We Still Belong
Christine Day
HarperCollins Children’s Books
Age 8-12
August 1, 2023

Excitement, anxiety, disappointment, and hope—over the course of one emotional day, Wesley Wilder explores all the feeling middle school has to offer. As the early riser in her close-knit, multi-generational, indigenous household, Wesley battles nerves over the big day she’s planned. She’s written a heartfelt poem for the school newspaper in celebration of Indigenous People’s Day. She’s planning to use the same newspaper issue to ask her kind, funny, gamer-boy, crush to the school dance. And will cap off the day celebrating at the intertribal powwow planned in her Seattle area community.

As the title implies, themes of belonging, community, family, and friendship drive the fast-paced plot of this middle grade novel. Wesley is a thoroughly sympathetic character, full of all the uncertainty, eagerness, and budding confidence of adolescence, while exhibiting a strong connection to her single mother, grandfather, and extended family (a well-crafted network of supportive adult characters). Her thoughtful voice, and desire for community, come through in care for her best friend, Hanan, and her efforts to reach out to those around her in need of a friend. And even when things around Wesley seem to unravel, like her crush already having a date or her aunt’s family’s potential move, she grounds herself in gratefulness, showing a mindfulness uncommon to most middle grade characters. Day (Upper Skagit) handles incidences of discrimination toward indigenous people and causes with a gentle touch, weaving them into the narrative in a way that explains and exemplifies Wesley’s kindness. A day in the life of a soft-hearted girl growing into her voice.