Elatsoe surprised me twice: First once I realized it bordered on juvenile fiction and was set in the summer (for some reason in my head it was specifically a winter read), and second when I enjoyed it anyway.

I was hooked by the mystery and even when I figured it out, I was still engaged by seeing how everything would resolve. Sounds silly, but I appreciate that there were no fade-to-blacks on the action scenes. I was on the edge of my seat bed! Ellie is a great character and this will be a great series. I learned about the Lipan Apache both while reading and afterward on my own time, and I applaud the author for sharing her heritage with young readers. 

& a mini applause to Rovina Cai, whose charming cover illustration urged me to pick the book up in the first place! The dogs! 🐕🥺