The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich

The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich

*Review created for Texas Woman’s University graduate level class*

1.       BIBLIOGRAPHY

Erdrich, Louise. 2005. THE GAME OF SILENCE. New York. Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-029789-1

2.       SUMMARY

Omakayas, or Little Frog, is a young Ojibwe girl who lives on an island in Lake Superior.  The game of silence is played by the children of the tribe during an important meeting; if the children remain silent throughout the meeting they are allowed to pick out a gift.  Common gifts include marbles, dolls, makazinan, leather coats, and knives.  Other gifts may include maple candy, ribbons and more.  It is during this meeting that they learn that the chimookomanag, or white people, want them to leave their home to make room for white settlers.  The Game of Silence describes Omakayas last year on the island she calls home.  The book describes their different settlements based on the seasons; neebin or summer, dagwaging or fall, biboon or winter, and zeegwun or spring, and their move from their island home into the land of the Bwaanag, another Native American tribe. 

3.       CRITICAL REVIEW

Omakayas’ life is full of changes; changes from season to season, growing up, and having to move.  Any child who has ever had to move will relate to her plight.  Her life is full of tasks that her people have been doing for generations such as the girls learning to “sew and bead together, gathered berries, and helped their mothers clean fish.  They also learned early on how to tan hides, a task Omakayas despised.”  Readers may want to learn more about the expulsion of the Native American tribes to western lands, as well as the lives of different Native American tribes. 

The treaties were broken repeatedly by the chimookomanag, and the tribes were given rotting supplies, and blankets that were covered in diseases like small pox.  Erdrich gives details of the year, 1849, through the clothing the white settlers wear, the descriptions of the landscape, as well as the descriptions of the priest looking for souls and the tribe describing the priest as a “soul stealer”.  Readers will be able to identify with Omakayas and her fears of growing up, the love she has for her siblings, even Pinch who drives her crazy, and the love she has for her parents. 

4.       REVIEWS

“Eager readers beguiled by her sturdy and engaging person will scarcely notice that they have absorbed great draughts of Ojibwe culture, habits and language”… Kirkus Reviews

“this meticulously researched novel offers an even balance of joyful and sorrowful moments while conveying a perspective of America's past that is rarely found in history books”… Publishers Weekly

Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction

ALA Notable Children’s Book

ALA Booklist Editor’s Choice

5.       CONNECTIONS

Visit the local museum to see any Native American exhibits

Have children play a game of silence in class for rewards such as extra credit, candy bars, and free homework passes among others

Read The Birchbark House the prequel to The Game of Silence

Read The Porcupine Year, the sequel to The Game of Silence

Works Cited

Harper Collins Publishers. "The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich." Accessed July 26, 2012. http://www.harpercollins.com/book/index.aspx?isbn=9780060297893.

Kirkus Reviews. "The Game of Silence." Accessed July 26, 2012. http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/louise-erdrich/the-game-of-silence/#review.

Publishers Weekly. "Children's Review: The Game of Silence." Accessed July 26, 2012. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-029789-3.