The Birchbark House - by Louise Erdrich

About the Book

"She was named Omakakiins, or little frog, because her first step was a hop. Omakakiins and her family live on the land her people call the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. Though there are growing numbers of gichi-mookomaanag, white people, encroaching, life continues much as it always has. Every summer they build a new birchbark house. Every fall they go to a ricing camp to harvest and feast. They move to the cedar log house before the first snows arrive, and they celebrate the end of the long, cold winters at spring maple-sugaring camp. In between, Omakakiins fights with her annoying little brother, Pinch; plays with the adorable baby, Niiwo; and tries to be grown up like her big sister, Angeline. But the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever--but that will eventually lead Omakakiins to discover her calling. By turns moving and funny, The Birchbark House is a breathtaking story from acclaimed Louise Erdrich and is the first book in the celebrated series about one Ojibwe family's journey through a hundred years of American history."--

Book Synopsis

A fresh new look for this National Book Award finalist by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich! This is the first installment in an essential nine-book series chronicling one hundred years in the life of one Ojibwe family and includes charming interior black-and-white artwork done by the author.

She was named Omakakiins, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop.

Omakakiins and her family live on an island in Lake Superior. Though there are growing numbers of white people encroaching on their land, life continues much as it always has.

But the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever--but that will eventually lead Omakakiins to discover her calling.

By turns moving and humorous, this novel is a breathtaking tour de force by a gifted writer.

The beloved and celebrated Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich includes The Birchbark House, The Game of Silence, The Porcupine Year, Chickadee, and Makoons, with more titles to come.