Angeline Boulley Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Angeline Boulley
Author Angeline Boulley is a storyteller that writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She is the daughter of Henry and Donna Boulley and is the mother of three children: Ethan, Christopher, and Sarah Matson.

She was chosen to attend the Tin House YA Writers Workshop in 2019 and was selected as an emerging Young Adult writer in the 2019 We Need Diverse Books Mentorship program. Angeline was a 2009 participant in the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Head Start Management Fellows Program.

She served on the Board of Regents for Bay Mills Community College as well as a former vice chairperson for the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly.

Angeline, as a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U. S. Department of Education, focused on improving the education of Native American students at the state, national, tribal, and regional levels. Even though she works and lives in Washington, D. C. area, her home will always be on Sugar Island, which is located between Canada and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Here on Sugar Island, she owns some family property.

At one time, Angeline worked for an American Indian woman-owned small business called Tribal Tech, LLC. Here, she managed two federal contracts for the US Department of Education. Her federal contract program management experience included working on tribal consultations, some discretionary grant review processes, the National Advisory Council on Indian Education, and the National Indian Education Study.

She is a graduate of Central Michigan University, and has dedicated her professional career to serving Alaska Native and American Indian students.

While she was the tribal education director for the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, she heard a woman named Vicki Vasques speak. At the time, Vicki was the head of the Office of Indian Education and Angeline remembers thinking she had the best job in the world and she was in awe of Vicki. She still remembers things that Vicki said during the meeting and thinking that it would be a great job to impact Indian education across the entire country and help out tribes and schools with resources and programs to aid Native kids.

Years later, she would work for Vicki and she considers it an honor that Vicki’s mentored her. She considers herself rather fortunate to have been mentored by a number of strong Native women and she tries hard to mentor the next generation of Anishinaabek leaders.

Angeline spent a decade crafting “The Firekeeper’s Daughter” before she began auctioning the publishing rights. It took over a year from the time the novel was bought for the novel to be edited and published.

The novel began when she decided to write the Indigenous Nancy Drew thriller that she wished she had read while she was growing up.

Angeline’s debut novel, called “The Firekeeper’s Daughter”, was released in the year 2021. Her work is from the young adult thriller genre. The novel was acquired by Tiffany Liao at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers after a twelve bidder auction after selling in a seven figure deal. She was represented in the deal by Faye Bender from the Book Group.

“The Firekeeper’s Daughter” is the first stand alone novel and was released in the year 2021. One native teen who is caught in between worlds has to root out the corruption and crime in her community by going undercover.

Eighteen year old Daunis Fontaine, as an unenrolled biracial tribal member and product of a scandal, hasn’t ever quite fit in, in either her hometown or on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She is an ice hockey ace, a science whiz, and six feet tall. Daunis dreams about studying medicine, however when her family gets hit by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to take care of her fragile mom.

The only bright spot is meeting the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team, named Jamie. Yet even while Daunis begins falling for Jamie, certain details aren’t adding up and she senses the dashing hockey star’s hiding something. It all comes to light when Daunis witnesses a stunning murder, throwing her right into the heart of a criminal investigation. She must choose between saving the people she loves, protecting the tribal community, and aiding the FBI.

Daunis agrees to undercover, reluctantly, but she secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking the criminals with her chemistry expertise and Ojibwe traditional medicine. However the deaths and deceptions continue to pile up and quickly the threat hits too close to home.

Now, Daunis has to learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and just how far she will go to keep her community safe, even if it rips apart the only world that she has ever really known in her entire life.

The novel begins like an upbeat teen romance takes a sharp left and turns into intrigue, mystery, and thriller, with the romance taking a back seat. In combination, it all makes for a genre bending novel that is filled with some super sleuthing. The plot swerves, with surprise after surprise coming. Daunis is an outstanding character, with her unconcerned and fearless approach to the typically male endeavors, her scientific approach to life, and her deep involvement with the tribal people and culture.

Fans of the novel found this was an unforgettable and gripping tale of community, family, and identity that is told through the eyes of a heroine that is so masterfully on the page, you would swear you could hear her heart beating. Daunis Fontaine is a force to be reckoned with, as is Angeline Boulley. She delivers an uncompromising, bold, and elegantly crafted crafted debut novel.

Angeline delivers a debut novel that is a groundbreaking young adult thriller right in the heart of rez life for readers of Tommy Orange and Angie Thomas. Readers liked how the many characters from the Ojibwe community are portrayed, with some being greedy and conniving, others being helpful and supportive, and some have issues with alcohol and drugs. There’s no group victimhood and no group stereotypes, making for an array of well-drawn individuals.

4 Responses to “Angeline Boulley”

1. Kathryn "Ktrina" Elliott: 8 months ago

   I’m a long way from my teen years, but I still enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the next one by Ms Boulley. It’s so well written. I loved it!

   Reply
2. Wabi Hall: 2 years ago

   Loved the “Fire Keepers Daughter”!!
   Can’t wait to read your other books!!
   Give our to Uncle Henry next time you
   See him.
   Keep writing, I like your work!

   Reply
3. Billie Plouff: 2 years ago

   So happy to learn of Angeline’s success with her writing. Christopher was in my second grade classroom and Angeline volunteered at Vowles School. What a blessing she was!

   Reply
4. Gretchen McAllister: 3 years ago

   Dear Angeline Boulley, I love your writing style and hope you will write more books. I know that your debut book has set the world on fire and now I want more. Thank you for your gift you are sharing with the world.

   Reply