Buffalo Dreamer
by Violet Duncan
Intermediate, Middle School    Paulsen/Penguin    128 pp.
8/24    9780593624814    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780593624821    $10.99

Twelve-year-old Summer is excited for her annual visit to her maternal grandparents and extended family on a Cree reservation in Canada. After crossing the border, Summer falls asleep in the car and dreams that she is a young Cree girl trying to escape a residential school. Shortly after she wakes up, she and her mother pass the residential school the government once forced her mosom (grandfather) to attend. The strange dreams continue while she’s on the rez; Summer learns that the young Cree girl’s name is Buffalo Dreamer, but the school calls her Mary. When Summer tells her cousin Autumn about her dreams, the two decide to investigate what became of Buffalo Dreamer. Along with providing a glimpse into life on a Cree reservation today, Duncan’s middle grade–friendly narrative introduces readers to the devastating impact of residential schools. For example, readers learn that Mosom had to learn Cree customs from his wife because the school prohibited him from engaging in them. The chapters that follow Buffalo Dreamer reveal the dangers of trying to escape from the school. An author’s note adds personal context; a glossary (unseen) is appended.

From the ">September/October 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.