THE GAME OF SILENCE by Louise Erdrich

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Erdrich, Louise. 2005. THE GAME OF SILENCE. Unabridged ed. New York, NY: Harper Children’s Audio. ISBN 0060758392.

PLOT SUMMARY
Omakayas, or Little Frog, is a nine-year-old Ojibwe girl living on the shores of Lake Superior in 1850. Her family is camped in their summer birchbark house when a raggedy, starving group of Ojibwe approach the island in waterlogged canoes, bearing the news that their entire tribe is soon to be removed into the lands held by their feared Lakota and Dakota enemies. As the strongest men of Omakayas' clan set forth to find out their fate, the family waits though summer and fall to learn the nature of their future.
The book is a sequel to The Birchbark House and describes another year in the life of Omakayas.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS
With The Game of Silence Louis Erdrich brings a taste of Native American fiction at its best. The dramatic and impressive story presents the responsibilities and challenges that the Ojibwe tribes faced to survive, and the consequences for them when the chimookomanag, or the white people came to their lands, changing their life. Their everyday ordinary tasks are described in loving detail, enabling readers to gain a fuller picture of a time, a place, and a way of life. All facts about the Ojibwe people are accurate and well researched by the author, making the historical aspect of this novel appeal to the audience.

The writer’s interesting, creative, yet believable, fictional plot line makes the reading a page turner that really draws in the readers and connects them to the characters. The story is told from Omakayas’s viewpoint, in a vigorous narrative that is complemented by the use of dialect and specific Ojibwe terms. Eldrich’s rich, evocative prose and vibrant imagination creates characters that are very likable and easy to relate to. A major theme is the unveiling of Omakaya's gifts and the acceptance of her maturing identity, which creates timeless parallels to the agitations of the modern day children.

The Game of Silence is a good choice to listen to as an audio book. Anna Field’s excellent performance brought the voice and personality of Omakayas and the other characters to life. She clearly voiced all of the dialogue in a convincing Native American manner of speaking, using different intonations for the different characters both male and female. Her performance, along with Erdrich's well-written narration and dialogue, transports the listener/reader straight into the everyday life of Ojibwe tribe in mid-1800’s. The descriptions, vocabulary, and all traditional words interspersed among the text, perfectly set the tone for this story. Listening to the audio while reading along in the book would be a perfect literature experience.

Readers who enjoy Erdrich’s character-driven style will not be disappointed from this lyrical,relaxed paced and yet moving and stylistically complex novel.

AWARDS
ALA Notable Children's Books - Middle Readers Category: 2006
Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Middle Readers Category: 2005
New York Times Notable Books - Children's Books: 2005
Parents' Choice Awards - Fiction: 2005
Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award

REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Librarly Journal: “Omakayas's tale, begun in The Birchbark House, continues in this book. Older and more insightful, Omakayas begins to understand the elements of life more fully as she accepts her gift of telling dreams. Changes are coming to the Ojibwa people and she struggles to deal with all that she is experiencing and her dreams foretell.”

Publishers Weekly: "… this meticulously researched novel offers an even balance of joyful and sorrowful moments while conveying a perspective of America's past that is rarely found in history books."

Kirkus Reviews: ”Omakayas's relationships with her prickly brother Pinch, the white child she calls Break-Apart Girl and Two Strike, who scorns women's work, allow for emotional resonance. She learns not only from the hands of her grandmother, mother and Old Tallow, but by her own sharp observation and practice. Eager readers beguiled by her sturdy and engaging person will scarcely notice that they have absorbed great draughts of Ojibwe culture, habits and language. It's hard not to weep when white settlers drive the Ojibwe west, and hard not to hope for what comes next for this radiant nine-year-old.”

CONNECTIONS
*Follow the story of Omakayas:
THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE (book #1). ISBN 0060297875
THE PORCUINE YEAR (book#3). ISBN 0060297875

*Expose children to other selected books about Native American people:
Hamm, Diane Johnston. Daughter of Suqua . ISBN: 9780807514771
O'Dell, Scott . Island of the Blue Dolphins. ISBN: 9780395536803
Bruchac, Joseph. The journal of Jesse Smoke : a Cherokee boy. ISBN: 9780439121972
Bunting, Eve. Cheyenne again. ISBN: 9780395703649
Bruchac, Joseph. Children of the longhouse . ISBN: 9780140385045