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ellabhart's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
hunkydory's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
alic59books's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
panda_incognito's review against another edition
4.0
I thought that this mystery was relatively average, but I am giving the book four stars for its uniqueness and well-researched cultural setting. The story follows a mixed race girl as she navigates different tensions in her family and community, and the author does an excellent job of illustrating common dilemmas for children who do not fully fit into one race and culture or another. This character has an Ojibwe mother and a French father, and the book provides a sense of their warm, joyful, and loving family while also engaging with tensions that they would feel because of their different backgrounds.
The mystery allows the main character to draw on both the French and Ojibwe aspects of her education and experience, and I appreciate how the character arc resolves at the end. Even though the mystery isn't fantastic, it is suspenseful enough to keep children guessing, and they can learn an incredible amount of historical information throughout the process. The author includes lots of realistic, well-researched details related to Ojibwe life, French trading systems, and the tragedies and joys that could result from intermarriage and new connections. She is very clear, especially in the historical note at the end, that European contact had devastating consequences for native populations, but this book shows a picture of life that rarely gets seen or acknowledged in fiction or historical literature.
When I studied history in college, it fascinated me to learn about how many European men intermarried with native tribes, leaving behind their cultures and families of origin. Even though it makes sense for broad-brush historical narratives to focus on the conflicts between different groups, these perspectives often erase mixed-race people and their experiences from history. It also assumes that people are destined to be pitted against each other in struggles for power, without understanding that at a micro level, many people from totally different backgrounds built lives together. Even though this book doesn't romanticize the past, and acknowledges the harsh reality of how some men intermarried and then abandoned their families, it shows how some white men became part of indigenous communities and adopted their culture.
This book does a great job of including balanced perspectives. The author addresses the negative aspects of European involvement in traditional indigenous cultures, but also shows how very different people fell in love and raised children together. This book provides an interesting perspective into what a mixed-race family's experience might have been like in the mid-1700s, and even though I would only give the mystery three stars, the character arc, complex world-building, and sense of the time period were spectacular, and I am very glad that I read this.
The mystery allows the main character to draw on both the French and Ojibwe aspects of her education and experience, and I appreciate how the character arc resolves at the end. Even though the mystery isn't fantastic, it is suspenseful enough to keep children guessing, and they can learn an incredible amount of historical information throughout the process. The author includes lots of realistic, well-researched details related to Ojibwe life, French trading systems, and the tragedies and joys that could result from intermarriage and new connections. She is very clear, especially in the historical note at the end, that European contact had devastating consequences for native populations, but this book shows a picture of life that rarely gets seen or acknowledged in fiction or historical literature.
When I studied history in college, it fascinated me to learn about how many European men intermarried with native tribes, leaving behind their cultures and families of origin. Even though it makes sense for broad-brush historical narratives to focus on the conflicts between different groups, these perspectives often erase mixed-race people and their experiences from history. It also assumes that people are destined to be pitted against each other in struggles for power, without understanding that at a micro level, many people from totally different backgrounds built lives together. Even though this book doesn't romanticize the past, and acknowledges the harsh reality of how some men intermarried and then abandoned their families, it shows how some white men became part of indigenous communities and adopted their culture.
This book does a great job of including balanced perspectives. The author addresses the negative aspects of European involvement in traditional indigenous cultures, but also shows how very different people fell in love and raised children together. This book provides an interesting perspective into what a mixed-race family's experience might have been like in the mid-1700s, and even though I would only give the mystery three stars, the character arc, complex world-building, and sense of the time period were spectacular, and I am very glad that I read this.
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