Gr 5 Up—Collin has been bullied his whole life for counting every letter that is spoken to him and compulsively
saying the number out loud. When he fights back, his dad sends him to live with his mother, whom he has never
met, on an Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota. Collin quickly forms warm relationships with his new family and learns
more about the community. With touches of magical realism, this beautiful story of first love, acceptance, strength,
and loss will appeal to a wide audience.

I was incredibly disappointed by execution of this story and could not bring myself to finish it as it sets out to break stereotypes of Native people and fails in many respects.

Ojibwe scholar David Treuer explains the shortcomings of this novel better than I ever could in his NYT review, stating, "The world depicted in 'The Brave' is not Native American life as I know it. It’s summer camp, complete with exotic names and faux rituals; chock-full of crafts, bravery tests and self-discovery.

I want better books for my Ojibwe/Seneca children to read: books that add to the stock of available reality, that incorporate our Native lives in a way that informs those lives and makes them larger. 'The Brave' does none of those things."

Other Native people and organizations have had similar reactions to this book but many of the reviews on Goodreads do not reflect or account for Native perspectives. A microcosm of misconceptions of Native people, culture, and lifestyle in the US, I find the white-washed responses to this work to be another disappointing element in the critical reception and discussion of this novel.

NYT review: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/books/review/the-brave-j...

The Circle review: http://thecirclenews.org/the-arts/the-brave-is-compelling-but-could-do-without-t...

American Indians in Children's Literature review: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2021/02/not-recommende... ( )

A beautiful debut novel that allows the reader to accompany the main character on his journey. It's about growth and understanding, and changing how you view the world. It's also a brilliant book about accepting people as they are and working hard at becoming your best self. There's something dreamlike and mesmerizing about it, even with the solid grounding where the main story starts out. It begins like any middle grade novel might begin -- with an alienated character in a difficult situation -- but it takes the reader and Collin to places one would never expect it to go.

I deeply appreciate this characterization of Native culture -- it's inherently and unfailingly positive, despite the many losses and challenges Collin's family has experienced. I don't think I've read anything quite like it -- you can see the bones of things that outsiders think they know about reservations, sort of seeping around the edges (poverty, or at least not-wealth, young people joining the military in order to pay for education, a poor rate of attending school) -- but the overlay of the story, which is about the joyful living of the life you have, and the gorgeous appreciation of connections to family and community, and the importance of taking time heal from trauma in nature, and continuing relationships with those who have died -- is transformative and powerful and renders the outsider commentary irrelevant. This book feels like something new. Grateful to see this work from an own voices author.

Advanced Readers Copy provided by Edelweiss. ( )

Collin has a numbers problem: When people speak to him, he's compelled to count the number of letters in their words, and say the total out loud before responding. No one has been able to help, and he's been through a number of schools. His white dad is fed up with him, so he ships Collin off to his mom, who he has never met. On short notice, Collin and his beloved dog Seven are on a plane to Minnesota; Collin's Ojibwe mother meets them there and takes them home to the Fond du Lac reservation, where no one Collin meets bats an eye at his numbers issue. Even better, Collin's new next door neighbor is butterfly-obsessed Orenda, who uses a wheelchair, although she didn't always.

*Spoiler alert*

Orenda - like her mother - has ALS, and is dying. Collin struggles, first to understand what is happening, and then with the reality of it - a reality that's blurred by Orenda's insisting that she is "changing" into a butterfly, like her mom. But Orenda changes Collin, too, strengthening him inside and out by "training" him on his deceased older half-brother's punching bag and garage full of books.

Author James Bird is "half Ojibwe" and tribally enrolled, but I had questions as I was reading, and looked up reviews by Ojibwe writers, academics, and community members when I finished. As Collin has been raised away from his Ojibwe family, it makes sense that he would come in with some stereotypes (some he's aware of, some he isn't) and ignorance; he's admirably open-minded and ready to learn. However, it seems as though the author did not research the setting well (even I know that peaches don't grow in northern Minnesota), and I felt squeamish reading about a ceremony conducted by an "old Native American man" in a teepee (more of a Plains Indian structure?). There's a little too much of this type of thing to overlook; however, the main characters are compelling, and the core messages of the book - to be yourself, to have more bravery than fear, to be strong in the ways that matter, to be inclusive - are good ones.

CBC interview: https://www.cbcbooks.org/2020/08/24/james-bird-the-brave/

Reviews and criticism from Debbie Reese's blog: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/search?q=james+bird+br...

See also: The Someday Suitcase by Corey Ann Haydu, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Quotes

I've read somewhere that there is always something positive to find in every situation. (43)

"That's part of her story, and only she can tell it." (mom's response to Collin's questions about Orenda's condition, 117)

"...I figure, if you fill your head with an entire book, your brain might forget about counting, and maybe, just maybe, you'll listen to the story the words tell instead." (Orenda to Collin, 151)

Even my dad said I shouldn't take this stuff so personally, because this is how kids are. But it's not. I'm a kid, and I'd never [do that]. I think kids only act this way because sometimes adults let them. (183)

Feeling good is better than trying to feel cool....I'd rather be seen as a good person than a cool person. (185)

I've run my entire life. But running never got me anywhere but farther away from where I want to be, from who I want to be. (221)

She is afraid. Maybe not afraid of where she believes she's going, but afraid of leaving behind what she has here now. (242)

"Normal is just another word for boring. Don't be boring. You know what's the opposite of being normal?"
"No. What?"
"Being yourself." (Orenda and Collin, 269) ( )

Before listening to this audiobook, I noted there are concerns regarding some of the content of this book by various commentators. There is one here: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2021/02/not-recommende...
I feel it is important to honour own voices authors and those that have concerns regarding the representation of culture and diversity in all its forms.
Taking the commentary into account, I did listen to this book. I found, as others have, that this is a 'compelling' story, though has some issues readers should be aware of. There are deeply beautiful moments and it is a worthy story to tell.
A boy with OCD returns to a mother he never knew, living in an Ojibwe reservation. He meets and falls in love with a girl who has much to teach him (along with all the other characters he encounters in the community. A coming-of-age style story with strong indigenous (and stereotypical) characters. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook, but do recommend readers consider the comments about the book before reading and reflect on these afterwards. ( )