Synopsis
Renowned author Joseph Bruchac tells a powerful story of a girl who learns more about her Penacook heritage while sheltering in place with her grandparents during the coronavirus pandemic.
Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation—she’s there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There’s a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration.
Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn’t go out to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian’s family knows that he’ll protect them too.
Told in verse inspired by oral storytelling, this novel about the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the ways in which Indigenous nations and communities cared for one another through plagues of the past, and how they keep caring for one another today.
**Four starred reviews!**
Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction & Poetry Honor
NPR Books We Love
Kirkus Reviews Best Books
School Library Journal Best Books
Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Younger Readers
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Finalist
Nerdy Book Club Award—Best Poetry and Novels in Verse
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About the Author
Joseph Bruchac is a highly acclaimed children’s book author, poet, novelist, and storyteller, as well as a scholar of Native American culture. He is the coauthor of the bestselling Keepers of the Earth series with Michael Caduto. Bruchac's poems, articles, and stories have appeared in hundreds of publications from Akwesasne Notes and American Poetry Review to National Geographic and Parabola. He has authored many books for adults and children including Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two, Skeleton Man, and The Heart of a Chief.
Reviews
Gr 3–8—Malian's weekend trip to visit her grandparents, who live on a reservation, lasted much longer than anticipated. While her parents were sheltering in place in Boston, Malian, an eighth grade Penacook girl, was trying to keep herself and her grandparents safe from COVID-19. In this verse novel, Bruchac takes a look at life in lockdown through the eyes of Malian, who copes with boredom, isolation, and the need to find her place. She befriends a dog, whom she names Malsum, meaning wolf. Like other dogs on the reservation, Malsum, unlike city dogs, is free to roam. Though it isn't always easy to make responsible choices like not seeing friends and trying to catch up on school assignments despite spotty connectivity, Malian finds that Malsum's friendship helps even if he can't solve everything. Many readers will connect with Malian's experience. In addition, the text provides a dose of history, including an introduction to residential schools, relocation, forced sterilization, and more contemporary issues such as racial justice and the disproportionate way that COVID-19 spread in marginalized communities. VERDICT A contemporary novel in verse that deftly handles weighty issues and provides readers a story they can connect with during a pandemic, with a dose of hope for the future.—Monisha Blair, formerly at Rutgers Univ., NJ
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
chapter one
malsum
When Malian woke up
and looked out her window,
the dog was there.
Just as she had
dreamed it would be.
It was lying on the driveway
halfway between
their small house and the road.
It wasn’t sleeping,
its head was up,
its ears erect,
its paws in front of it
as if on guard.
As Malian watched,
the dog turned its head
to look right at her,
as if it knew her,
as if it had known her
for a long, long time.
“Malsum,” she said.
“Kwai, kwai, nidoba.”
Hello, hello, my friend.
The big dog nodded
and then turned back
to continue watching the road.
Malsum. That was
the old name for a wolf.
It was a good one for that dog.
It was as big as a wolf.
It looked like the videos
of wolves she’d watched
on her phone.
The only things different
about it were the white spots
over each of its eyes.
“Four-eyed dog,”
a soft voice said
from back over her shoulder.
It was Grandma Frances.
Malian had not
heard her come up behind.
She was used to that.
Both her grandparents
could walk so softly
that she never knew
they were there
until they spoke.
Grandma Frances
would tease her about it.
“Be careful, granddaughter,
you don’t want
to let no Indian
sneak up on you.”
Grandma Frances
put her hand
on Malian’s shoulder.
“Looks to me
like he thinks
he belongs here,” she said.
Then she chuckled.
“Or maybe like
he thinks he
owns this place.”
“Would that be okay?”
Malian said.
Grandma Frances
chuckled again.
“It seems to me
it’s not up to us.
When a dog like
that just appears
and chooses you,
it’s not your decision.”
“Can I go outside and see
what he does?” Malian said.
“Let’s ask your grampa.
Roy, get in here.”
But Grampa Roy
was already there.
“I’ve been listening
to every word.
Seems to me
if you step outside
and then move real slow
whilst you watch what he does
you’ll be okay.
But just in case,
I’ll be right behind you.”
Malian shook her head.
“Remember what they said?
You and Grandma
should not go outside.
It’s too dangerous—
you might get that virus.
That’s why I can’t
go home to Mom and Dad.”
“And we’re goldarn lucky
you’re here with us,”
Grampa Roy said.
“That old saying about
how we don’t know
what we’d do without you
sure makes sense these days.
So I’ll stay inside—
but you stay in, too.
Just open the door
and we’ll see what he does.”
Malian cracked open the door.
The dog stood up
and turned her way.
He opened his mouth,
let his tongue hang out
in what she knew
had to be a smile.
She held out her wrist.
“Malsum!” she called,
her voice soft but sure.
The big dog walked over
and sniffed her hand.
“Malsum,” she said again,
dropping down to one knee
as she placed her hand
on his broad head.
The dog looked at her,
straight into her eyes.
As he held her gaze
he seemed to Malian
that she could see
intelligence and
even a hint of humor
and a kind of certainty.
Malsum nodded his head
as if to say, Yes
that can be my name.
I am here for you.
Then he licked her fingers
before turning around
and going back,
heavy muscles rippling
beneath his skin,
to drop himself down
where he had been.
“Guess he is
guarding us, for sure,”
Grampa Roy said.
“Looks like you got
a new friend.”
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