Girl Warrior // W. W. Norton & Company, 2025

This book is a moving collection of essays exploring storytelling, Mother Nature, ancestorial ties, and courage. It is part autobiography, part meditation. The essays are grounded in a spiritual sense. The collection is empathetic and caring, as much as a book can be; as stories can be.

Joy Harjo reminds us of how stories—intrinsic to everyone—are places for learning and discovery, for finding our way in the world. This book is a compass offering ways to live a meaningful life in connection with other lives. The essays in this collection tell truths about how to tell stories and weave them into the one great story. This book is a passing on of stories.

I learned that poetry can bring other realities into existence. “I have washed my mother’s body in a poem, when I was not allowed the opportunity at her death” (pg.107).

I would recommend Girl Warrior to anyone, especially those among us who sing or tell stories. This book will fill you with hope and a tenderness.

Girl Warrior—Read this book if you need a cairn.