Published: 2020
Series: The Misewa Saga
Author: David A. Robertson
Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Indigenous, Fiction, Young Adult, Canada, Adventure, Animals
Audience (Grade Levels): Middle Grade; Grades 5-8
Number of Stars: 4-Stars
Goodreads Link: The Barren Grounds
Triggers: Separation from biological families, systemic foster care trauma, environmental peril, starvation elements
Review By: Deb McHugh
Publisher’s Summary
Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home — until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher). The only hunter supporting his starving community, Misewa, Ochek welcomes the human children, teaching them traditional ways to survive. But as the need for food becomes desperate, they embark on a dangerous mission. Accompanied by Arik, a sassy Squirrel they catch stealing from the trapline, they try to save Misewa before the icy grip of winter freezes everything — including them.
Review
In The Barren Grounds by David Robertson, Eli and Morgan are members of an indigenous tribe who have been placed in a home with an affluent white family by the foster care system. They discover a secret room in the attic and with the help of Eli’s drawing skills, a portal to a very cold world opens. They are met there by a fisher named Ochek who explains that “man” visited before and stole something from them that has caused the green-time to go away. Ochek and the children, along with a squirrel named Arik, go on a quest to find the missing items and help heal the land.
Morgan is a 13 year old indigenous young lady who struggles to control her anger. She ran away from her last foster home and is struggling to discover who she really is as a person in this new foster home. Eli is a 12 year old indigenous young man who has been placed in the foster system after his father died. He draws beautiful, realistic pictures which sometimes seem to come to life when Morgan is around. Ochek is a fisher in the land of Aski. He holds the survival of the village on his shoulders as he does the hunting for the entire village. Arik is a squirrel who is caught stealing food from the traps set by Ochek. Arik convinces Ochek not to eat her by explaining that she knows where the stolen items are being held. Each of the characters is well developed and you can’t help routing for each of them in turn. The sarcastic and humorous interactions between the characters helps cast some brightness and lightheartedness into what is sometimes a gloomy novel.
Misewa is a village located in the land of Aski which is connected to Earth through a portal in an attic and it is hinted that other portals are located in other parts of Aski as well. The land is dying because something was stolen by a “man” which led to the Green Time disappearing from the land. In turn, this led to the plant life dying and animals unable to survive either. When Morgan first enters the land, it is described as, “An endlessly barren landscape. The wind was severe, kicking up snow and spinning it around in countless miniature tornado.” You can just feel how cold this land is and want to learn more about it.
This fiction book with fantasy elements and indigenous characters is a powerful read and you will be left wanting to know what happens to these characters and Misewa next. I enjoyed reading this book and really appreciated the humor that Arik brought to the novel which helped lighten up some of the darker parts of the story.
Classroom & Curricular Connections
- ELA / Comparative Mythology & Narnia Retellings: This novel serves as a perfect modern companion or comparative text to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Students can analyze how Robertson utilizes the portal fantasy trope to address themes of cultural displacement, survival, and ancestral heritage rather than traditional Eurocentric tropes.
- Social Studies / Indigenous Experiences & History: Excellent for middle-grade social studies when evaluating modern Indigenous cultures, the complexities of the North American foster care system regarding Indigenous children, and traditional ecological knowledge (such as Ochek teaching the kids how to live on the land).
- SEL (Social-Emotional Learning): Focuses directly on working through deep-seated anger, searching for identity and cultural roots while living in unfamiliar spaces, and creating found-family bonds in the face of isolation.
Diversity & Representation
The Barren Grounds provides vital, authentic representation by placing two Indigenous foster children at the absolute center of an epic fantasy quest. Rather than erasing their cultural trauma, the book highlights their path to reclamation, integrating traditional Cree-inspired storytelling, connection to the land, and animal guardians to celebrate Indigenous strength and resilience in a modern format.
Readalikes
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
- Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
