Harvest House

This book is a follow-up to Cynthia Leitich Smith’s, Hearts Unbroken. It did not hinder my understanding or engagement with this story to not read Hearts Unbroken first, so this can be read independently. Hughie Wolfe loves the theater and is saddened when funding is cut for his high school production. So, he agrees to help his friend, Sam to work on a haunted house for a good cause. Mrs. Fisher is using this fundraiser to pay for medical bills and is overall a nice lady. Therefore, Hughie is put in a moral quandary when Mrs. Fisher and the others on the project suggest ideas for the haunted house that play on Hollywood tropes of indigenous representation that is not respectful.
Hughie is proud of his native heritage and with his mother attending law school, he understands how these negative tropes lead to continued abuse in the indigenous community that is often ignored. He is presented as someone who has stood up in the past by refusing to participate in The Wizard of Oz because he learned the author had been racist. Therefore, I was a bit surprised that he didn’t stand up during the idea session to move away from the Indian tropes. I understand it bothered him that it was happening and he thought his presence would help influence change. He gave his word to help and he is not responsible as a teen to single-handedly change everyone ignorant about his culture’s minds. Yet, he waited until almost opening and after a lot of hours of hard work to construct the scenes before really trying to make Mrs. Fischer understand there was a problem with the idea. Mrs. Fisher avoided things that she understood would be a problem and genuinely didn’t seem to understand the depths of Hughie’s feelings until he threatened to quit.
I think a lot of people in majority groups are like Mrs. Fisher. They don’t mean to be offensive but until they are told there is a problem and then unfortunately shown that it will affect them too if they don’t become more respectful it is easy to continue to ignore or dismiss someone as being too sensitive. The scene that really stuck with me is when their white friend, Cricket, went with them to a poetry slam and was the minority. Sam sees she is acting awkward and asks Hughie if he thinks she’s ok and he says, “Yeah, she’s just figuring out that she’s white.” That is a powerful moment to experience and start to understand other’s cultures and until you have been in a situation outside of your majority it can be hard to understand where others are coming from.
Mixed in this plotline is a ghost story that underscores how too many times law enforcement ignores crimes against indigenous people. Hughie and his friend believe Ximena and her tale of being stalked by a creepy dude and how threatened she felt. They did not dismiss her and I love that they investigated until the truth was discovered when for over 20 years strange occurrences had gone ignored. This work came full circle as Hughie found inspiration in telling the tale to help find closure for Celeste and her family.
Final Verdict: This was my first book about Indigenous people written from their perspective and not only was it a worthy story by itself but made me more aware of their culture and the injustices they face. I think it is important to end up in situations that allow you to finally understand what it means not to be the majority so that you can start a journey toward understanding and being respectful of other cultures. I am thankful that there are authors willing to handle the matter with tenderness and not villainize the ignorant but show the complexities of the situation and allow their readers room to grow if needed.

Hughie Wolfe is excited to be part of Harvest House, his community's Halloween project until he finds out that the legend of the "Indian maiden" will be the highlight. There have been rumors in the town of a supernatural presence that seems attracted to mostly Indigenous women. Some of these women have gone missing without police or authorities investigating what happened. Then Hughie's friend Sam's sister posts online a video that is creepy and becomes viral. Is there a malevolent presence in town? Add to this his high school teacher, Ms. Fischer, seems insensitive to Hughie's concerns about keeping the offensive Indigenous stereotypes in the haunted house. He's conflicted on how to address if he should speak up in the face of racism in his town. His friends start to investigate the truth behind the legend and if the house is really haunted.

What worked: I love diverse stories that have strong protagonists. Hughie is proud of his Indigenous heritage and not afraid to take a stand on what he knows to be wrong. In this case, though he's at first surprised that Ms. Fischer would recommend certain things to be added to a haunted house. Things that are offensive, like using Hollywood-type stereotypes of vengeful Indigenous spirits on burial grounds.

Hughie stays with the production thinking his presence might help redo the myths and stereotypes. Only he finds that isn't the case. This part of the story felt so real to me. I could feel his frustration and even anger that some people in town and his school continued to brush off his concerns as him being too sensitive.

Then there's the POV of Celeste, a spirit who looks out for those Indigenous girls/women who are targeted. The mystery behind who she might be is one that Hughie and his friends search for.

This also has a sweet romance going on between Hughie and Marie. She helps the others by looking into who the identity of the Crossroads Ghost. I really liked the interactions all the friends had with each other.

There's more than social issues in this engaging story. There's a paranormal mystery that might in fact be based on some truth. Friends that investigate the mystery and stay true to not only each other but their own Indigenous heritage. Plus, there's mention of missing Indigenous girls and women who often are overlooked.

Gripping tale where contemporary fiction meets a ghostly mystery. Overall, this story is one that has a powerful punch with an urban legends backdrop. Perfect for those who love spooky tales!