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That’s how long Wren’s mother has been missing.
In dreams, Wren can see her again: her eyes, her hair, her smile. She can even hear her laugh. Her mother, one of hundreds of Native Americans considered missing or murdered in Oklahoma. Sometimes it seems like Wren and her grandmother are the only people still looking. Even more frustrating, Wren's overprotective father won't talk about it.
Wren refuses to give up, though. And an opportunity to find lost pets seems like a real way to hone her detective skills. But everything changes when one of the missing pets is found badly hurt. Soon, there are others.
With help from an unlikely friend, Wren vows to unmask whoever is behind the animal abuse. If she can do this, maybe she can do the same for her mother's case. She'll just have to keep it secret from her father who will certainly put an end to all her sleuthing if he finds out.
Find Her explores the crisis of missing Indigenous women from the perspective of a sensitive young Cherokee girl who yearns to find her mother, while also navigating a chilling town mystery, a new friendship, and a family in need of healing.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 15, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9798217018383
- File size: 169137 KB
- Duration: 05:52:21
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from June 10, 2024
Debut author Reno, who is Cherokee, dives into issues regarding the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis through the lens of one child who was left to wonder where her loved one has gone. Twelve-year-old Wren, who is white and Cherokee, is “good at finding things for people.” The only thing she can’t locate is her Cherokee mother, who disappeared five years ago. “So very sick of having nothing but questions,” she instead starts a business locating lost pets (“Her real talent,
her real sweet spot, was missing pets”), calling upon her strength as a member of the Wolf Clan, the “protectors,” for help. She soon discovers that pets are being viciously killed in the small town of
Gibson, Okla., and vows to
bring the
perpetrator to justice, a plan
she keeps from her white police sheriff father and her maternal grandmother.
It’s only when she’s assigned a class project with a schoolmate that Wren gains an ally in
her investigation. Via crisp prose, Reno meshes plot threads involving abandoned shelter pets and a mystery surrounding a locator on Wren’s grandmother’s keys, which emphasize the futility Wren feels
in trying to find someone who seems unreachable. Ages 10–up. -
Narrator Amy Hall sensitively recounts this children's story. Twelve-year-old Wren's mom is one of many Indigenous women who have gone missing in Oklahoma. Channeling her desire to find out what happened to her mother, Wren volunteers at an animal shelter, finding lost pets and working on other cases involving animals, and, ultimately, one involving a friend. Hall portrays Wren in a pleasant tone and varies her voice for the men, women, and other children in the story. Hall gracefully captures the personality of Wren, a sensitive girl who cares deeply for animals and her family, and feels like an outsider among her peers. The author's note at the end includes information about missing Indigenous people and links read aloud that listeners can use to seek more information about the issue. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine
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