The book "Strangers" by David A. Robertson is interesting and a little thought-provoking. It skillfully explores identity, connection, and how historical trauma affects people and groups. Cole Harper is a young man with a strange past. The story is about how he tries to fit in and find his place in his used to be small town.

Robertson's writing is moving and vivid, showing how complicated Indigenous experiences can be in a way that is easy to understand and connect with. The characters are well-rounded, and each has their own problems and secrets that make the story more interesting as a whole. The author does a great job of talking about cultural appropriation, discrimination, and how important it is to understand and accept different points of view.

A good thing about "Strangers" is that it explores the mysterious parts that make up the story. The mix of traditional Indigenous stories and modern stories makes for a unique and interesting atmosphere. The book does a great job blending mystery, fantasy, and cultural commentary, making it an immersive reading.

"Strangers" by David A. Robertson is an important addition to Indigenous writing because it gives a new and interesting voice to Indigenous people. It makes people think about how history shapes our individual and group identities while also telling an interesting and suspenseful story. If you want to read a story that goes deeper into themes of bonding and self-discovery, this is the book for you.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately I have been unable to get into it. DNF @ 7%.

David A. Robertson has another winning book on his hands.

He is a Cree writer from Canada who writes book's starring Indigenous characters which is something that is much needed in literature today.

I rate STRANGERS as 5 out of 5 Stars

This is an extremely intriguing and fun story about a boy named Cole who returns to his community after 10 years of being away.

The main character, Cole Harper, is an indigenous teenager who returns to Wounded Sky. His community has been wrought with tragedy. The deaths from a fire ten years before his return is still an open wound. To make matters worse, there has recently been a series of murders and a strange illness is plaguing the people.
Cole's character is well fleshed-out and extremely well written. I absolutely adore the other characters, especially Cole's interesting companions, his Coyote spirit guide, Choch and a ghost, Jayne.

The first half of the book was slow but it set up the story and characters really well. And then hallway through everything exploded into this whirlwind of amazing revelations and moments of truth. The mystery was good and although I could predict the end, I still thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. There are a lot of things happening in the background of the story that adds suspense, and it all pays off when the truth comes to light.

There were a lot of unanswered questions and the ending was a perfect set up for the sequel.

This was truly an enjoyable, fun and exciting read!

“Strangers” by David Roberston is a magical bit of Canadian literature focused on indigenous teens.
The plot is crafted and woven together nicely while retaining that mystery aspect that leaves you wanting for more. It was able to capture my attention from the start and left me wanting the sequel then and there.
The characters are well-rounded, and our leading boy is relatable. It is rare for me to find a novel that has all the characters feel like real people, fleshed out as much as possible, without the book being a tome.
The romance is not forced on readers in an overbearing manner, which is always a plus. It did feel a tad weird to have such a big emphasis on love from such a truly young age, but I found it to be more up to the reader to decide how much of that reliable or not.
Ultimately, the book is well written and I am eager for the next installment.

A copy of the book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

The idea behind this YA novel was interesting and the use of mythology strengthened it a bit. Overall, however, the execution was lacking. Nothing was explored deeply enough, so the characters were all pretty shallow and the action somehow seemed rushed while simultaneously dragging. The "magic" involved also didn't really appear to have any rules, so it only popped up when it was convenient for the plot.

4.5 stars rounded up. The only reason this amazing indigenous young adult mystery (with a little supernatural) story doesn’t get a full five stars... I hated the very last page. For me the story was perfect, up until a sequel tease was put in . While I knew it was a series, and will look forward to encountering these characters again, the way the last page sets up the sequel cheapened the entire story for me. Almost as though it lessened what had just happened because more was to come. It's a real shame and very frustrating to adore a story so much and then have it feel like a marketing device instead of the beautiful ending. Certainly there is way to set-up the sequel without degrading the existing story so much. I suspect that David Alexander Robertson didn't want it set-up this way and that the ending was more of a hook the publisher desired to try and sell the next book. That's just my guess; but there's likely some truth to it.

Plot
Our lead boy is an indigenous teen who was moved off his reserve at age 7, to the city (Winnipeg, Canada) following the death of his parents and some tribe children. While a hero to some, when he returns to his tribal home lands ten years later he is seen as a horrible reminder of what happened the ten years prior. And of course it's easy for people to wonder how he was involved in the incident ten years before. I'm vague here because I don't want to give away any of the goodies in the mystery that unfolds in Strangers. The overall mystery plot was well done, and while a little predictable it was certainly good enough to keep me intrigued and engaged.

Characters
The voices of our characters, especially the teenagers are very well done. I felt like there was a solid background established about the reserve children and what it meant to live outside 'the group' and in the city. As this is a very important distinction for the story and our leading teen boy I felt it was impressed upon us just enough. Additionally all of the characters, young or old felt like real people. I'm not sure how much time the author has spent on a reserve in Manitoba, Canada similar to the one he describes (it's fictional) but it felt genuine enough to me. Now I have no indigenous background or backing to base that on except that I live in Canada and went to school with a few kids who came into town for education from reserve lands. So it may be there is something I am missing. But for this white girl (and her limited knowledge) it didn't feel forced or over done.

Magic!
It's funny at first I didn't really see our lead guys dreams and other odd things that happened as magic. They just felt like a part of his native background and spirituality. It wasn't until about halfway through the story, when some amazing things are revealed, that I realized there was a lot more going on. I liked that there was a slow, build up progression to the 'magic' or supernatural powers. Again it felt authentic and fit in really nicely with the character and plot development. Maybe what I really want to say here is the pacing is perfect. No matter what aspect of the story you look at Strangers has a pacing that keeps the pages turning, while still engaging the reader in the setting and characters.

Age and Romance
Besides the last page issues my other (not quite five star) issue with Strangers is the perpetuated romance that has transpired between our lead boy and a friend (who is a girl) at the age of 7. While many times during the story it is emphasized that at the time our lead boy was taken off the land he wasn't old enough to understand; at the same time it seems there are a lot of references to the 'love' that he and a girl had. They were seven years old! I'm sorry but I remember my 'boyfriend' at age 7... and trust me there was no romance there, just two kids who liked to hang out and happened to be of different genders. Additionally I would have felt more comfortable with the whole story if the age of our kids had been say 10 at the time of 'the incident'. That would have put 7 years between the time of the incident and leaving the reserve to our lead guy returning home. More than enough time for everything to have passed that did and a little more comfort for me on the age in which you might actually start to lust about someone or imagine marrying them in a more genuine way. Were I to say there was a flaw in this book it is this age differential that I would point out. It's not a deal breaker for me, and probably not worth a reduction in stars by a whole star; however, it was annoying enough that it did bug me each time the 'pre-romance' was discussed between our characters. Because let's face it, no 7-year-old is waiting for any other 7-year-old into their late teens because they one time were close friends. It's really just absurd.

Overall
I'm so pleased to have read this Canadian written, indigenous focused book this year. It is probably one of the most diverse books on my reading shelf for 2018. I love what Robertson did with this story and cannot wait for the second book (even if I hated the set-up).
If you are looking for a solid mystery, teen read with some indigenous diversity I think you will enjoy this book. I hope it gains more attention as Strangers shared an insight into how difficult it can be in a tight knit community if you are suddenly the outsider; and how much of a stranger that can make you to your own people.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Strangers was a bit odd in the storytelling department. It lacked a bit of cohesion in the first half, but if you can make it through that the second half is more satisfying. I read a lot of books in this genre so there's a great deal of competition going on in my head when I read. This wasn't the best I've read, but overall it was a decent story.

I had a hard time getting into this book, I think it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Strangers is the first book in David Alexander Robertson’s The Reckoner series. It follows Cole Harper as he returns to Wounded Sky First Nation after being gone for 10 years following a tragedy that shook the community. Cole is mysteriously called back to Wounded Sky by a friend who will not tell him why he needs him back, only that it is imperative he return. When he gets back to his old community, Cole finds Wounded Sky in upheaval with mysterious murders occurring and an unknown illness plaguing many of the residents. With the help of his friends and the sometimes helpful spirit, Coyote, Cole begins to investigate the mysterious occurrences happening in Wounded Sky, while finding out potential answers about himself as well.

I really enjoyed this supernatural YA murder mystery and I felt the characters in this story were genuine and relatable. I loved that this story has a full cast of indigenous characters and that it is written by an indigenous author. I enjoyed the amount of diversity found in the characters of this book with LGBTQ+ representation present as well as the main character of the story struggling with anxiety.

Robertson brings in folklore in a fun way to this series and I can’t wait to see what he continues to do with Coyote. His Coyote (or Choch) is the perfect Trickster entity, even making side wisecracks to readers along the way. He is cunning and silly with bouts of unfathomable actions amongst perfect clarity. He’s what I always imagine Tricksters to be like! I also really liked the addition of ghosts or spirits who haven’t passed on yet to the story.

As much as I enjoyed the supernatural element to this book, one of my favorite aspects of the story was how well Cole’s anxiety and stress is portrayed. Cole suffers from a lot of anxiety due to the tragedy that he lived through 10 years ago and he often experiences actual anxiety attacks as well. As someone who has dealt with general anxiety and anxiety attacks my whole life, I felt like the descriptions of Cole’s anxiety were done really well and very relatable. His character has real flaws that he deals with throughout the entire book no matter what supernatural coolness he may happen upon! I feel like that is something rare to find in the YAverse and I am completely here for it!

Can’t wait to see how this series turns out! And that cover is swoon worthy!!

This was an incredibly fast read. I could have finished it in one sitting, but life intervened and it took a while longer to finish. It was fascinating and very hard to put down. Interesting characters and I loved the setting of an isolated First Nation community in the wilds of Northern Canada. Although it was a contemporary mystery, it does have the supernatural layer which gave the story an overall spooky feel to it.

Cole was a solid character who suffered from anxiety and was overwhelmingly haunted by his past. He spends a lot of time thinking about his guilt and the tragedy that made his aunt and grandmother move him away from the community. He is driven to figure out what is happening around him, who is committing the murders and how to help with the illness that is killing people in the community as well. He is a pretty smart kid, but still struggles with his part in the tragedies.

There is a romantic side story of sorts with his childhood friend Eva. But it is a very minor part of the story. I can’t decide how I feel about Eva, I like her as a character, she is strong and willing to take risks to help her friends, but she doesn’t treat Cole very nicely when he firsts returns. She obviously has lots of mixed feelings about him, but is unwilling to work on resolving those issues with him.

The Coyote, also known as Choch, is a fascinating character in this story. Part trickster, part godling, he spends almost as much time messing up Cole’s life as he does helping him fix it. He is also somewhat humorous at times, having asides with the audience, and showing up and saying the wrong things at the wrong times.

Although the immediate mystery of who is killing his friends is solved, there are still a lot of things that have not been resolved by the end of this book. Also, I am not entirely sure that the supernatural aspect of the story is real or just part of Cole’s anxiety or something else that has not been revealed. The setting is also surreal at times with the Northern Lights in the background for most of it.

Overall a great start to a new series. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the story unfold in this First Nations supernatural mystery.

Love the diversity. A bit slow and confusing to get into and unsatisfying at the end. I will wait to purchase book one until book 2 comes out to see if questions are satisfactorily answered and the series seems to be moving in a good direction.

(Disclaimer: I received this free book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

So I felt like I thought this book was going to go a very different direction than I figured. Looking back on the synopsis, I can see where I went wrong, but I have this one not in my book about a quarter of the way in that says, "OMG what is happening". But I loved that about this book.

Strangers was continually surprising me. Cole as a character was fascinating. There's this genuine painful past and it's only unraveled a fraction in Strangers. At the same time, there were really wonderful side characters that were detailed. It's my pet peeve when the side characters are not well described - but Robertson nails it! Not only is there diversity (First Nation teenagers, and two gay characters), but they share memories and relationships. The side characters form a net of connections.

Strangers begins with a fantastic hook that makes you want to read, and it never really lets up. Robertson only confounds our expectations, merging superhero and the 'fantastic'.

I gave this book several chances but I just could not get into it. I got about 40% through before I had to stop. Too many things didn't make sense. I understand that there was an unraveling mythos but pieces weren't fitting together for me.
There was a moment early in the book where Cole's grandmother speaks in her native tongue to Cole and instead of having a footnote or explaining what she said in text, the author pulls out of the story and in parentheticals explains it from the POV of a completely different character. That's where I started to lose it. There is also a part where Cole stays with a friend that is killed "until the body started to get cold" which would be hours, but it seems like only a few minutes has passed. That didn't make sense to me and took me way out of the story.

There were also many grammatical errors. I work as an editor for a publisher, and these were things that should have been picked up before the book when out. I couldn't look past them.

I tried to get into this, but I just couldn't.

Ecton, Emily and Gilbert Ford Ambrose Deception, 368 pages. Disney, FEB 2018. $17. Language: PG (6 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (some danger).

Melissa, Bondi, Wilf – they are not the most shining examples of students, but each has a supposedly prestigious scholarship offer – at least one that they and their schools can not ignore. But the final terms are odd – the three will be competing against each other to solve a series of clues and they only have a few days to do it. They have almost unlimited funds and a private driver and they even have a bit of hope.

Ecton adds another interesting option to the puzzle genre. Give this to those students who like Blue Balliet and Chris Grabenstein.

MS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher

This was just really slow for me even though it was not a very long book. The plot was barely there at 150 pages and it didn't pick up afterwards

I loved the premise for this - a YA dystopian future with an indigenous mythological background including a spirit guide coyote who's often disparaging to our young protagonist. It sounded great, and for the most part it was a fun read.

We follow Cole as he returns to his small town to find it in complete chaos. Still reeling from a mysterious fire that killed a number of children ten years ago, coupled with a recent series of murders that have occurred and a deadly disease that's also killing off the community, the residents are highly strung. Cole is forced to confront the demons of his past and relive the fire as he become determined to stop the dark forces rising in Wounded Sky once again.

Cole is a good protagonist. Naive enough to appear likeable without the precocious personality I hate in YA characters. However, it's his companions that really stand out for me. Coyote Choch is that all encompassing, often exasperated driving force behind Cole, pushing him to fulfil his potential. He often provides the grounding influence. Jayne the ghost is also a strong presence, and the two of them together work well at keeping Cole on track.

The first half of this was rather slow, without much driving force behind it - although the world building was good. We spend a lot of time getting to know Cole and his companions (who I loved) without really moving forward plot wise. The second half was more fast paced, although I found the ending a little rushed without a really satisfying conclusion. I had a lot of unanswered questions.

Wonderfully unique premise, with strong secondary characters. A little faster paced narrative and a stranger conclusion would have made this great, and not just good.

It took me a little to get into this one as the beginning and backstory seemed to slow down the pacing. However, this was a fun YA supernatural mystery and I look forward to the next book!

I didn't like it, which I am sad to say as it sounded really good.

Where do I begin with this book? It is absolutely amazing! And although it is strongly rooted in the Cree culture, it is the type of book that can be enjoyed by adventure loving teens and adults regardless of their knowledge of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. The murders, the mysteries, and Cole’s personal development are enough to keep the pages turning.

Robertson’s role as educator on, and member of, the Cree Nation really shines through in his writing. It is refreshing to encounter a work devoid of stereotypes and stigma, and where the religious and cultural practices portrayed throughout are treated with a beauty and respect only someone who truly values them can. We need more books like this. Period. Teachers and librarians take note, you need to add this book to your collections (and it would make a waaaay more interesting novel study than Lord of The Flies).

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely yes! I have already recommended it to all of my middle and high school colleagues for purchase after it’s release in the new year. Not only do library collections need new, engaging, diverse YA literature, but we also need works that represent Indigenous peoples from Indigenous perspectives. Strangers does this beautifully AND it has the kind of action that will attract readers without them really knowing they’re engaging with diverse lit. This baby is a must read, and I am so angry that I have sit quietly and wait for the remaining to books in the series to be written.