Hearts Unbroken

Hearts Unbroken is a young adult contemporary novel by New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith. Main character Louise Wolfe, a Native Muscogee (Creek) teen girl, breaks up with her boyfriend over his insensitive comments. Louise turns her focus to senior year, the school newspaper, and spending time with family, but she notices more and more instances of cultural insensitivity around her. When the newly-formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater group speaks out against cast members of color in the fall musical, Louise investigates the controversy with a handsome new photojournalist while trying to protect her younger brother, cast in a leading role. The novel is a winner of an American Indian Youth Literature Award. This guide references the 2018 first edition by Candlewick Press.

Plot Summary

The morning after prom, high school junior Louise Wolfe tells best friend Shelby about the event which she attended with her boyfriend Cam Ryan, a popular athlete. Later, at the traditional after-prom brunch, Cam makes crude and insensitive remarks about his brother’s fiancé, who is Native Kickapoo. Louise is Native Muscogee (Creek), and though she tries briefly to get Cam to see why his comments bother her, he does not acknowledge her feelings.