The Game of Silence

By Louise Erdrich
Rating: 4 stars

Era: 1850 America (Minnesota)

In this sequel to The Birchbark House, Omakayas and her family continuing living life in the seasonal rhythm they have become accustomed to on the islands of Lake Superior when the arrival of a group of starving people changes everything. They had been forced off of their land and attacked by other tribes while traveling. Omakayas' tribe readily adopts them into their midst, with her own family taking in an infant named Bizheens. Omakayas also tries hard to befriend a boy she calls the Angry One, for he always has a snarl on his face. But the news of betrayal by the white men has Omakayas' tribe worried, and they decide to send out four emissaries to see if the white men are honoring their treaties. Among them is Fishtail, a close family friend, and the man that her sister Angeline wants to marry. As the family struggles through the good and bad times the different seasons bring, the additional worry about whether or not they will have to leave the only life they have ever known looms large while they await Fishtail's return. This is another absorbing tale of the Ojibwe life during the mid-1800's and of Omakayas growing up to take her place in the world. Readers will want to continue with The Porcupine Year.