This was an amusing, almost tongue-in-cheek adventure on the Otter Lake reserve of the Anishnawbe in Ontario. While the beginning was a bit rocky, related to kids being scooped for residential school, the story flashed forward to the present, becoming intriguing, mysterious and realistic at the same time.

The characters were so adroitly shown in the narrative that it was simply delightful to get to know them and go with the flow, a touch of myth and magic, a slightly cynical flavour of white politics messing around with Indians and their traditions. It was great! ( )

I thought this book was fantastic. An interesting story, interesting characters, and the plot development felt fast enough and not too bogged down in the details (my preference). There were lots of Anishanawbe teachings (though I am not Indigenous so I can't speak to how well they are written/would be read by Anishanawbe and other Indigenous peoples).

I would recommend this book to anyone ready for a lightish, quirky, and educational read. ( )

A wonderful book to read. Interesting, funny, but still giving away a dmall glimpse of the live of Native Canadians (if that term exists).
Feels like going back to my childhood days, when I nearly ate the Winnetou-series. This book is more about modern times, which is good. You can't dwell in the past, but do need to remember/keep the stories, if not the spirit alive.

I wondered what would have happened, if Maggie had reacted differently to John-with-the-thousand-last-names's action near the end of the book.
And did Virgil pass his exam?

I will try to get my hands on more books on/by natives. Not only of Indian descend, but also Aboriginals and I suppise there will be many more. I love stories and I think in our modern world they still deserve to be heard (or read in my case). ( )

This story taken from Anishinaabe legend mines similar territory to where Charles de Lint tends to go.

It was quite readable and enjoyable except for one character, Wayne, whom I found totally jarring to the story. I think he would have been better as an extra in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon than in this aboriginal legend.

On the other hand, the rest of the cast...particularly the main character...were well drawn. They could easily have fallen into stereotypes or single-faceted symbols, but didn't. ( )

Fun and funny! ( )