Tommy Orange's 'Wandering Stars' is a powerful follow up to 'There There'

Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange's "hella" powerful followup to his award-winning debut novel, There There, is at once a sequel and a prequel. An eloquent indictment of the devastating long-term effects of the massacre, dislocation and forced assimilation of Native Americans, it is also a heartfelt paean to the importance of family and of ancestors' stories in recovering a sense of belonging and identity.

By beginning his second novel with the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado, Orange expands his narrative time frame, resulting in an ambitious epicwhich climaxed at a powwow in the Oakland Coliseum — a celebration of Native American heritage in which adolescent Orvil Red Feather was hit by a stray bullet while dancing in his grandmother's feathered regalia.