She holds up the stars
A young Indigenous girl searching for a sense of home finds strength and courage in her gifts, her deepening connection to the land, and her own cultural awakening in this moving coming-of-age story. The last thing that twelve-year-old Misko wants to do is to move away from the city to spend time on the rez with her grandmother. She feels strangely compelled to go to the place where her dreams have been tugging at her to come home. Maybe she can finally find out what happened to her mother, who mysteriously disappeared when she was four years old. Misko discovers her unique ability to connect to a spirited horse named Mishtadim who is being violently broken in by the rancher next door and his son, Thomas. Although Misko and Thomas challenge one another, their friendship is forged through the taming of the wild horse. In the process, she realizes the true meaning of belonging and that you can never truly leave home. She Holds Up the Stars is a powerful story of reconciliation and the interwoven threads that connect us to family, to the land, and to our own sense of self.
Available Copies by Location
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Victoria | Available |
Browse Related Items
| Genre |
| Children's stories. Animal fiction. Domestic fiction. Novels. |
- ISBN: 9781773210667
- ISBN: 1773210661
- ISBN: 9781773210650
- ISBN: 1773210653
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Physical Description
print
188 pages ; 20 cm - Publisher Toronto ; Berkeley : Annick Press, [2022]
- Copyright ©2022
Content descriptions
| General Note: | NFPL Indigenous Collection. |
Additional Information
Kirkus Review
Misko
Kirkus Reviews
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A 12-year-old Ojibway girl has come back to the rez for the summer, hoping to finally find out what happened to her mother. What she doesn't anticipate is how much she'll learn about herself. After a scary experience in Winnipeg, where she lives with her aunt, Misko goes to the rez to spend the summer with her grandmother and family. Misko's mother disappeared when she was just 4 years old, and as much as she would like to know what happened, all she gets are half answers. At the rez, she reconnects with her grandmother and cousins and with her Ojibway roots. She also meets a horse she names Mishtadim and Thomas, a White boy who, along with his rancher father, is viciously "breaking" the horse's spirit. Drawing parallels between the brutal breaking of horses and the ways in which Indigenous children--including her own family--were forcibly taken to residential schools, Misko knows she must do something to stop the violence. This heartfelt story of self-discovery and personal strength is told in language filled with evocative imagery and Anishinaabemowin sprinkled throughout. Readers will find themselves rooting for Misko in a situation where so much seems stacked against her. A tale of strength and determination rooted in the ancestral pull of home and family. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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