There There

Let me read you a summary of There There right now.

There There doesn't have one main character, and it doesn't have two main characters, or even three or four or five.

This book follows 12 different characters that are all going to the exact same place, the big Oakland powwow in California.

If you don't know what a powwow is, it's essentially a gathering for Native Americans to spread their culture.

All 12 of these characters are going to the powwow for different reasons.

Most of them have grown up in urban environments instead of on reservations, and that is a very different experience from the Native Americans who grow up on reservations.

In a city, how are the characters supposed to stay connected to their Native American identity? Some of them have grown up hearing about their culture, and others have grown up without any exposure to Native American life at all.

One character, Dean, is going to the powwow because he wants to make a film about the authentic urban Native American experience, and he's kind of continuing on his dead uncle's legacy.

Fourteen-year-old Orville Redfeather is going to the powwow to perform a traditional dance for the very first time.

A character named Edwin is going to the powwow because he has a paid internship.

While most of these characters are going to the powwow for good reasons, other characters are attending for something far more sinister.

A dangerous plan develops throughout the book, a plan that could eventually cost people their lives.

I can't say much more than that without giving away spoilers, but this plan could change the tide of the entire story.

All 12 of these characters have different motivations for attending the powwow, but the characters are connected in ways that they might never expect.

Over the course of the novel, their own identities will be changed and developed, for better or for worse.

Ultimately, when tragedy strikes, these characters will have to lean on each other in very unexpected ways just to survive.

I know parts of the plot aspect were kind of vague, but I felt like that was the best summary I could give without giving away any spoilers, because this is a book that you definitely don't want spoiled for you.

And you also might be thinking, 12 characters? Isn't that a lot of characters? And you would be right, that is an abnormal amount of characters for a book to focus on, and when I first heard that there would be 12 characters in there there, I was like, whoa, what am I gonna do with all of that? However, I actually found it very manageable to read.

It doesn't end up feeling like an abnormal cast of characters.

I think part of the reason for this phenomenon is that Tommy Orange is truly such a talented writer, and he develops each character so well.

Seriously, There There had some of the best characters that I've read in so long.

They genuinely all felt like real people, and I liked being able to see inside their heads.