Common Sense Media Review
By Joly Herman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Native American girl learns family secrets in touching tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Set in modern-day Seattle, I CAN MAKE THIS PROMISE is about a 12-year-old girl named Edie who's always been told she looks like she comes from somewhere exotic. Her mom never revealed much about her childhood, except to tell a few vague stories. Edie always knew that her mother was adopted and had been raised in a White family, but she didn't think to press her mom on the topic, until she and her friends discovered a mysterious box tucked into a corner of the attic. Inside the box are artifacts of a life lived before Edie's time, but the connections to her mother's past prove to hold more pain than Edie had expected.
Is It Any Good?
This beautifully and simply told tale explores the ripple effects of a long-held family secret. Though couched in the rhythms of a loving family's life in modern-day Seattle, the sad truths of the past pierce a tween's life, and her rage at being left out of the unspoken past feels appropriate and proportional.
Inside of this loving, if basic, tale lies some serious truth. As Edie's mom says, "For many years, Native children were forcibly removed from their families and communities." The author, who identifies as the "daughter of a Native American Upper Skagit/Nooksack/Blackfeet/Nez Perce adoptee," is making a point: U.S. history is full of tragic stories of coercion and force. I Can Make This Promise lets this truth rise up subtly in the telling, and kids will appreciate the activist spirit that underlies the story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about family secrets in I Can Make This Promise. Edie doesn't know much about her mom's birth family, and when she discovers the truth, she's angry that it's been kept from her. A Google search is a way Edie's friends tried to look into her family's past. What secrets would you prefer to keep hidden?
What do you know about the Native American history of your area? Do the movies you've seen represent the truth, or do you think there's more than meets the eye?
Edie has to make a hard choice when one of her best friends starts hanging around a bully. If they'd been on social media, the bullying might have become even more intense. Are some social media platforms more likely to attract bullies than others? How much of your time do you spend on them?
Book Details
- Author: Christine Day
- Genre: Family Life
- Topics: Activism , Friendship , Great Girl Role Models , Middle School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
- Publication date: October 1, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 272
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Award: ALA Best and Notable Books
- Last updated: February 4, 2020
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