Boundless Press | Crooked Hallelujah

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Crooked Hallelujah

Kelli Jo Ford

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“A book that you want to share with everyone you know and one that you are desperate to keep in your own possession. A masterful debut and a new and thrilling voice for readers across the globe.” —Sarah Jessica Parker, on Instagram

It’s 1974 in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and fifteen-year-old Justine grows up in a family of tough, complicated, and loyal women presided over by her mother, Lula, and Granny. After Justine’s father abandoned the family, Lula became a devout member of the Holiness Church—a community that Justine at times finds stifling and terrifying. But Justine does her best as a devoted daughter until an act of violence sends her on a different path forever.

Crooked Hallelujah tells the stories of Justine—a mixed-blood Cherokee woman—and her daughter, Reney, as they move from Eastern Oklahoma’s Indian Country in the hopes of starting a new, more stable life in Texas amid the oil bust of the 1980s. However, life in Texas isn’t easy, and Reney feels unmoored from her family in Indian Country. Against the vivid backdrop of the Red River, we see their struggle to survive in a world—of unreliable men and near-Biblical natural forces, like wildfires and tornados—intent on stripping away their connections to one another and their very ideas of home.

In lush and empathic prose, Kelli Jo Ford depicts what this family of proud, stubborn, Cherokee women sacrifices for those they love, amid larger forces of history, religion, class, and culture. This is a big-hearted and ambitious novel of the powerful bonds between mothers and daughters by an exquisite and rare new talent.

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Posts about this title from Boundless Press

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Dec 31 2022

every book i read in 2022 rated & reviewed in 1 sentence

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faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!


63 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 16 2022

all 24 books i read this summer ✨ reading wrapup

join me as I breakdown all 24 books I read this summer!! let me know what your favourite book you read this summer was! 🥰

🤍 timestamps ↳ 0:00 intro ↳ 1:17 know my name by chanel miller ↳ 2:29 empire of sand by tasha suri ↳ 2:59 on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong ↳ 4:12 blue skinned gods by s. j. sindu ↳ 4:52 this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar & max gladstone ↳ 5:50 the roughest draft by austin siegemund-broka & emily wibberley ↳ 6:43 convenience store woman by sayaka murata ↳ 7:59 book lovers by emily henry ↳ 8:43 violeta by isabel allende ↳ 9:28 the paris apartment by lucy foley ↳ 10:09 daughter of the moon goddess by sue lynn tan ↳ 10:57 this woven kingdom by tahereh mafi ↳ 11:56 crooked hallelujah by kelli jo ford ↳ 12:35 little fires everywhere by celeste ng ↳ 13:24 an american marriage by tayari jones ↳ 14:53 eleanor oliphant is completely fine by gail honeyman ↳ 15:18 the vanishing half by brit bennett ↳ 16:25 red, white & royal blue by casey mcquiston ↳ 17:35 i'm glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy ↳ 18:53 luster by raven leilani ↳ 19:54 disorientation by elaine hsieh chou ↳ 20:53 you exist too much by zaina arafat ↳ 21:43 rosewater by tade thompson ↳ 23:03 the school for good mothers ↳ 24:52 outro

📚 join my book club 📚 read books by BIPOC each month and join me during monthly liveshows to discuss! 🤍 announcement Video: https://youtu.be/u-aI8tD1RcQ 🤍 discuss on Fable: https://l.fable.co/readincolour 🤍 discuss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readincolourbookclub/ 🤍 discuss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReadinColorClub

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💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!


24 books

Posts about this book from across Bindery

Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Dec 2 2025

Join for free

[Hello,\ \ So excited for next years books! Can't wait to read them together! If you aren't in the bookclub yet, simply join the Discord to join in the fun.\ \

Good Day To Read Indigenous Book Club 2026 Reads


12 books

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Dec 31 2022

every book i read in 2022 rated & reviewed in 1 sentence

join as a channel member to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJn0v3OAEAX3-V4crjcHtRA/join

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!


63 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 16 2022

all 24 books i read this summer ✨ reading wrapup

join me as I breakdown all 24 books I read this summer!! let me know what your favourite book you read this summer was! 🥰

other places to find me 🤍 my website: https://www.jananiekvelu.com/ 🤍 my series # EpicBookRecs on the Epic Reads Channel: https://bit.ly/2XziOfz

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!


24 books