The Porcupine Year

Starred review from June 1, 2008
The struggle to survive provides the exciting action in this sequel to The Birchbark House (1999) and The Game of Silence (2005), which takes place in 1852.But the gripping story is also about pain, joy, sacrifice, and surprise.Omakayas, now 12, feels the anguish of displacement as her family, driven from its beloved Madeline Island by white settlers, endures violent raids in the freezing winter and comes close to starvation inits search for a home. Erdrich shows Omakayas love forher mischievous little brother, as well as her barely controlledjealousy of her sister. Always there isher bond withtough elderly Old Tallow, who rescued Omakayas as a baby and has loved her ever since. The question now is whether Old Tallow will survive, and for thefirst time, Omakayas hears her mentors childhood story--including the shocking brutality she endured, which helped make her so strong andnurturing. As in the previous books, Erdrich weaves in Ojibwaculture and language, defining the terms inan appendedglossary, and she includes her ownblack-and-white sketches, whichexpress her affection for small daily things. Based on Erdrichs own family history, this celebrationof lifewill move readers with its mischief, its anger, and its sadness.What is left unspoken is as powerful as the story told.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2008
This third book (The Birchbark House, rev. 5/99; The Game of Silence, rev. 7/05) about Omakayas starts off excitingly, with the Ojibwe girl and her young brother Pinch swept down the rapids and eventually finding their way back to the family campsite for a Tom Sawyer-like reappearance from the dead. Although animated by the presence of a baby porcupine that Pinch adopts, the book becomes a bit static, slowed by details of "packs of furs and bark packs of manoomin, bags of weyass, dried meat, or pemmican, pots, tanned skins, and bundles of their blankets." The narrative regains strength when a renegade uncle robs the family, leaving them close to starvation as winter closes in. They are saved, but not without a considerable sacrifice that will haunt the followers of Omakayas's journey thus far.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from September 1, 2008
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 good fortune for a time, and Pinch is thereafter known as Quill. As Omakayas's extended family travels north toward Lac du Bois, where Mama's sister has settled, Erdrich's resonant descriptions of their day-to-day experiences give the narrative a graceful flow. The peaceful rhythms are all too quickly broken, however, when a party of Bwaanag captures two of their men. Soon after, Auntie Muskrat's no-good husband, Albert LaPautre, leads a raid on the small group, making off with all of their provisions, leaving them destitute as the winter months approach. The family finally reaches the big lake, and as they learn to find their places in the larger group, Omakayas must come to terms with her transition to womanhood. The events in this installment will both delight and appall readers. While the novel can stand alone, it will call new readers to catch up on the first two installments. Erdrich's charming pencil drawings interspersed throughout and her glossary of Ojibwe terms round out a beautiful offering."Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2009
This third book about Omakayas starts off excitingly, with the Ojibwe girl and her brother swept down rapids. It becomes a bit static, slowed by details, but regains strength when a renegade uncle robs the family, leaving them close to starvation as winter closes in. They're saved, but not without considerable sacrifice that will haunt the followers of Omakayas's journey. Glos.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)