The transition from youthfulness to adulthood is often captured in stories. This genre is known as coming-of-age. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley follows 18-year-old Daunis Fontaine, a half-Native American girl. After witnessing a murder, Daunis is chosen to work undercover for the FBI. She and her partner must work together to find the culprits behind a chain of meth distribution. This book is a coming-of-age novel because, throughout the story, Daunis’s mentality dramatically shifts; she becomes wiser and more knowledgeable. There are three main things that set off this change: handling grief, working undercover, and learning to move on. Overall, these things shape Daunis on her journey to adulthood. Daunis needed time to mourn before she could grow. Toward the novel's beginning, Daunis stated that her uncle died in April. She explained how she and her mother are still distressed by the event. Plus, in Chapter 9, Daunis witnessed her best friend, Lily, being shot. After all of this, Daunis is extremely pained. Pages 96-97 state “At some point, I fell asleep. Mom stirs at my side. Why is she…Lily…I see it all again: my …show more content…
After discovering an undercover FBI agent, Daunis agreed to work undercover. Her mission was to stop the distribution of a new kind of meth and track down the people behind it. When working with her partner, Jamie, Daunis discovered that her morals are very different than his. In Chapter 18, this is demonstrated. Page 158 states “‘Do you know how the kids are doing now?’…When Jamie admits that he doesn’t, know, it reinforces how different we are. The FBI is interested in learning what caused the group hallucination. I want to know if the kids are okay.” This moment aided Daunis in defining her morals. This reasoning continued to guide her throughout the story, and it helps her discover herself. To summarize, Daunis gained insight while working