For as long as Omakayas can remember, she and her family have lived on the land her people call the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. Although the chimookoman, white people, encroach more and more on their land, life continues much as it always has. Every summer the family builds a new birchbark house; every fall they go to ricing camp to harvest and feast; they move to the cedar log house before the first snows arrive, and celebrate the end of the long, cold winters at maple-sugaring camp. In between, Omakayas fights with her annoying little brother Pinch, plays with the adorable baby, Neewo, and tries to be grown-up like her beautiful older sister, Angeline. But the satisfying rhythms of their lives are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Erdrich's (Grandmother's Pigeon) debut novel for children is the first in a projected cycle of books centering on an Ojibwa family on an island in Lake Superior. Opening in the summer of 1847, the story follows the family, in a third-person narrative, through four seasons; it focuses on young Omakayas, who turns "eight winters old" during the course of the novel. In fascinating, nearly step-by-step details, the author describes how they build a summer home out of birchbark, gather with extended family to harvest rice in the autumn, treat an attack of smallpox during the winter and make maple syrup in the spring to stock their own larder and to sell to others. Against the backdrop of Ojibwa cultural traditions, Omakayas also conveys the universal experiences of childhood--a love of the outdoors, a reluctance to do chores, devotion to a pet--as well as her ability to cope with the seemingly unbearable losses of the winter. The author hints at Omakayas's unusual background and her calling as a healer, as well as the imminent dangers of the "chimookoman" or white people, setting the stage for future episodes. Into her lyrical narrative, Erdrich weaves numerous Ojibwa words, effectively placing them in context to convey their meanings. Readers will want to follow this family for many seasons to come. Ages 9-up. (May) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 4-6-In her first novel for young readers, Erdrich has written and illustrated an evocative work about a young Ojibwa girl who lives on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. Although white settlers continue to encroach on Ojibwa land, Omakayas and her family continue to live as her people have lived for centuries. Each summer they build a new birchbark house; each winter's end is celebrated at the maple-sugaring camp; and every day the child lovingly cares for her infant brother and puts up with Pinch, her annoying younger brother. The ebb and flow of these seasonal and familial rhythms is abruptly altered when an ailing white man enters their midst, unknowingly bringing smallpox to the settlement. Omakayas's family falls ill and the young girl, who surprisingly does not contract the disease, nurses them with her last ounce of strength. But she cannot save her beloved baby brother, who dies in her arms. Omakayas falls into a severe depression that only time, rest, and the intervention of a taciturn, eccentric neighbor can overcome. While this title will not appeal to fans of fast-paced action, readers who enjoy a variety of deftly drawn characters, relationships that ring true, and fascinating details about the daily life of the Ojibwa will be attracted to this endearing and irrepressible girl.-Peggy Morgan, The Library Network, Southgate, MI Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa, was inspired to write The Birchbark House while she and her mother, Rita Gourneau Erdrich, were researching their own family history. She is the author of many critically acclaimed and best-selling books for adults, including Love Medicine, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner, and most recently Tales of Burning Love and The Antelope Wife. She has also written a picture book, Grandmother's Pigeon. The Birchbark House is her first novel for young readers, and the first book she has illustrated. Louise Erdrich lives with her daughters in Minnesota. She is pictured here with her daughter Pallas's hand-raised crow, Mab, who has since returned to the wild. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The Girl from Spirit Island	1
Neebin (Summer)
1. The Birchbark House	5
2. Old Tallow	19
3. The Return	33
4. Andeg	51
Deydey's Ghost Story	61
Dagwaging (Fall)
5. Fishtail's Pipe	73
6. Pinch	82
7. The Move	99
8. First Snow	107
Biboon (Winter)
9. The Blue Ferns	121
Grandma's Story: Fishing the Dark Side of the Lake	134
10. The Visitor	140
11. Hunger	162
Nanabozho and Muskrat Make An Earth	172
Zeegwun (Spring)
12. Maple Sugar Time	189
13. One Horn's Protection	216
14. Full Circle	221
Note on the Ojibwa language	240
Glossary and pronounciation guide of Ojibwa terms	241

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.