Rez Dogs, by noted author Joseph Bruchac, is an example of my contention that some of today’s best writers are doing their work for middle graders. The verse novel begins with Malian, on a visit to her grandparents on a Wabanaki reservation, when she notices a dog. Her connection to the modern world comes immediately.
“Malsum. That was
the old name for a wolf.
It was a good one for that dog.
It was as big as a wolf.
It looked like the videos
of wolves she’d watched
on her phone.
The only things different
about it were the white spots
over each of its eyes.”
Maliam’s visit turns out to be longer than expected because the pandemic hits. She cannot return home to Boston, and her grandparents are warned about the danger of going outside among people. As they shelter in place, Maliam steps up to take responsibility of keeping her grandparents safe and helping them learn to video chat when they can get enough bars to talk to her parents. Her reservation buddies from previous visits tempt her to come outside until she reminds them of their responsibilities to their elders to protect them from this disease.
Difficulties of Mailim’s situation are not ignored as she tries to keep up with classes on an iffy internet connection and feels the uncertainty of when she will be able to be with her parents again instead of having the chancy phone calls. Balanced against those difficulties are her storytelling grandparents, her grandmother’s frybread, and the dog.
This well-written book can be read in a sitting. Everybody who lived through the pandemic will see things that reflect their own experience. Yet there is a look through the window at the different life of a girl who is labelled an apple (red on the outside, white on the inside) by her reservation friends because her daily life in Boston is in such a different culture from theirs. Joseph Bruchac manages to bring insight and honor to all the characters in the book – including Malsam.