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Gr 5-8 This sequel to "The Birchbark House" (Hyperion, 1999) and "The Game of Silence" (HarperCollins, 2005) continues the story of Omakayas, an Ojibwe girl who in 1852 is now 12 winters old. She and her family have been displaced by the United States government and are looking for a new place to live. When Omakayas and her younger brother become separated from their family during a night hunting expedition, Pinch has a run-in with a porcupine that he decides to keep as his medicine animal. The little gaag does indeed seem to bring them go...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

This third book about Omakayas starts off excitingly, with the Ojibwe girl and her brother swept down rapids. It becomes a bit...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Louise Erdrich’s The Porcupine Year is an engaging account of a year in an Ojibwe family’s life, “when the uncut forests of Minnesota still stretched, full and deep, west from the shores of Lake Superior.” Erdrich skillfully weaves Ojibwe language and customs into the narrative, providing readers with a look at the Ojibwe way of life. Some of the novel’s strongest moments come during times of great hardship. When all their belongings are stolen in a raid, the family goes from being rich in furs, food, and other supplie...Log In or Sign Up to Read More