Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
We spend a year in the mid-19th century--through summer, fall, winter, and spring--with nine-year-old Omakayas, or Little Frog. First introduced in the author’s The Birchbark House, she is the lens through which we see the activities of her Ojibwe people on their home island in Lake Superior. Anxiety is introduced by the arrival of six canoes filled with bedraggled hungry refugees from the encroaching Dakota and Lakota. But the people have been told that they must move into Lakota territory to make way for white settlers. Life goes on under great tension as they await word of their future. Omakayas enjoys time caring for a new baby, working, playing with her friends, including the important game of the title, until the time comes when they must leave. A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe and author of many adult novels on the Native American experience, Erdrich vividly recreates the life of a young girl with warmth and empathy, told from a long-overlooked point of view. There is a map on the end-papers; sketches liberally sprinkled throughout add to the story as do the included native legends. 2005, HarperCollins Children’s Books, $15.99. Ages 8 to 12.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2006)
In The Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich introduced young readers to Omakayas, a seven-year-old Ojibwe girl in the mid-nineteenth century living on what is now called Madeleine Island. That lyrical novel chronicled one year in the life of Omakayas, through seasons marked by both harmony and hardship. Now Omakayas is nine winters old. As summer starts, a worn-out group of elders, women, and children from far-off villages arrive on the shores of their island. They were forced from their homes by the chimookomanag, the white people. Even as they seek refuge within Omakayas’s community, they warn the adults in the village that they will soon face the same fate. Omakayas cannot begin to comprehend the idea of leaving the land she has always called home. As the cycles of the seasons turn and turn again, the villagers await word from the small group of men who’ve gone off in search of news and answers. Meanwhile, they continue with the rhythm of their lives. For Omakayas, this means working and playing within the context of her immediate family, and the larger family that her community represents. From mischievous Pinch, Omakayas’s younger brother; to spirited, unruly Two-Strike Girl; to fierce, independent Old Tallow; to loving, wise Nokomis, Omakayas’s grandmother, the characters live and breathe in a story that is full of humor, richness, and heart. Through it all, Erdrich never strays from the center, where a young girl’s growing awareness of change—in herself and in the world around her—both complicate and facilitate her understanding of what is happening as she faces a future filled with uncertainty. CCBC Category: Fiction for Children. 2005, HarperCollins, 256 pages, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 8-12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 9))
Readers who loved the ways of Omakayas and her family in The Birchbark House (1999) have ample reason to rejoice in this beautifully constructed sequel. On Madeline Island in Lake Superior at the midpoint of the 19th century, Omakayas lives the turning of an entire year. In summer, a starving remnant of relatives are taken in and cared for; in the fall, stores are laid up and the group returns to their cabins; winter comes with storytelling, Old Tallow's coat of many furs, and Omakayas's sister Angeline beading a vest for the man she loves. In spring, Omakayas goes on her own spirit quest and sees her future clear. 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. 2005, HarperCollins, 272p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 8 to 12. Starred Review. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Jennifer Hartshorn (Library Media Connection, January 2006)
This sequel to The Birchbark House (Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Publishing Worldwide, 1999) continues the saga of Omakayas, now "nine winters old," who is a member of the Ojibwe tribe that resides on an island in Lake Superior. The tranquility of the little village is threatened when word arrives that white leaders are going to force Omakayas' people further west into enemy territory. The book relates both everyday events growing up in the community, and the bigger picture of the rhythm of the seasons. While Omakayas and her growth are the center of the story, many secondary characters are fully realized. There is an ominous undercurrent throughout the story as the community has sent forth a party to investigate claims that the white people are going to force them off of their island. Author Louise Erdrich has a wonderful facility with language as she draws readers oh so gently into the peaceful life of Omakayas and her tribe. Reading the book is hypnotic because readers want to keep reading even though there is really very little action to hold interest. The Ojibwe words are woven in so seamlessly that one rarely needs to consult the glossary. This title can be used with curriculum units that focus on Native Americans, but is also a great read for students on its own. Highly Recommended. 2004, HarperCollins, 272pp., $15.99 hc. Ages 10 to 14.

Deborah Stevenson, Associate Editor (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2005 (Vol. 59, No. 2))
This sequel to The Birchbark House (BCCB 7/99) reacquaints readers with Omakayas, a young Ojibwe girl living with her family on an island in Lake Superior in the mid-nineteenth century. This sequel covers a year of her life, a year filled with the homely and familiar aspects that make Omakayas’ life a normal and generally happy one: she loves her brother but squabbles with him constantly, she’s honored with the gift of a puppy from the hunter Old Tallow, she learns about healing plants from her beloved grandmother. Behind all that, however, is the dark specter of change, since the chimookomanag, the white people, insist that the Ojibwe leave their home and move west, to land occupied by the Bwaanag, who have attacked, pillaged, and driven out new arrivals. As intended, the story is indeed an effective counterpart to the Little House books, not just in subject matter but in tone: Erdrich works her magic slowly, allowing the quotidian details of Omakayas’ life to gradually accrue into a rich portrait, where texture overshadows the gently episodic plot. Though there’s definite sadness in the losses endured and the final departure of Omakayas’ family from their beloved home, the emphasis on the closeness of the family and Omakayas’ vision of a different but still satisfying future allow the move to be transition, not simply tragedy. Erdrich’s shaded pencil drawings shore up their softness with strong definition that particularly enhances the energetic and comedic scenes. Independently engaging as well as an effective followup to the previous book, this will please lovers of good family stories and evocative historical fiction; the topic makes this a strong contender for curricular use, while the storytelling voice lends itself to reading aloud. A note on the Ojibwe language and a glossary with pronunciation guide are included. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, HarperCollins, 272p, $16.89 and $15.99. Grades 4-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2005)
Nine-year-old Omakayas and her family have returned to their summer home, but things are changing. In this sequel to The Birchbark House, a group of starving Ojibwe arrive with news of the encroaching chimookomanag--white people. Erdrich gives readers another tale full of rich details of 1850s Ojibwe life, complicated characters, and all the joys and challenges of a girl becoming a woman. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2005, HarperCollins, 258pp, 15.99, 16.89. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.

Monica Irwin (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 18, No. 1))
In the sequel to the award winning The Birchbark House, readers are once again introduced to Omakayas (or Little Frog), a young girl in the Ojibwa tribe. It is 1850 and her family lives on Lake Michigan. Her adopted brother, Pinch, is growing and becoming more of a pain to the older girl. But the family shows much love for one another and for the whole tribe. When some desperate and hungry strangers arrive in the camp, Omakayas and all the rest of the Ojibwa tribe soon realize that their lives will be changing. Because of the encroachment of the white people on their land, Omakayas and family must eventually leave all they have known. The trip will be difficult but Omakayas has decided to accept the changes and at the conclusion of the book as the family travels, the “game of silence” becomes the game of survival. All must remain totally silent as they travel through some dangerous places. This is a serious book and yet there is much warmth and humor. The book will add to the understanding of each reader as it explores the life of the Ojibwa and the general nature of many Native American tribes in the 1850s. Fans of The Birchbark House will be thrilled to see another part of the story. This book will definitely find an audience among historical fiction readers. Fiction. Grades 4 and up. 2005, HarperCollins, 256p., $16.89. Ages 9 up.

Joe Sutliff Sanders (VOYA, August 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 3))
In this sequel to The Birchbark House (Hyperion, 1999), a young Ojibwe girl embraces her own talents under the threat of a United States government that has determined to take her people's land for itself. The year is 1850, and although her family has survived smallpox and unforgiving winters, this latest danger seems insurmountable. Stragglers pushed off their land join the tribe, filling homes emptied by disease and introducing new rivalries. Omakayas feels the first stirrings of romance and proves to the adults that her abilities deserve respect, as she rescues her father from slow death in a frozen lake and helps visualize the new life that the tribe will build to the west. Still a girl, she bristles against the restrictions that adults place on her and struggles to control the jealousy she feels for another girl who has managed to throw off traditional constraints. The first book won enormous praise, including a National Book Award nomination, but this novel is even better. The themes are not only more profound, but the episodic structure of the previous novel is also much exceeded by the interweaving plot threads of young love, sibling rivalry, and frustration with gender roles. The threat that the federal government poses to the community is more than just a framing device; it penetrates all the other concerns of the novel, drawing them tightly together. This novel combines all the emotion and joy of The Birchbark House with an impressive deftness of structure. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, HarperCollins, 256p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 12 to 15.