BOOK ONE OF THE MISEWA SAGA
The BARREN GROUNDS
Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and their new home -- until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher). The only hunter supporting his starving community, Misewa, Ochek welcomes the human children, teaching them traditional ways to survive. But as the need for food becomes desperate, they embark on a dangerous mission. Accompanied by Arik, a sassy Squirrel they catch stealing from the trapline, they try to save Misewa before the icy grip of winter freezes everything -- including them.
INTRODUCTION
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Comprehension
Start Here
Before you crack open “The Barren Grounds”, watch Ainara’s review of Barren Grounds, and then travel with her to meet author, David A. Robertson.
Go Deeper
MORE TO EXPLORE
In each module, you will be invited to spend time exploring some of the ideas introduced in the book. Make sure you check out the links in this section to discover more interesting, cool, and fun stuff!
Get Creative
The Story Map
While reading this book, we invite you to create a progressive STORY MAP. This is a map of the story setting, but it is more than that. It also shows the paths that the characters take through the story. In each module we’ll add more details and extend the paths to follow the action of the story. Have you ever made anything like this?
We need to make sure we leave space for all of the action coming up, so we’ve created a template for you to start with. You’re welcome to use this template (print it out and add details as we go) or create your own from a blank sheet of paper.
Check out these gorgeous movie plot maps from Andrew DeGraff:
Here’s a REALLY simple example of a story map:
Journal
Writing Prompt
In each module, you will be invited to write some of your thoughts related to the story. You will be given writing prompts… feel free to use these, or write about any other thoughts or connections that came up for you while reading. You can use your own notebook as a journal OR print this journal booklet to fill in as you go.
Here’s your first JOURNAL PROMPT before you dive into Barren Grounds:
After watching the Ainara’s Bookshelf episode with David Robertson (above), what do you think David A. Robertson means when he describes “being in care” and “being in touch with your culture”?
