Buffalo Dreamer
By: Violet Duncan
Genre: Middle Grade
Number of Pages: 128
Published: August 27, 2024
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Dates Read: December 28, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Summer and her family always spend their summers up in Alberta, Canada, on the reservation where her mom’s family lives. As soon as they cross the Canadian border, Summer begins to have vivid dreams about running away from one of the many residential schools Canada used to have. Not long after arriving at the reservation, Summer learns that unmarked children’s graves have been discovered at the school her grandpa attended as a child.

As more folks begin to speak out about their experiences in the residential school where they were torn from their families at young ages and forced to try and erase their Native identities, Summer is heartbroken to hear about everything her grandpa endured and missed out on. When the town holds a rally for the lost children in unmarked graves, she is proud to take part in the acknowledgement of the painful past and her hopes for the future. She’s also anxious to find someone who can help her better understand her unsettling dreams.

Buffalo Dreamer is a good beginning novel for middle grade readers to learn about the residential schools that were in both the United States and Canada. It talks about the residential schools but not in a way that’s super detailed but still with respect.

Overall, this is also a beautiful novel about a twelve-year-old who honors her culture and lifts up and encourages her ancestors and elders to tell their story.

*Thank you Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.