Scan barcode
lsparrow's review against another edition
4.0
I would have loved this book as a 8-12 year old. Great story and characters.
christy15reads's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
josie_addison's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
madcat29's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
momreaderh's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Just not my style of writing
sarahparker216's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
0suicidal0's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death and Child death
vdanis's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Cute story and I especially liked the sound effects on the audiobook. But it's a pretty basic story about a Native American family - it's cute, but doesn't have a lot of depth.
bluestjuice's review against another edition
4.0
We read this as one of the final literature choices for the level 2 Torchlight program, and it served as my first introduction to Erdrich's work. To be honest, I was not entirely sold at first - I felt that it started off slow and that the characterizations and perhaps the plot were going to be perhaps too simplistic and too oriented towards younger readers to be engaging to me, or even to my ten-year-old. I appreciated the clearly well-researched and respectful portrayal of Ojibwe peoples that the book represented, but feared it was perhaps the health food of literature - nourishing and wholesome but a bit bland and unexciting. I turned out to be quite wrong, however. If anything, I don't think my fourth-grader understood the layers of symbolism and cultural relevance as deeply as I would have liked her to. There is interesting anthropological history here but also a moving and emotional story, seen through the eyes of a young girl but no less deeply felt for that. Erdrich portrays people and beliefs that may be quite unlike those of the reader yet without a sense of exoticism that can often creep into historical fiction featuring indigenous peoples. It's excellent writing and a very worthwhile addition to a young reader's canon.