Find Her

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. (Sept.)