The Lost Journals of Sacajewea (by Debra Magpie Earling)

This was a twofer, both a Tournament of Books contender and a historical fiction book by an Indigenous author for the RHC.

I'm going to call this one a me problem. It's a wonderful story and written in such a creative fashion, with Sacajawea's unique vocabulary and interesting conventions like sacred words being written in a lighter typeface and so forth. So I'm not saying it's in any way cliche or derivative. Bu unfortunately I just do not vibe with classic indigenous literature.  Like, the mighty Spirit, the great buffalo, the wolf god, the river spirit, blah blah blah.  It's like descriptions of scenery to me, and it bores me to death. Plus, like yes, white people are colonizers and are evil, and everyone suffered, and by the end the cumulative effect was moving, but I was boredddddddd.

It's also not an easy read, because you have to translate Sacajawea's experiences, and it helps to know a little bit of the history being covered because it's easy to miss certain characters and plot points. And again, I just kept bouncing off the language. The book is a real achievement and the atmosphere and the feeling of it stayed with me in a positive way and I'm sure I could have gotten more out of it if I'd tried harder.  What I'm trying to say in the end is that I think I failed this book, it did not fail me.