Fans of Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed, rejoice — Angeline Boulley has another story to tell!
The bestselling author’s latest book, Sisters in the Wind, is a coming-of-age tale about struggle, secrets and survival. The highly anticipated novel is arriving via MacMillan Sept. 2 — and PEOPLE can exclusively reveal its cover.
The mystery (which the author teases may contain some Easter eggs from the author’s previous novels!) follows the “daring” and “explosive” story of foster teen Lucy Smith as she claims her heritage — “on her own terms,” according to a press release shared with PEOPLE.
“Ever since Lucy Smith’s father died five years ago, ‘home’ has been more of an idea than a place,” an official synopsis reads. “She knows being on the run is better than anything waiting for her as a ward of the state. But when the sharp-eyed and kind Mr. Jameson with an interest in her case comes looking for her, Lucy wonders if hiding from her past will ever truly keep her safe.”
“Five years in the foster system has taught her to be cautious and smart,” the synopsis continues. “But she wants to believe Mr. Jameson and his ‘friend-not-friend,’ a tall and fierce-looking woman, who say they want to look after her.”
This pair also reveal secrets about Lucy’s heritage that her late dad kept concealed: she’s Ojibwe, has a sister and siblings and a grandmother she never knew existed.
“But Lucy is being followed,” the synopsis adds. “The past has destroyed any chance of being normal she has had, and now the secrets she’s hiding will swallow her whole and take away the future she always dreamed of.”
Fans of Boulley’s previous novels will be pleased to hear that Lucy’s story shares some striking similarities with them. Sisters in the Wind also follows “a badass young Nish kwe (Ojibwe woman)” who “must protect herself and her loved ones from perilous dangers,” the author tells PEOPLE exclusively.
And, “of course,” the novelist adds, “the treachery is closer than she thought.’
Different from Boulley’s previous works, however, is the fact that the teen’s story “takes place in a new location — away from Sugar Island,” the Michigan-based author says. “Lucy’s connection to community is severed. Can she find her way home?”
Boulley is excited to share Lucy’s story, she explains, because it “delves into an aspect of Native identity mentioned briefly in my previous novels: a young woman who learns about her Ojibwe identity while struggling to survive the foster care system.”
“I write about teens coming of age, defining what it means to be Anishinaabe, and finding their place in community,” the author continues. “Lucy’s journey is made more difficult when her caseworker doesn’t follow the Indian Child Welfare Act, and her Native family and community aren’t notified of her existence.”
Fans of Boulley’s previous works can also expect to see some familiar faces in Sisters in the Wind, the novelist teases. “To my readers who’ve been asking (some demanding!) for an update on undercover officer Jamie Johnson — you might be in luck,” she says. “Also, it’s not possible for me to write a story without including everybody’s favorite ornery elder, Granny June.”
And, for those who join Lucy on her journey — old fans or new — Boulley hopes they “gain a deeper understanding about Native identity,” she says before concluding with one last question to consider: “What does it mean to be Native when you’re disconnected from family?”
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Sisters in the Wind comes out Sept. 2, 2025, and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
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