She Holds Up the Stars

A young Indigenous girl searching for a sense of home finds strength and courage in her gifts, her deepening connection to the land, and her own cultural awakening in this moving coming-of-age story.

The last thing that twelve-year-old Misko wants to do is to move away from the city to spend time on the rez with her grandmother. And yet she feels strangely compelled to go, drawn by a pull she feels in her dreams. Maybe she can finally find out what happened to her mother, who mysteriously disappeared when Misko was four years old. Misko's relationship to the rez shifts when she encounters a spirited horse named Mishtadim. But Mishtadim is being violently broken in by the rancher next door and his son Thomas. Thomas and Misko clash at first, only to find themselves drawn together by the wild horse. As Misko slowly discovers the nature of her unique bond with Mishtadim, she begins to feel a sense of belonging and understands for the first time what it means to truly be home. She Holds Up the Stars is a powerful story of reconciliation and the interwoven threads that tie us to family, to the land, and to our own sense of self.