Birchbark House

TLouise Erdrich is the first storyt in the series chronicling 100-years in the life of one Ojibwe family, and includes beautiful interior black-and-white artwork done by the author. She was named Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop. Omakayas 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 Omakayas to discover her calling. By turns moving and humorous, this novel is a breathtaking tour de force by a gifted writer.

Her name is Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop, and she lives on an island in Lake Superior.It is 1850 and the lives of the Ojibwe have returned to a familiar rhythm: they build their birchbark houses in the summer, go to the ricing camps in the fall to harvest and feast, and move to their cozy cedar log cabins near the town of LaPointe before the first snows. The satisfying routines of Omakayas's days are interrupted by a surprise visit from a group of desperate and mysterious people. From them, she learns that all their lives may drastically change. The chimookomanag, or white people, want Omakayas and her people to leave their island in Lake Superior and move farther west. Omakayas realizes that something so valuable, so important that she never knew she had it in the first place, is in danger: Her home. Her way of life. In this captivating sequel to National Book Award nominee The Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich continues the story of Omakayas and her family.

In The Porcupine Year, Erdrich takes listeners to 1852 Minnesota. Omakayas, a 12-year-old Ojibwe girl, continues to travel west with her family after white settlers take over their homeland. Erdrich's books on Omakayas have been favorably compared to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books