Buffalo Dreamer
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
An illuminating novel about the importance of reclaiming the past, based on the author’s family history
Summer and her family always spend relaxed summers in Alberta, Canada, on the reservation where her mom’s family lives. But this year is turning out to be an eye-opening one. First, Summer has begun to have vivid dreams in which she's running away from one of the many real-life residential schools that tore Native children from their families and tried to erase their Native identities. Not long after that, she learns that unmarked children’s graves have been discovered at the school her grandpa attended as a child. Now more folks are speaking up about their harrowing experiences at these places, including her grandfather. Summer cherishes her heritage and is heartbroken about all her grandfather was forced to give up and miss out on. When the town holds a rally, she’s proud to take part to acknowledge the painful past and speak of her hopes for the future, and anxious to find someone who can fill her in on the source of her unsettling dreams.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A young girl’s dreams shed light on an atrocity from Canada’s past in this moving and important novel. While on a trip to visit her mother’s family on the Cree reservation in Alberta, 12-year-old Summer begins to have vivid dreams about a daring escape from the local reeducation center known as the Indian Reservation School. Teaming up with her cousin Autumn, Summer strives to learn more about the school’s tragic history, as well as the mysterious figure guiding her dreams who calls herself Buffalo Dreamer. Violet Duncan’s lyrical story is not just captivating—it’s also eye-opening for anyone who wants to know more about the injustices of the reservation schools. Buffalo Dreamer is both an illuminating look at Canada’s abhorrent attempt to erase and assimilate its Indigenous citizens and a celebration of those who survived.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Twelve-year-old Summer is excited to leave Arizona and visit her family on the Cree reservation in Northern Alberta, where she will ride horses and enjoy fish fries with her cousin, kokom, and mosom, who attended a residential school as a child. Shortly before reaching the reservation, however, Summer begins experiencing vivid, persistent dreams about a girl from the past struggling to escape a nearby residential school where, in Summer's waking world, a crew has begun searching for recently discovered unmarked graves. In the dream narrative, the girl, who identifies herself as Buffalo Dreamer, is given the name Mary at the school, which is attempting to separate students from their Indigenous heritage. Buffalo Dreamer moves quickly in her escape attempt, taking back paths to avoid detection until she's caught in a snowstorm. Suddenly, the dreams stop, leaving Summer to wonder if she survived. Plains Cree and Taino author Duncan juxtaposes Summer's intense dreams with the low-conflict nature of her everyday life, which includes detailed descriptions of Native traditions such as picking sweetgrass, making for a brief look into Indigenous customs and history. Ages 10–up.
