Rez Dogs

(Paperback)

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Description

Renowned author Joseph Bruchac tells a powerful story of a girl who learns more about her Penacook heritage while sheltering in place with her grandparents during the coronavirus pandemic. Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation-she's there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There's a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration. Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family safe- She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn't go out to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian's family knows that he'll protect them too. Told in verse inspired by oral storytelling, this novel about the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the ways in which Indigenous nations and communities cared for one another through plagues of the past, and how they keep caring for one another today. **Four starred reviews!** Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction & Poetry Honor NPR Books We Love Kirkus Reviews Best Books School Library Journal Best Books Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Younger Readers Jane Addams Children's Book Award Finalist Nerdy Book Club Award-Best Poetry and Novels in Verse

Reviews

Awards and Praise for Rez Dogs

Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction & Poetry Honor
NPR Books We Love
Kirkus Reviews Best Books
School Library Journal Best Books
Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Younger Readers
Jane Addams Childrens Book Award Finalist
Nerdy Book Club AwardBest Poetry and Novels in Verse
NCTE/CLA Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Award
NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books
North Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee
Wisconsin's Just One More Page Reading List
Pennsylvania's Young Readers Choice List Nominee

Hidden throughout this moving novel in verse, old stories are discovered like buried treasures.Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Bruchac intricately interweaves past and present stories . . . in this rewarding intergenerational narrative.Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Deftly handles weighty issues and provides readers a story they can connect with . . . [A] dose of hope for the future."School Library Journal, starred review

Story telling is an important part of culture, and Bruchac is a masterful storyteller who weaves culture with narrative."School Library Connection, starred review

With this gentle book, Bruchac offers children another story to expand their worlds and hearts.Booklist

A gentle book about family and history.Betsy Bird for A Fuse #8 Production/SLJ

Author Bio

Joseph Bruchac is an award-winning Abenaki poet, novelist, storyteller, and scholar of indigenous culture. His work has appeared in hundreds of publications from Akwesasne Notes and American Poetry Review to National Geographic and Parabola. He has written more than 160 books for adults and children, including Code Talker- A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, Talking Leaves, and Two Roads.