“I didn’t think stories were made to comfort. I believed what my father told me. Stories do more than comfort. They take you away and bring you back better made.”
And not many stories do that quite like Wandering Stars. This quote by the author is printed on the back of the book, summarizing it’s effect perfectly.
Tommy Orange’s writing is absolutely phenomenal as well as intellectually challengeing, especially to non native speakers. The book follows the family line of Jude Star, a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre. It showcases the unique struggles every generation had to face, but it also portrays the Native culture, specifically of the Cheyenne tribe, beautifully.
Aside from the Sand Creek Massacre, the characters live through the residental schools, mass- and schoolshootings all while battling addiction and generational trauma.
The sheer knowledge this book contains and shares amazes me. It talks about many issues Amaericans and Non-Americans alike know little to nothing about. Before reading this, I have never heard of the Native “occupation” of Alcatraz as they reclaimed their land even if just for a short time.
Wandering Stars and Tommy Orange’s debut novel “There, There” are two books I think everyone should read, regardless of background, historical knowledge and so forth.
It would also make an amazing class lecture, with recurring symbolism and topics, as well as historical context.
The different generation highlight, how all discussed topics are still prevalent today, and continue to affect Native communities. It wasn’t just one time a hundred years ago that Indigenous peoples were mistreated, the culture and the people still live and thrive despite everything.
