[Subdue]{Candle] Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, 3. 5 stars

[NancyJ]

This is a very fun fantasy book with a teenage indigenous main character. Elatsoe (Ellie) is a Lipan Apache teenagers in Texas, who has an unusual power that came down through her family. She can bring back the ghosts of animals - not people, because as an Apache she knows just how dangerous and cruel that can be - but pets, bugs and even huge animals (if space allows). One of my favorite characters in the book is her dog Kirby, who is a ghost who can do tricks, attack bad people, sometimes save his owner. I really love the cultural folklore in the book, and the family stories of her many namesakes, such as Sixth Great - her sixth great grandmother name Elatsoe. (For a little while I heard it as "sixth grade" Elatsoe.) The indigenous folklore aspect of the book was marred for me a bit by all the magical creatures from other fantasy worlds. Her best friend Jay is Fae, descended from Oberon. Another friend is a vampire who is trying to write a proposal message to his girlfriend on a bridge. In the process, Ellie ends up falling in the River. I don't know if it was the writing or the audio narration, but she didn't appear to feel any fear when that happened. Maybe it's because the book is written for a YA (or younger audience).

Ellie's beloved cousin Trevor dies and comes to her in a dream, explaining who killed him. The rest of the book is a mystery story. She has to figure out how to prove the murderer did it, when she has no idea *how* he did it. The answer turns out to be quite cool imo, but it takes all her friends, family, and ghosts to figure it out. While I really enjoyed the book, some of the inconsistencies (which seemed like continuity errors) took me out of the story a few times. I really loved her family, and did I mention her dog? So very cute.

Note: this book is fine for any age. Even the scariest events don't come across as very scary (even when she makes a mistake and ends up in the underworld). Plus this book has no sex. Some reviewers make a big deal out the book representing Ace (asexuality), but I don't think it represents anything more than a girl who doesn't like her male friend "in that way."