Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe enchanted readers with its incredible world building, lovable ghost dog, and unforgettable characters. In Sheine Lende, readers get to return to the world of Elatsoe before Ellie’s time, learning her grandmother’s story.

When she was a child, Shane’s family was traumatically displaced from their home, and each other, after a flood. Years later, seventeen year old Shane and her mom work with their dogs, ghost and presently alive, to track and rescue missing people. When Shane’s mom goes missing while searching for missing siblings, it’s up to Shane and her remaining grandparent to find all three– even if her grandpa isn’t consistently reliable.

Labeled as a prequel to Elatsoe, Little Badger’s latest novel is unputdownable. Readers are pulled in, immediately engrossed, and just as delighted and intrigued by Shane’s world as we were by Ellie’s. While Shane is Ellie’s grandmother and their stories are connected, Sheine Lende is also its own story.

Like all of Little Badger’s work, Sheine Lende is full of incredible character work. Every character is tangible and lifelike, even the ones we only meet in memory. Shane, her friends, her beloved family members, and side characters met along the journey are intricately crafted, flawed, relatable, and add to the overall worldbuilding. This worldbuilding isn’t limited to the world Little Badger has created with fairy folk, monsters, vampires, and humans living in the same realms, but also with the representation of 1970s Texas. The way the real historical setting is combined with the more speculative world really roots the reader in the setting. Plus, the communication limitations of the 1970s add to the tension of the plot! Genius all around.

As Shane searches for her mother and the missing boy, she also searches her own memory for clues and ways to solve a fairy ring puzzle. These memories are integrated seamlessly, adding to the character development and world while moving the plot forward. Weaving in these memories feels organic, and is an accurate representation of how grief never really leaves us.

Grief isn’t only over losing loved ones, but also losing the sense of home that comes with them and literal home as well. Shane’s family’s loss of their home, and struggle to find a new one, highlights the intergenerational trauma of Native displacement that is present in the story and in Native communities across the world. Along with this, Little Badger really captures the stakes of young Indigenous folks learning their traditional stories and ways of being while feeling the disconnect of displacement. This is especially poignant, as readers see Shane wrestle with not remembering how to make her grandmother’s tea or the details of a particular Lipan Apache story. It is even more resonant when held alongside Elatsoe, as readers know Ellie is connected to her culture and stories. Holding these two books together, readers feel both the loss, fear, and hope of watching Shane commit to staying connected to her culture and knowing she succeeds, as Ellie is connected in her own story.

Speaking of feelings, that is another arena where Little Badger shines. The FEELINGS this book gave me! This is one of those books that I know I’ll carry with me, returning to it again and again as a favorite.

Breathtaking illustrations by Rovina Cai supplement the chapter headings and section breaks. These brief moments of captured time add to the story, fit the tone, and are one of many details that come together to make this book completely unforgettable.

Thank you to the author, Levine Querido, and NetGalley for a digital ARC such that I could share my honest opinion.

Sheine Lende will be available April 16, 2024. You can pre-order it here, and order Elatsoe here. You don’t necessarily have to read Elatsoe first, but it does establish the general world and add to Sheine Lende‘s story. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org. I will earn a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you click through and make a purchase.

Happy reading! Wado!