Exciting, emotional quest of foster kids in fantasy world.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
The story pits the four heroes against a villain in a life-and-death struggle to save the world and its people -- and not all of them survive. Stabbing, slashing, attacks by predatory animals bent on devouring their victims. Weapons are used both for hunting and for attacking and killing your enemies. Graphic scene of cauterizing a character's wound. Scary deep canyons and steep cliffs, in which some characters perish and others have narrow escapes. Several relationships begin with one character planning to eat the other (everyone is starving), but they become friends instead. In the past, First Nations people in Canada suffered many atrocities at the hands of the government, and an Indigenous teen character in the foster care system has traumatic memories of being snatched as a toddler from her screaming teenage mom.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Occasional pop-culture references, like Star Wars.
Diverse Representations
a lot
Protagonists Morgan and Eli are Cree, living in a foster home in an affluent neighborhood in Winnipeg, Canada. Eli speaks the language, Morgan doesn't. Their companions on the adventure are animal beings who walk on two legs and talk. The kids' foster parents are young White professionals. A popular White girl at school befriends Morgan. An animal-being character uses the pronoun "they."
Fantasy tale with frequent homage to Narnia series, as kids travel through a portal to another world, one in which animal beings walk upright and speak, preferably in Cree. Story involves the past history and current reality of Canadian First Nations, including government agents forcing children into boarding schools far from their parents and culture, and children snatched from loving parents into a mostly uncaring foster care system. Lots about wilderness lore, Indigenous storytelling, and many words and phrases in the Cree language. An underlying ecological theme addresses balance of nature, how greed can destroy the world for everyone. The death of a character becomes an origin story for a constellation in the sky.
Positive Messages
a lot
Strong messages of empathy, kindness, teamwork, learning from your mistakes and doing better. Respect for community and culture. "Don't forget about who you are," the parting words of a character's lost mom, are important to the plot and character development.
Positive Role Models
a lot
All the protagonists -- kids Morgan and Eli, and animal beings Ochek and Arik -- are complex and nuanced. Morgan, 13, is angry and suspicious of practically everything and everyone as a result of spending her life in foster care, but her quest in the world of Askí opens her eyes and heart to more positive possibilities. Eli, 12, is grief-stricken and lost in the wake of his father's recent death, and Morgan's kind treatment of him leads to a sibling bond between the two foster kids. Ochek (a fisher, a small, carnivorous northern forest animal) has a strong sense of duty as the sole support of his starving village, a skilled hunter, and a good friend. Arik (a squirrel) starts out as would-be lunch but becomes a strong ally with useful skills. In Winnipeg, the kids' foster parents are young, kind, well-meaning, committed to righting past wrongs against Canada's First Nations; they don't always get it right, but they keep working at it. At school, a popular girl befriends Morgan and introduces her to the notion that kindness is normal, regular behavior.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Barren Grounds is the first book in Canadian author David A. Robertson's Misewa Saga, featuring two Cree kids in Winnipeg, Canada, who, with a nod to The Chronicles of Narnia, find a portal to another world in the attic of their foster home -- a world steeped in Indigenous traditions and populated by animal beings, notably a fisher (a small carnivore of the northern forest) and a squirrel; a world in which it's always winter and everyone's starving thanks to a greedy (and summer-stealing) villain. In the cosmic struggle that involves lots of weapons and many perils, not all the protagonists emerge alive. One dies heroically and becomes a constellation in the sky. Past atrocities against Canada's First Nations are important to the story, and one character relives traumatic memories of being ripped from her teen mom and being sent into foster care as a toddler. Family, friendship, teamwork, empathy, and remembering who you really are are strong themes. The story comes to a satisfying, heart-filled conclusion while leaving much to be explored and resolved in future installments.
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What's the Story?
Cree kids Morgan, 13, who's been in the Canadian foster care system forever, and Eli, 12, who's just landed there, discover a portal in their attic to THE BARREN GROUNDS -- a world where it's always winter and everyone's starving. After many foster homes, Morgan is angry all the time, which leads to a lot of behavior even she realizes is that of a jerk, but she's protective of Eli, which lands her in the world of Askí when he rushes through the portal ahead of her. They soon meet Ochek, a fisher (a carnivorous woodland animal) and Arik, a squirrel, both of whom walk upright, talk, and wear winter gear. They explain that the unending winter is the work of a villain who's stolen summer for himself and gone far away. Ochek in particular wants to find him and bring back summer before everyone in their world is dead. The kids are happy to help. Unfortunately, the last human that the animal beings dealt with was the villain, so it's complicated.
David A. Robertson's lively fantasy steeped in Indigenous tradition, mythic struggle, and righting wrongs takes two Cree foster kids through a portal to a world where it's always winter. As they navigate The Barren Grounds with forest animal companions, Morgan and Eli form a strong bond and find new strength as they struggle to defeat a villain and restore nature's life-sustaining balance. There's tragedy along the way, and trauma, as characters -- nuanced, imperfect, and mostly doing their best -- recall their past. But the exciting, heart-filled first installment reaches a satisfying conclusion while leaving much to unfold in future books.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how characters from our world find a portal into another world, and go through it in TheBarren Grounds. What other stories do you know where this happens? Why do you think this theme has been so popular for so many generations? Do you have any favorite worlds on the other side of the portal?
If some ordinary object in your everyday life was actually a portal to another world, what would it be and how would it work?
In The Barren Grounds, Morgan is very fond of fantasy fiction -- which turns out to give her useful skills as the story unfolds. Have you ever learned ideas or practical skills from fiction that helped you out in your regular life? What happened and how did it turn out?
Available on:
Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
Last updated:
June 30, 2022
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
