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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 23, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781666617610
- File size: 236635 KB
- Duration: 08:12:59
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
June 13, 2022
Johnson uses her own great-grandmother’s story as a foundation to deliver an intimate tale chronicling an Indigenous 14-year-old’s life in a new city, set in 1914 on the brink of WWI. Following Norvia Nelson’s parents’ divorce and her mother’s whirlwind nuptials to a white man they hardly know, Norvia’s mother, who is French and Ojibwe, asks her and her siblings to hide their Indigenous heritage from their new stepfamily. The Nelsons soon move from Beaver Island on Lake Michigan to Boyne City, where Norvia longs for her old life listening to her late Grand-père tell stories about their ancestors. Struggling between embracing her heritage and attempting to fit in at her new high school, Norvia channels heroines from her favorite novels, including Anne of Green Gables and Little Women, to navigate shifting family dynamics, community gossip over her parents’ divorce, prejudice, and first love. This introspective, unhurried debut, filled with personal touches from the author’s ancestry as detailed in an author’s note, is populated by memorable characters, such as Norvia’s larger-than-life younger sister. Johnson’s family photographs and an Ojibwe glossary conclude. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jessica Schmeidler, Golden Wheat Literary. -
School Library Journal
October 1, 2022
Gr 3-7-Debut novelist Johnson reveals in her ending author's note (not included in the audiobook) that her story here is inspired by her ancestors: Norvia was her great-grandmother. Indigenous voice actor Elise Randall Modica enhances the authenticity as Johnson's sensitive aural surrogate. The fictional Norvia is also 14 in 1914, the daughter of an Ojibwe/French mother and Swedish father. After her parents' divorce, her mother insists on hiding their Indigenous background when she remarries. Norvia is initially unsure of stepfather "Uncle Virgil," but his support of her education, their shared love of books, and his active kindness for all the children earn her trust and love. Modica is mostly an easy, even narrator, but she displays her charm when assuming precocious eight-year-old Dicta's pronouncements and wannabe suitor Aylmer's courtly speeches. VERDICT Johnson's historical fiction warms hearts-and ears.
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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AudioFile Magazine
Narrator Elise Randall Modica brings heart to this story, set in Michigan in 1914. Fourteen-year-old Norvia Nelson's early memories of life on Lake Michigan's Beaver Island sustain her in Boyne City as she struggles to accept her parents' divorce and her mother's remarriage. Because her now-estranged Pa had scorned their Ojibwe heritage, Ma says not to reveal it to her stepfather. Modica, who is Ojibwe herself, captures the Anishinaabemowin-inflected cadences of Norvia's elders. Other stand-out characterizations include Norvia's indomitable little sister, her endearingly pompous new stepbrother, and her unremittingly kind stepfather. Norvia emerges as a determined girl who draws on stories and books, as well as her Christian faith, to reconcile the past and present and to embrace the future. This domestic charmer hums with love. V.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
Languages
- English
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