Review of Cady and the Search for Family by Ann Dallman
Title: Cady and the Search for Family
Publisher / Publication date: Modern History Press (March 2025)
Language: English
Softcover: 149 pages
Genre: Middle-grade novel
ISBN/ASIN: 979-8-89656-024-1
Reviewed by: Adrianna McCollum
Heartwarming story of a girl’s search for family and identity
Cady Whirlwind Thunder, a Native American girl on the cusp of her fourteenth birthday, aches for her missing mother. Raised by her father and grandmother since she was six, Cady deals with the disappearance of her mother, Willow, by acting out. When she shatters a window in anger, Cady’s Grandma Winnie realizes it’s time to take Cady on a road trip that not only follows the same route that Willow took when she was Cady’s age, but it also launches Cady on a journey of self-discovery.
At first, Cady is disappointed that the road trip doesn’t provide direct answers to the many burning questions she has about her mother. Adding to her frustration is the impending deadline of an essay contest she entered, one which is supposed to be written all about her family. How can she write a complete essay, not knowing where her mother is or what happened to her? The last thing Cady wants is for people to feel sorry for her. “In our language (Potawatomi), to pity a person is zhwénmat. I don’t want pity.”
But Grandma Winnie is wise and has a plan that slowly blossoms over the course of their journey together. Sharing stories about Willow, teaching Cady daily lessons about their Native culture, and weaving in important historical and geographic facts about their traditional indigenous territories, Cady is given answers to questions she never knew to ask. In Cady and the Search for Family, the reader is taken on a heartfelt journey that vividly communicates the feelings of loss and love and, ultimately, belonging.
Ann Dallman has captured Potawatomi life and traditions in rich detail, from the importance of their traditional indigenous lands and their connection to “Mother Earth,” to the history and significance of Willow’s ribbon skirt, which Cady wears to honor her heritage and her missing mother. Dallman’s portrayal of Cady’s Native world not only pays respect to the history, culture, and traditions of the Potawatomi tribe, but it also shines a spotlight on the systemic crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. Dallman uses her voice to speak for the countless indigenous women, girls, and boys who have been reported missing in the United States every year. The theme is carried throughout the entire novel, represented in Cady’s questioning and her heartbreak. Despite the seriousness of Willow’s disappearance, however, Cady and the Search for Family remains an uplifting coming-of-age story that will appeal to teens and adults alike.
Reviewer Adrianna McCollum writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She won the 73rd Annual Jade Ring Writing Contest in Nonfiction for a memoir essay. She is querying her MG fantasy novel PEREGRINE FROM THE STORIES and is currently working on a YA fantasy novel.
