The Great Bear

In the second volume of the portal-fantasy Misewa Saga (The Barren Grounds, 2020), Morgan and Eli, foster children of Cree descent, decide to return through one of Eli's visionary drawings to the village of Misewa--but earlier in time than their first venture--in order to meet beloved friends who were lost or left behind. Building what becomes a double-stranded parallel tale around the ever-popular bullying theme, Robertson pits his protagonists in our world against a gang of punks who harass Eli because he wears a braid, and in the alternate one against an aggressive, widely feared bear. Though some of the references may fall flat, the author, who belongs to the Norway House Cree Nation, populates Misewa with an energetic assortment of North American talking animals and enlivens the dialogue with Cree words and phrases, which are defined in a glossary and pronunciation guide in the opening pages To make the most of the characters and situations here, readers are strongly advised to start with the series opener.

Morgan and Eli return to Askí in this sequel to The Barren Grounds (2020). Actually, the Cree foster siblings have been returning nightly, taking advantage of the different passage of time between Earth and Askí to stay in the village of Misewa for weeks while their foster parents sleep. Their joy in staying with the animal beings of Misewa is tempered by the loss of the old fisher Ochek. On Earth, Eli is bullied at school so relentlessly he cuts off his braid, and their foster parents (who are White) have thrown Morgan for a loop by giving her the telephone number of her birth mother--whom the eighth grader hasn't seen since she was taken away as a toddler. So when Eli proposes changing their portal to go to a time when Ochek is young, Morgan agrees. Their ensuing adventure is something of an idyll, giving the kids a glimpse of a peaceful, prosperous Misewa. Readers of Volume 1 will enjoy this new aspect on favorite characters just as much as Morgan and Eli do, especially the squirrel Arik and teenage Ochek. The struggle against the rampaging Great Bear--shockingly, a younger version of wise village elder Muskwa--drives the action. Robertson's (Norway House Cree Nation) nods at the complexity of time-travel plots serve as wry metafictive commentary and also tie into his consideration of profound existential questions. A cliffhanger ending compels a return to this absorbing Indigenous fantasy. (glossary) (Fantasy. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.