http://www.amazon.com/The-Game-Silence-Louise-Erdrich/dp/0064410293
Erdrich, Louise. 2005. The Game of Silence. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publications. ISBN 0060297891.
Summary
Nine-year-old Omakayas, a name meaning Little Frog, lives with her family on an island in Lake Superior. They are an Ojibwe tribe and the year is 1850. Their lives follow the rhythms of the seasons; in the summer they live in birchbark houses, go to ricing camps for fall harvest, and move to their warm log cabin near the town of LaPointe before the first winter snowfall. Her family's way of life is threatened, when the chimookomanag, or white people, want the Ojibwe to leave their native island home to move further west to the Great Plains. The adults challenge the children to play the game of silence, when they gather to discuss the changes that endanger their way of life. This book can be read as a sequel to Erdrich's Birchbark House, or as a stand alone title.
Critical Analysis
Readers will identify with Omakayas, both the challenges she faces and her love for her family. Her emotions as a sometimes frustrated and jealous sibling will be believable, and readers will delight in Omakayas's journey of learning the virtue of patience and knowing the value of finding your place in a community. Although, her character is grounded in the tradition and culture of her people and time, readers can relate to her feelings and struggles as a member of the Ojibwe community. The plot of The Game of Silence presents history with an accurate, well rounded look at events, and does not gloss over uncomfortable topics such as death from small pox or starvation, or the injustice forced upon the Ojibwe by the federal government. The plot provides many details of the time period, without overwhelming the reader, but rather incorporating them into the story. For example, readers will learn how the Ojibwe people made birch bark canoes, harvested wild rice along the lake area shore, and made medicines from wild planets.
The setting of The Game of Silence plays a major role in the story that Erdrich has created. Lake Superior provides both a loved home and place for the rich traditions of the Ojibwe tribe, however; it also presents environmental challenges that threatened their safety and lives. Erdrich vividly describes the mid-nineteenth century in the Lake Superior area through the clothes worn by both the members of the Ojibwe tribe and white settlers in the town of LaPointe and the traditions practiced by the Ojibwe tribe. Themes of community and family run through The Game of Silence and readers will connect with their universal impact. Omakayas learns that although she does not want to leave the land she loves, her home will always be where her family is.
Of Ojibwe descent herself, Erdrich captures life in Omakayas' s community with careful detail. Many Ojibwe words are used in the story, and Erdrich provides a glossary and pronunciation guide of Ojibwe terms in the back of the book. Erdrich's pencil drawings add a to the richness of the story and capture the spirit of the characters. Erdrich offers in her author's note further resources for readers who would like to more about the language of the Obijwe. Erdrich balances the historical facts in the book with Omakayas' story; readers will gain an understanding of the time period and be engrossed in the Ojibwe way of life. Well-developed characters and a variety of personalities prevent the stereotyping of characters, and although; the chimookomanag are the antagonist of the story, a balance view is presented by the inclusion of white characters who were kind and befriended the Obijwe.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly, May 30, 2005, praises The Game of Silence, "The unadorned narrative, sprinkled with ancient legends, clearly expresses not only the traditions and rituals of the Ojibwe but also their values and religious beliefs. Erdrich's pencil drawings (somewhat reminiscent of the style of Garth Williams's illustrations for the Little House series) capture the mood and spirit of such characters as Pinch, Omakayas's mischievous little brother and noble Old Tallow, who gives Omakayas a precious gift. Like its prequel, 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."
In an August 2005, Voice of Youth Advocates review, The Game of Silence is compared to The Birchbark House, "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."
Awards
In 2006, The Game of Silence won the Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award and American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award.
Connections
Readers who enjoyed The Game of Silence could also read Erdrich's other Birchbark house novels, The Birchbark House, The Porcupine Year, and Chickadee. These have been described as the Native American equivalent to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series.
Children can learn more about the Ojibwe Language and Culture and the challenges Native Americans face today at PBS.org. PBS has created a website to accompany their two-part series of documentaries, Indian Country Diaries, that explores the challenges facing Native Americans in the 21st Century. The website offers information and further resources for learning about the Ojibwe people.
Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed November 11, 2013
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