Wiijiwaaganag: More Than Brothers

When the father of white 13-year-old Roger Poznanski dies of tuberculosis in 1891, Roger is sent to live with his uncle, who’s the headmaster of Poleville Indian School, a boarding school in northern Minnesota where Indigenous teens are forcibly educated in Eurocentric values. At first Roger fears the Indigenous students, having grown up with his father’s xenophobic tales, until he meets Niizh Eshkanag, an Anishinaabe boy and the first of his generation to attend the school. Through their developing friendship, Roger learns how Native peoples are treated harshly—and sometimes killed—by white men. Roger is also frequently mistreated by white elders for his relationship with Niizh (“The whipping was light, though it stung, and Roger struggled to understand why friendship needed to be punished”). Roger eventually flees to spend the summer with Niizh and his family, who teach him about Anishinaabe culture. Paragraphs written in Ojibwemowin feature prominently throughout this novel by late Nahgahchiwanong author Razor (While the Locust Slept), who provides a solid foundational narrative of an often underreported time in history via an endearing friendship. An Ojibwemowin glossary, character notes, and historical facts conclude. Ages 12–up. (Jan.)