The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga, Book One

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 at their new home until they find a secret portal to another reality. They meet Ochek, the only hunter supporting his starving community who teaches the kids traditional ways to survive.

Children's Books

Robertson, David A.

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

Puffin Canada

Narnia meets traditional Indigenous stories of the sky and constellations in an epic middle-grade fantasy series from award-winning author David Robertson.\nMorgan 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 at 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.

Tundra Books

The Great Bear: The Misewa Saga, Book Two

In this second book in the Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series, Eli and Morgan journey once more to Misewa, travelling back in time. Back at home after their first adventure in the Barren Grounds, Eli and Morgan each struggle with personal issues- Eli is being bullied at school, and tries to hide it from Morgan, while Morgan has to make an important decision about her birth mother. They turn to the place where they know they can learn the most, and make the journey to Misewa to visit their animal friends. This time they travel back in time and meet a young fisher that might just be their lost friend. But they discover that the village is once again in peril, and they must dig deep within themselves to find the strength to protect their beloved friends. Can they carry this strength back home to face their own challenges?

The Stone Child: The Misewa Saga, Book Three

It's a race against time to save Eli, in this third book in the award-winning, Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series. After discovering a near-lifeless Eli at the base of the Great Tree, Morgan knows she doesn't have much time to save him. And it will mean asking for help - from friends old and new. Racing against the clock, and with Arik and Emily at her side, Morgan sets off to follow the trail away from the Great Tree to find Eli's soul before it's too late. As they journey deep into the northern woods, a place they've been warned never to enter, they face new challenges and life-threatening attacks from strange and horrifying creatures. But a surprise ally comes to their aid, and Morgan finds the strength to focus on what's most important- saving her brother's life.

Product Description 
A picture book celebrating Indigenous culture and traditions. The Governor General Award--winning team behind When We Were Alone shares a story that honors our connections to our past and our grandfathers and fathers.\nA boy and Moshom, his grandpa, take a trip together to visit a place of great meaning to Moshom. A trapline is where people hunt and live off the land, and it was where Moshom grew up. As they embark on their northern journey, the child repeatedly asks his grandfather, "Is this your trapline?" Along the way, the boy finds himself imagining what life was like two generations ago -- a life that appears to be both different from and similar to his life now. This is a heartfelt story about memory, imagination and intergenerational connection that perfectly captures the experience of a young child's wonder as he is introduced to places and stories that hold meaning for his family. 
 Review 
WINNER of the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature — Illustrated Books!One of 
CCBC’s Best Books for Kids and Teens, Fall 2021 
— Starred PickOne of Quill & Quire's 2021 Books of the YearA New York Public Library Best Book for Kids (2021)\n“An outstanding contribution to the literature about family, intergenerational friendship, remembrance, community, Indigenous experience, and more.” 
—STARRED REVIEW, The Horn Book\n“Robertson’s text is as spare as Flett’s artwork, leaving plenty of space for readers to feel the emotions evoked by both.” 
—STARRED REVIEW, 
Kirkus Reviews\n“A deeply affecting journey of memory and history.” 
—STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly“This second collaboration between the Governor-General’s Award-winning writer-illustrator team — who share common Cree ancestry — focuses on the connection between a boy and his moshom (grandpa) as they travel by plane, foot and boat to the northern wilderness, where a young moshom once lived off the land with his family.” 
—Globe and Mail\n"There are many lessons to be learned in this gentle story about intergenerational respect and relationships, both with people and the land." 
—Canadian Children’s Book Centre\n“[A] powerful story well told in an understated manner.” 
—CM: Canadian Review of Materials“ 
On the Trapline is a stunning picture book that highlights Indigenous values, including the deep connections to family and the land.” 
—Mutually Inclusive 
 About the Author 
DAVID A. ROBERTSON's books include the Governor General Literary Award--winning 
When We Were Alone (McNally Robinson Best Book for Young People, TD Canadian Children's Literature Award finalist, Indigenous Literature Award finalist), 
Will I See? (Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Award, Graphic Novel Category), the YA novel 
Strangers (Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction), and the adult novel 
The Evolution of Alice (Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, Inuit Literature finalist). David also won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer in 2015. David educates as well as entertains through his writings about Indigenous Peoples, reflecting their cultures, histories, communities, as well as illuminating many contemporary issues. David is a member of Norway House Cree Nation. He lives in Winnipeg.\nJULIE FLETT is a Cree-Métis author, illustrator and artist. She has received many awards including the 2017 Governor General Literary Award for her work on 
When We Were Alone by David Robertson (High Water Press), the 2016 American Indian Library Association Award for Best Picture Book for 
Little You by Richard Van Camp, and she is the three-time recipient of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Award for 
Owls See Clearly at Night; 
A Michif Alphabet by Julie Flett, 
Dolphin SOS by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki and 
My Heart Fills with Happiness by Monique Gray Smith. Her own 
Wild Berries was featured in 
The New York Times and included among Kirkus's Best Children's Books of 2013. 
Wild Berries was also chosen

On the Trapline

Growing Up & Facts of Life

One summer day, Lauren and her little brother, James, go on a trip to the land with their Moshom (grandfather). After they've arrived, the children decide to fish for dinner while Moshom naps. They are in their canoe in the middle of the lake when the water around them begins to swirl and crash. They are thrown overboard and when Lauren surfaces she sees her brother being pulled away by the Memekwesewak - creatures who live in and around water and like to interfere with humans. Lauren must follow the Memekwesewak through a portal and along a watery path to find and bring back James. But when she finally comes upon her brother, she too feels the lure of the Memekwesewak's song. Something even stronger must pull them back home.

The Song That Called Them Home

The Old Testament and the Literary Critic

Religion & Spirituality

Fortress Press

Black Water: Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory

A Globe and Mail Top 100 Book of the Year A Quill & Quire Book of the Year A CBC Books Nonfiction Book of the Year A Maclean's 20 Books You Need to Read this Winter "An instant classic that demands to be read with your heart open and with a perspective widened to allow in a whole new understanding of family, identity and love." --Cherie Dimaline In this bestselling memoir, a son who grew up away from his Indigenous culture takes his Cree father on a trip to the family trapline and finds that revisiting the past not only heals old wounds but creates a new future The son of a Cree father and a white mother, David A. Robertson grew up with virtually no awareness of his Indigenous roots. His father, Dulas--or Don, as he became known--lived on the trapline in the bush in Manitoba, only to be transplanted permanently to a house on the reserve, where he couldn't speak his language, Swampy Cree, in school with his friends unless in secret. David's mother, Beverly, grew up in a small Manitoba town that had no Indigenous people until Don arrived as the new United Church minister. They married and had three sons, whom they raised unconnected to their Indigenous history. David grew up without his father's teachings or any knowledge of his early experiences. All he had was "blood memory": the pieces of his identity ingrained in the fabric of his DNA, pieces that he has spent a lifetime putting together.&nbsp;It has been the journey of a young man becoming closer to who he is, who his father is and who they are together, culminating in a trip back to the trapline to reclaim their connection to the land. Black Water&nbsp;is a memoir&nbsp;about intergenerational trauma and healing, about connection and about how Don's life informed David's own. Facing up to a story nearly erased by the designs of history, father and son journey together back to the trapline at Black Water and through the past to create a new future. &nbsp;

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

HarperCollins, Publishers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Robertson, David A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Robertson, David A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Robertson, David A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga, Book One

The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga, Book One

The Great Bear: The Misewa Saga, Book Two

The Great Bear: The Misewa Saga, Book Two

The Stone Child: The Misewa Saga, Book Three

The Stone Child: The Misewa Saga, Book Three

On the Trapline

The Song That Called Them Home

The Old Testament and the Literary Critic

Black Water: Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory