Published: 2024
Author: Tommy Orange
Genre: Historical Fiction / Contemporary Literary Fiction / Indigenous Literature
Audience: High School (Grades 11–12) / Adult
Number of Stars: ★★★★★ (5/5 based on a perfect 4/4 rating)
Goodreads Link: Wandering Stars
Content Warnings: Substance abuse/addiction, graphic violence (mass shootings), systemic genocide, trauma from U.S. Indigenous residential schools, death, self-harm, abandonment, and mentions of sexual assault.
Review by: Sarah Williams
Publisher’s Summary
Review
When I first read Tommy Orange’s debut novel There There, I was completely enthralled, appalled, and entertained. At its conclusion, I was left wanting more—and this long-awaited sequel (which functions beautifully as both a prequel and a sequel) is exactly the “more” I was hoping for! When I saw that it was being released, I pre-ordered it immediately so I could dive in quickly, and once it arrived, I devoured it. It absolutely does not disappoint!
The powerful diction, rhythmic prose, and deep historical elements of his debut novel are fully present in this volume, masterfully paired with the rich backstories of many of the characters he first introduced in There There. In this novel, Orange returns to crucial historical time periods, beginning with the horrific Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado, and moves steadily through the family tree of his characters for many generations to come. He brilliantly explores the brutal use of reform schools to eliminate Native American heritage, strip away indigenous language, and forcibly assimilate Native children into white society.
Throughout this multigenerational epic, Orange explores family bond, ancestral storytelling, and the profound difficulty of figuring out where one belongs and who one is—a identity crisis that is deeply compounded by the realities of being a Native American in a country built on their erasure. Once again, generational addiction, systemic violence, and drug use are heavy factors that his characters must actively contend with. His writing is immensely powerful and impactful, carrying an emotional weight that made me both laugh and cry. I once again learned a massive amount about Native American history and how the institutional evils of the past continue to haunt the present. I cannot laud this book enough; I highly recommend that readers devour both of his novels to fully appreciate the massive, unforgettable cast of characters Orange has deftly created.
🫘 The Structural Constellation: Tracing Institutional Trauma
Orange constructs Wandering Stars like a historical timeline, drawing a direct line from 19th-century military slaughter to modern-day urban struggles with addiction and PTSD.
- The Architecture of Erasure: By centering the early parts of the novel around Richard Henry Pratt, Orange grounds his fiction in historical truth. Pratt’s real-world motto, “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man,” serves as the catalyst for the generational displacement that plagues the Red Feather and Bear Shield bloodlines over a century later.
- The Opioid Crisis as Continual War: The contemporary portion of the novel deals with Orvil’s reliance on prescription painkillers following his shooting. Orange frames modern addiction not as an individual failure, but as an extension of historical pain—a numbing mechanism for a long-standing, unresolved cultural wound.
🎒 Classroom & Curricular Connections
- U.S. History & Native American Studies (The Residential School Era):
- Activity Idea: “Deconstructing Assimilation.” Have students research the historical Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Pair sections of Wandering Stars with historical primary documents, such as before-and-after photographs of students or Pratt’s official speeches, to analyze how systemic institutionalization weaponized education against Indigenous youth.
- English Language Arts (The Intertextual Echo):
- Activity Idea: “Pre-Reading the Powwow.” Since Wandering Stars builds directly upon the climax of There There, have students map out a character connection chart tracking the family lineages from 1864 to 2018. Discuss how Orange uses a non-linear, fragmented narrative structure to mimic the way trauma fractures memory across generations.
- Sociology & Modern Issues (PTSD, Media, and Youth Culture):
- Activity Idea: “Symptom of the Carnage.” Orvil copes with his trauma by obsessively looking up school shootings on YouTube, while Lony processes his grief through self-harm and localized blood rituals. Lead a mature, structured classroom discussion on how modern media exposure affects trauma recovery and how youth look for connection when standard institutions fail them.
- Creative Writing & Poetic Diction:
- Activity Idea: “The Ancestral Echo.” Orange writes prose with a rhythmic, poetic cadence. Have students write a short narrative piece focusing on an object, trait, or narrative that has been passed down through their own family for at least three generations, practicing Orange’s style of heavy, emotionally impactful imagery.
