I absolutely loved this and I can't wait to check this out from the library for my kids to read when it comes out.

Rabbit Chase is an Anishinaabe retelling of Alice in Wonderland. It fuses Anishinaabe culture with the familiar tale of Alice. We follow Aimée as they explore themselves and their culture while dealing with middle school bullies. Not only do they get bullied for being Indigenous but also for being nonbinary which has to be exhausting for anyone let alone a 12 year old who is still trying to figure out the world. Aimée goes on a school trip to offer gifts to the water spirits and ends up wondering off following the white rabbit. They must help defeat the dark water sprits in order to find their way home and rejoin their class.

I am a straight white woman in my 30s the rep here is obviously not a reflection of me in anyway but that did not stop me from really enjoying this. There are Ojibwe words throughout which does not make this hard to understand and there is even a glossary in the back if you're too lazy to google. The art is really cute to top it off. I encourage you to find reviews by Indigenous and nonbinary people if you want a more in-depth look at this since it's not something I dive into.

Thank you for allowing me to read an early copy.

I read a digital early review copy of this as part of a library committee I'm apart of. It's possible that the main issues (translation of Anishinaabe phrases and text) could be resolved for the final copy. Reading an ecopy, it's difficult to flip to the glossary at the end of the book, and since this is considered for a younger audience, it would have made more sense, I think, to put the translations in the gutters beneath the individual panels as not to disrupt the flow of reading quite so much.

The story itself is a blend of Native folklore and events from Alice in Wonderland. The idea is a lot of fun, but it doesn't feel like there is enough length in this book to fully explore anything. It feels rushed and incomplete, so that fun ideas are presented, but then barely explored. The ending left me confused as I thought Aimee's goal was one thing and yet it was never accomplished. There didn't feel like there was much character development as things were moving so fast.

Basically it felt like a first draft of something that needed more pages or fewer ideas.

Rabbit Chase is a story of self-discovery, community, and finding one's place in the world. It was a fun mix of Anishinaabe culture and storytelling, and an Alice in Wonderland retelling that explores Indigenous and gender issues through a fresh yet familiar looking glass.

I loved how the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ elements were familiar, yet different. Each one tied into Anishinaabe culture, so the journey was educational and exciting. There is a glossary of used Anishinaabe words in the back, as to not distract from the text. This representation is so, so important!

Aimée is bullied at school for their gender identity, and even a school figure makes snide remarks. My only wish is that this was challenged a bit more in the book.

About the creators: Elizabeth LaPensée, Ph.D. is of Irish, Anishinaabe, and Métis descent. KC Oster (he/she/they) is an Ojibwe-Anishinaabe.

CW: bullying, misgendering

This is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. It is supposed to convey the history of a specific indigenous tribe but that story is so lost. There is so many indigenous words with no explanation within the story. luckily there’s a glossary in the back. You also have a little bit of the main character coming out or revealing their non-binary and I don’t get why that’s important to the story because it seems like it’s thrown in their as an extra thing rather than as an important function to the story. This book just feels all over the place it’s hard to understand, and hard to follow. The reader gets the feel of Alice in wonderland and its familiar looking glass, but I’m sorry this is a broken looking glass.

Even though I am not of The People and have not learned the stories and the important names, I loved this book! It is a graphic novel admirably illustrated by KC Oster and tells the story of a student who feels like a misfit in gender and other ways. They go on a field trip and meets a very unusual mind-reading rabbit. And that's just for starters! Much is learned by the student who is a person rather like many of that age group regardless of ethnicity. I wish that I could pronounce the names of the entities, but I still loved this book!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Annick Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

I can't wait to recommend Rabbit Chase to students! Its a retelling of Alice In Wonderland, based in Indigenous folklore. And its really great. It was both entertaining and educational, and I think students will get a lot from it, since they don't learn nearly enough of the Indigenous community in class. Also, the main character uses they/them pronouns which I think is super valuable in a book for young readers.

I also just liked the journey the character went on. The art was beautiful, and the story was compelling. I was excited to see the author's spin on whatever Alice character was coming up next. I particularly liked this book's take on the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. I do think the story jumped around quite a bit, but that seems like its partly due to the source material and also like something that can easily be fixed before the pub date.

Overall, I will be recommending this for our collection. Its fun and sweet, with relevant themes and great artwork.

I got an ARC of this book.

As you may know, I never read book descriptions fully. That is just a thing that I don’t seem to be able to do, so some of my excitement might just be things that everyone else knew going into this book.

That being said, I loved that this was a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. I am a big fan of Alice. I have seen movies, read manga retellings, watched anime adaptions, read so many retellings it is a bit worrisome. This is by far my favorite retelling. The story did not change that dramatically, but it felt fuller of life and like there was more sense to the world that Alice had originally. While I like the nonsense of Alice, the lore and the characters of Rabbit were much more inviting to me. I loved that there were phrases that weren’t in English and they weren’t explained. You either got them from context or you checked them in the back.

My biggest complaint about the book was the non-binary plot lines. There appeared to be some that were starting, but they never went anywhere. Instead, they were just misgendering and bullying. I was a little let down. That was the whole extent of the non-binary plot. It happened for a few pages, was referenced a few times. No resolution. Just “being non-binary sucks”.

I was iffy on the art at first, but it grew on me the more characters that were introduced that weren’t human.

This slim graphic novel engages with a lot of big ideas very impressively. Aimée is an indigenous, nonbinary middle schooler who embarks on several journeys: on a class field trip with the students that bully them, to a magical land in which imagery from native folklore and Alice in Wonderland share space, and one of self-discovery and self-acceptance. It’s about so much: identity, community, marginalization, the weight of history, growing up. I thoroughly enjoyed following Aimée throughout their adventures, as well as the beautiful artwork and character design. Highly recommended.

A wonderful take on a classic story, ready to be shared with youth and older readers. The graphic novel form made for a beautiful book with clever storytelling.

Aimee is an indigenous non-binary middle schooler who goes on a class trip and gets transported to a Wonderland and has adventures similar to Alice. This was one of the most creative graphic novels I’ve read in a while and it was totally engrossing. The artwork, while in the artistic style of Telgemeier and will undoubtedly draw the kiddos, is eye-popping and solidly engaging on it’s own merit. The storyline is east to follow with nice unexpected twists along the way. Such a refreshing addition to my MS collection.

Rabbit Chase was a wonderful story. We have a beautiful story about an Aimée, an indigenous kid who is bullied for their usage of pronouns and their culture. We see Aimée realize they shouldn't let others act like that to them and remember to look for the good side of things as well. I also loved the magical, Alice in wonderland touch to the story, where it was replaced by Anishinaabe stories. Overall, Rabbit Chase is a great graphic novel I wish I'd had when I was in middle school. Thank you to Netgalley and Annick Press Ltd. for giving me an EArc of "Rabbit Chase" by Elizabeth Lapennsee, in exchange for an honest review.

Aimee is a non-binary Anishinaabe middle school puple. The Anishinaabe people are an indigenous group who come from the area of what we call the Great Lakes region.

Aimee is part of an indigineous students association that are going on a field trip to visit Paayehsag, known as water spirits to give offerings to them. Aimee is totally not engaged, because they are playing a game on their phone, and don’t want to be distracted from it.

So, still playing their game, they wander off, and meet first a white rabbit, then a mad hatter, then an evil queen, who wants to take all the water, and all the land, and all the hunting rights, and anything she can from the people.

Sometimes Aimee helps, other times, as kids do, they do things stupidly.

But it is a strong story, and uses the Anishinaabe language thrown in, so we can learn a few words, such as thank you, and yes, and strawberries.

A fine addition to any library, because representation matters, and it is good to learn that you are not alone, or, as an ally, what others go through.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review,</em>