Malian is on the Rez with her grandparents during lockdown when she meets a dog who becomes her companion and protector. This story takes place during the March 2020 lockdown and how Malian ended up staying with her grandparents and separated from her parents due to travel restrictions.

It’s an early chapter book that deals with some difficult topics in an easier-to-digest way for young readers: the pandemic, generational trauma, and the attempted genocide of Native Americans. Joseph Bruchac educates readers about the boarding schools Native Americans were sent to and how it wasn’t that far into the past—it was Malian’s grandparents who were sent away and stripped of their cultures and traditions—and how a modern-day form still exists with CPS taking Native kids from their families “for their own good.” This book is a good reminder that many of the atrocities against indigenous people aren’t from the distant past, but affect generations still alive today.

Bruchac uses traditional stories for readers to connect and understand Malian and her family. This was a wonderful introduction to life on the Rez without stereotyping indigenous people as well as the change to virtual education and connecting with the rest of the world during quarantine time. I did not expect to feel so much for the dog who ends up adopting Malian and her grandparents, but I’ll be hugging my dog extra tight!

This is the first book I've read about the pandemic and I thought it was the perfect book to share with elementary students. It presents their experiences in a way that doesn't force the reader to relive through trauma. The verse structure made it quick to read with great content. I also think it is good Native American representation and taught a lot of important history that kids probably have not learned in school.

Rez Dogs is quiet but strong gem of a read. Bruchac weaves recent memory with history in an effortless way. This would make a great classroom read aloud, book club choice, or chapter a night bedtime read aloud,

This is the first novel I read that occurs during the Covid-19 time period. I enjoyed this novel in verse and I think it's a great addition to any middle school library collection.

My Thoughts:

Poet Joseph Bruchac writes a timely, spiritual novel in verse about a young girl who is sent to visit her grandparents on the Wabanaki reservation. When the COVID-19 pandemic starts shutting down travel around the country, she stays with her grandparents to take care of them, while the rest of her family stays in Boston.

While on the reservation, Malian is adopted by a large local dog, Malsum, who also protects Mailian and her grandparents. Malsum is exactly what this young girl needs and he quickly becomes an understanding friend and confidante.

This novel in verse was a gentle way to learn about Native American trauma while still keeping compassionate action in the forefront. I also really gravitated toward Malsum who seemed intelligent and immortal. As a young girl who also spent a lot of summers being raised by my grandparents on another island, I loved the idea of a dog who comes and stays with families and children who need him.

The relationship Malian has with her grandparents, as well as the love that her parents show to her for doing this for her grandparents just broke my heart, not because it was sad, but because I would love to get that kind of time back with my own grandparents. I loved to sit at the table or help them in the garden and just listen to stories about my parents, my aunts, uncles, other elders. I do not have the same relationship with my own grandchildren that I had with my grandparents, but when they get a little older, I hope my children will send my grandkids to spend summers with us just by themselves. I would love to honor my grandparents by sharing their stories, their recipes, their love with my own grandkids. When we talk about seven generation work, I think sharing our elder knowledge through our stories is the foundation for seven generation work. This book just brings that responsibility back for me.

From the Publishers:
From the U.S.'s foremost indigenous children's author comes a middle grade verse novel set during the COVID-19 pandemic, about a Wabanaki girl's quarantine on her grandparents' reservation and the local dog that becomes her best friend

Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation. She’s there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There’s a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration.

Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family and community safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn’t go outside to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian’s family knows that he’ll protect them too.

Told in verse inspired by oral storytelling, this novel about the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the ways Malian’s community has cared for one another through plagues of the past, and how they keep caring for one another today.

This short, sweet story was a breath of fresh air. It didn't shy away from how weird the beginning of the pandemic was for everybody. It was respectful (in my non-Native opinion) of family and educators, and it gave a taste of what Native Americans on reservations have dealt with while trying to keep it from being overwhelming for young readers. I think that's probably a really hard balance to strike and it seemed to be handled well.
That being said, I'm a white non-Native person and I do not have the background to assess if this is a faithful portrayal of life in that particular reservation or of Native people in general. Therefore, my review should *not* be the one you look to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an early E-ARC of this book.

There are so many things I loved about this book. To have a story that gives a glimpse into pandemic life from the perspective of a child, is incredibly powerful. The struggles of zoom classes and the isolation felt while sheltering in place are real, and to have this captured in a middle grade novel is, in my opinion, important.

Our Native Nations were hit hard early in the pandemic suffering huge loss of life and struggling to receive adequate medical help. This is also addressed in the book connecting some of the historical neglect and mistreatment of our Native American people with the lack of support they desperately needed during the early months of the pandemic.

Also woven into the storyline is the protesting happening across the country after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. All these events, these moments from the past year need to be remembered, and they are uniquely captured in this middle grade story.

As the main character Malian spends time with her grandparents during the lockdown on the Rez, we learn about the personal experiences of her family, her culture, and about our own history through their stories. Her grandparents say no one needs to feel guilty about the past unless they are doing nothing about it in the present. What a powerful message indeed.

I look forward to sharing this title when it comes out in June.

This was the first covid based novel I've read, and I'm sure there are more to come, but this was a wonderful book that used it as a base and did not focus on it as an issue. Malian, who was only supposed to be visiting her grandparents on the reservation for a weekend, has been living with them since the lock down began. She tries to do her schoolwork, but unfortunately she can only get signal to her tablet every so often and so spends her time helping her grandparents and listening to stories of their people. Told in brief chapters full of beautiful poetry, Malian learns about the forced removal of Native/Indigenous children to white schools to learn English and become "less savage", she learns about the forced removal of children from reservations and put into foster care because their parents were "unfit", she learns about the forced sterilization of Native/Indigenous women and how her father was a "miracle baby" as her grandmother was not supposed to have been able to have any more children, and although she learns about all these horrible things done to her people, she also learns the wonderful stories about how her people came to be, and why dogs are so important to them, and how they continue to survive even with the world against them. Throughout all of this she has her wonderful dog Malsum, who just appeared at the reservation one day, as her protector and friend. Heartbreakingly beautiful, and definitely one needed to keep opening the conversation about treatment of Native/Indigenous people in America.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for offering the e-ARC of this novel through the SLJ's Middle Grade Magic.

Written in verse, this novel is a quick read. Malian ends up quarantining with her grandparents on the reservation where they live. Sprinkled throughout the book are some of the stories of the atrocities that have been inflicted upon Native Americans throughout the past few centuries. If the book was done as a read-aloud, it would be the catalyst for some important conversations that don't always happen naturally in a classroom. I will be adding this book to my classroom library to provide "mirrors" to some of my students.

This #ownvoices elementary/middle grade novel addresses the COVID-19 pandemic from a unique point of view - that of a girl who is visiting grandparents on a reservation when the shelter in place orders are handed down, and stays with her grandparents for an extended time because of this. She befriends a "rez dog" that shows up when her stay begins, and during her time with her grandparents she hears many stories of her family's and tribe's history.
The book is well-written, with the Native stories woven throughout the narrative. It's an excellent book that would be a good choice for a classroom read-aloud.

Rez Dogs is am absolutely wonderful #ownvoices novel-in-verse for middle grade readers. Bruchac is the U.S.'s foremost indigenous children's author, and in his latest book he takes on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malian was visiting her grandparents on the reservation when the pandemic started and the world shut down. She's staying on the reservation in quarantine, and though she misses her parents in Boston, she is glad for the opportunity to help care for her grandparents during this scary, difficult time. When a dog shows up in their yard, Malian knows he has come to guard them and their home. Malian's grandparents share stories of their ancestors and their exposure to dangerous European diseases; of her grandfather's terrible ordeal at a residential school,; and of Malian's own mother, who was taken from her home to live in foster care as a child simply because she was Native, and her return to her Native community as a teenager.

Throughout it all, we have the themes of survival and of a community caring for each other, especially the most vulnerable. While the writing is spare, the story is rich and unfolds with quiet depth and beauty. Accessible to younger middle grade readers, it would provide a wonderful opportunity to explore Indigenous issues. I loved Malian's relationship with her loving grandparents, and the responsibility she feels for their safety and survival. This is the first book I've read that directly addresses the current pandemic, and I think kids will relate and identify with the story and Malian. And Malsum--the dog! What a wonderful addition that will certainly appeal to animal lovers. Highly recommend this simple, beautiful, moving story to middle grade (and older!) readers.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for offering the e-ARC of this novel in verse through SLJ's Middle Grade Magic event.

This exceptionally quick read is a great introduction into some of the injustices suffered by the United States' indigenous people. It also serves as a reminder that the reservations are often hit hardest by what is going on in the country, in this case the current pandemic.

Told in prose, this novel captures the experience of a young girl who finds herself isolating with her grandparent's on their reserve when the COVID-19 pandemic hits. It's a heartwarming look at how families can care for each other even when dealing with outside pressures and the pandemic, and it's a great read for younger readers who feel frustrated or uncertain about the on-going limitations of the pandemic. This would also make a great classroom read with a lot of themes that can be pulled out and discussed at length with various age-groups.

This novel in verse is set during the COVID-19 pandemic and is about Malian, a Wabanaki girl, quarantined with her grandparents on their reservation at the start of the pandemic. She meets a dog, who is always guarding their house (even unexpectedly saves her from a weird situation) named Malsum. Malian is learning virtually even with her unsteady Internet connection and she and grandparents are socially distanced from anyone who visits. What is most special are the stories told by her grandparents about their ancestors who have survived epidemics and many other cruel hardships. She also learns about other rez dogs, like Malsum. Joseph Bruchac is a phenomenal writer and did a remarkable job with this timely novel in verse. I read Peacemaker last year and could get a glimpse of how moving his writing style is.

An appealing and very well written book that gives a good flavor of life of Native Americans and their dogs. Great to see a classic author still writing for children!

Joseph Bruchac has been writing own voice stories for a long time. This one is simply beautiful. He skillfully weaves past history, current events and Native American stories in a swift but deep poetic narrative. Malian is visiting her grandparents when Covid-19 shelter in place orders keep her on the reservation. A dog chooses to spend time with her, and he and her grandparents stories - historical and legend - help Malian and the reader find connections to the past and the future in the events of 2020. This is a quick read that will stay with you long after the cover is closed. Highly recommended.

I received an ARC of the book in exchange got my review. All opinions expressed are my own.

After Bruchac talk at Middle Grade Magic, I knew I had to read this book! It did not disappoint. I love novels in verse and the layers of stories in this story are beautiful. I can’t wait for my students to read Rez Dogs!

This book was a fascinating read that describes and explains parts of Native American Culture. The dignity and positive attitude that the characters exhibit helps make this book a great read. The cultural descriptions helped educate and make the reader feel as if they were a part of the story.