Angeline Boulley is a Chippewa (Ojibwe) author and has worked to improve education for Indigenous children. Her debut work, ''

Firekeeper's Daughter ''Firekeeper's Daughter'' is a young adult (YA) novel by Angeline Boulley, published March 16, 2021, by Henry Holt and Co. The book is a ''New York Times'' best seller. The book follows Daunis Fontaine, a half-native, half-white young adult wh ...

'', was named one of the top 100 young adult novels of all time by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine, was a ''New York Times'' best seller, and will be adapted into a miniseries by Higher Ground.

Personal life

Boulley is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She was born and raised in "Bahweting (the place of the rapids) in

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

, Michigan." She is a graduate of Central Michigan University. Her "father is a traditional firekeeper, who strikes ceremonial fires at spiritual activities in the tribal community and ensures protocols are followed, while providing cultural teachings through stories told around the fire."

Career

Boulley has worked in "Indian education at the tribal, state, and national levels." At the tribal level, she served as the Educational Director and Assistant Director. She also served on the Board of Regents at

Bay Mills Community College Bay Mills Community College (BMCC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Brimley, Michigan. It is chartered by the federally recognized Bay Mills Indian Community of Michigan with a total enrollment of approximately 500 on-campus ...

before becoming the Director for the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. At present, Boulley works as a full-time author.

''Firekeeper's Daughter''

Boulley's debut novel, ''Firekeeper's Daughter'', was published March 16, 2021 by

Henry Holt and Co. Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. Currently, the company publishes in the fields ...

The book is a ''New York Times'' best seller. ''Time'' magazine named it one of the best 100 young adult books of all time. In 2022, it won the

Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by '' Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's ...

for young adult literature and the

William C. Morris Award The William C. Morris YA Debut Award is an annual award given to a work of young adult literature by a "first-time author writing for teens". It is administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American ...

, as well as the

American Indian Youth Literature Award The '' American Indian Library Association (AILA) awards'' are presented every two years to recognize the most outstanding contributions to children's literature by and about American Indians. The awards were established as a way to identify and ho ...

Best Young Adult Honor. In the same year, it was named to the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year List with an "Outstanding Merit" distinction and shared the Committee's 2022

Josette Frank Award The Josette Frank Award is an American children's literary award for fiction given annually by the Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York ...

with

Matt de la Peña Matthew de la Peña is an American writer of children's books who specializes in novels for young adults. He won the Newbery Medal in 2016 for his book '' Last Stop on Market Street''. Biography A San Diego, California, native, Matt de la Peña r ...

and Christian Robinson's ''Milo Imagines the World''. It is being adapted for television at

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Higher Ground Productions Higher Ground Productions, also known simply as Higher Ground, is an American production company founded in 2018 by former United States President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. History In May 2018, the Obamas launched Highe ...

, former President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

and Michelle Obama's production company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulley, Angeline Living people Ojibwe people American young adult novelists Michael L. Printz Award winners 21st-century American women writers 1966 births