that go missing and/or face violence and murder. This is one of the most important books I’ve read this year, and I hope you all will read it and educate yourselves about this epidemic. You can visit kacobell.com or follow the #MMIW hashtag for more information and resources.