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Rez Dogs

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Rez Dogs

By: Joseph Bruchac
Narrated by: Joseph Bruchac
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About this listen

 Renowned author Joseph Bruchac tells a powerful story of a girl who learns more about her Penacook heritage while sheltering in place with her grandparents during the coronavirus pandemic.

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 safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn’t go out 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 in which Indigenous nations and communities cared for one another through plagues of the past, and how they keep caring for one another today.

**Four starred reviews!**
Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction & Poetry Honor
NPR Books We Love
Kirkus Reviews Best Books
School Library Journal Best Books
Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Younger Readers
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Finalist
Nerdy Book Club Award—Best Poetry and Novels in Verse Animals Animals & Nature Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Multicultural Stories Multigenerational Family Native American

Critic Reviews

Awards and Praise for Rez Dogs

Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction & Poetry Honor
NPR Books We Love
Kirkus Reviews Best Books
School Library Journal Best Books
Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Younger Readers
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Finalist
Nerdy Book Club Award—Best Poetry and Novels in Verse
NCTE/CLA Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Award
NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books
Iowa Children's Choice Award
Nebraska's Golden Sower Book Award
North Carolina Junior Book Award
Wisconsin's Just One More Page! Reading List
Pennsylvania's Young Readers Choice Award
Rhode Island Middle School Book Award
Arkansas' Charlie May Simon Book Award
New Mexico's Battle of the Books List
New Jersey's M. Jerry Weiss Award
Garden State Children's Book Award
Pacific North West Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee

★ “Hidden throughout this moving novel in verse, old stories are discovered like buried treasures.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Bruchac intricately interweaves past and present stories . . . in this rewarding intergenerational narrative.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "Deftly handles weighty issues and provides readers a story they can connect with . . . [A] dose of hope for the future."—School Library Journal, starred review

★ “Story telling is an important part of culture, and Bruchac is a masterful storyteller who weaves culture with narrative."—School Library Connection, starred review

“With this gentle book, Bruchac offers children another story to expand their worlds and hearts.”—Booklist

“A gentle book about family and history.”—Betsy Bird for A Fuse #8 Production/SLJ
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.