Pukawiss The Outcast

I really wanted to like this book, but there are a couple reasons why I cannot.

First, I didn't like the writing style. It reminded me of my own writing, which is bad. Too many describing words, not enough description, if that makes sense...character never just “said” anything, they “teased” or “agreed” or “admonished”. Some of the sentence structure just didn't sound right to me: “Gentle Eagle looked at him oddly, revealing he understood that Joshua likely had stereotypes about Native American food.” “The loons cautiously eyed the two intruders. They finally took off after having had enough of the unwelcome and rambunctious humans.” I know that some other reviewers really like the writing style, it's just not for me.

I'm always happy to see more books about Native kids, but there's so much out there that is stereotypical and disrespectful. As someone who is not Native, I try to do some research to make sure that what I'm reading is respectful and accurate. The first warning sign I found is that the author is not Native. Not that a non-Native person could never write truthfully about Native characters, it's just something I feel is important to look at.

I recommend reading this review, from a website that specifically evaluates Native representations in children's books. She pointed out many things that I wouldn't have known, not being very well-versed in Ojibwe culture. She did point out one thing that bothered me, that one of the characters said he always thought that Pukawiss (a spirit from the Ojibwe culture) was gay, because he ignored pretty ladies and wore bright colours. Is that all it takes?

There's so little young adult/children's literature out there representing minorities, and even less that is intersectional. I so wanted this book about a gay Native boy to be a good representation of both gay and Native people, but it missed the mark.