e-ALC, 07:46:25
Narrated by: Katie Anvil Rich, DeLanna Studi, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Darrell Dennis, Elva Guerra, Erin Tripp, & Jordan Waunch
Release Date: August 26, 2025
Published by: HeartDrum (HarperCollins)
Read from: November 9, 2025
Anthology
Source: Netgalley (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Death, Grief, Death of a Parent, Car Accident, Injury/Injury Detail, Body Shaming, Cancer, Mental Illness
For Readers Interested In: Anthologies, Audio, Foodie Favorites, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Netgalley, Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Indigenous), YAFeaturing the voices of both new and acclaimed Indigenous writers and edited by bestselling Muscogee author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world’s best frybread.
The road to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In slips through every rez and alongside every urban Native hangout. The menu offers a rotating feast, including traditional eats and tasty snacks. But Sandy June’s serves up more than it hosts live music, movie nights, unexpected family reunions, love long lost, and love found again.
That big green-and-gold neon sign beckons to teens of every tribal Nation, often when they need it most.
Featuring stories and poems Kaua Mahoe Adams, Marcella Bell, Angeline Boulley, K. A. Cobell, A. J. Eversole, Jen Ferguson, Eric Gansworth, Byron Graves, Kate Hart, Christine Hartman Derr, Karina Iceberg, Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, David A. Robertson, Andrea L. Rogers, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Brian Young.
In partnership with We Need Diverse Books.
*MY THOUGHTS*
AS with all anthologies there were some stories in here that I enjoyed more than others, but man, this was a solid af anthology. It’s been a long time since I read one and like most of them. This was a fun one and I hope there’s more like this to come!
Ok so for the ones I liked, there were so many I can’t list them all. But I know I kept thinking about a few of them after I closed the book. Like the one at the beginning, and the one with the brother that hadn’t been talking to them, and the one with the dad? I didn’t even know the one the dad was a novel in verse since I had been listening to it, but when I picked up the physical I saw that it was. This anthology was surprising all around.
I also liked the variety that this held. These stories were all so different! And they made this anthology so much more entertaining! And the food and culture?! This is most definitely going to end up on one of my top lists for foodie favorites or something. There is so much to learn in these short stories about food and the people. It really was good.
There were some others that I liked, but not quite as much as the others. But even with that, it wasn’t like it was bad or anything, it was more like they just didn’t speak to me as much as the others. They were all still good. That was what was shocking. I usually just flat out don’t like some of them, but that wasn’t the case with this. So go in knowing that there’s something in there for everyone. And even if one specific story isn’t for you, there are way more that are.
This was a lot of fun. I always try not to read a lot of anthologies because they are a pain to review, but with this one I couldn’t resist. I wanted y’all to know how good this one is.
Overall, I give this
