A Stranger At Home

December 1, 2011

Gr 3-6-In this sequel to Fatty Legs (Annick, 2010), in which Margaret Pokiak described her first time away at a residential school, the girl now describes her assimilation back into her Native world. At 10 years old, she returned home to her remote Arctic village after being away for two years to be educated by priests and nuns. The thrill of reuniting with her beloved family was quickly muted by the realization that she had lost most of her native language and her taste for traditional food. She felt very much a stranger to those she loved most and was generally considered an outsider by everyone now because of her different clothes and her inability to speak Inuvialuktun. Barely recognizable to her siblings, unable to effectively communicate with her mother, her only bridge to this now unfamiliar world was her father, who also attended the residential schools and spoke English. While it may not have the same drama and tension of the first memoir, this tale provides a compelling and moving story of a girl searching for the strength to find her place in the world. The writing is unpretentious and accessible, and readers who enjoyed the first book will find this an interesting follow-up. Vivid paintings are a beautiful accompaniment to the storytelling. Photographs from Pokiak-Fenton's own collection add important points of reference for readers looking to visualize the characters and the unique setting of the Arctic Circle. A welcome addition to biography collections.-Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
After two years in Catholic residential school, 10-year-old Olemaun returns to Tuktoyaktuk on Canada's Arctic coast, a stranger to her friends and family, unaccustomed to the food and clothing and unable to speak or understand her native language. Margaret Pokiak's story continues after the events of Fatty Legs (2010), which described her boarding-school experience. In this stand-alone sequel, she describes a year of reintegration into her Inuvialuit world. At first, her mother doesn't even recognize her: "Not my girl," she says. Amini-Holmes illustrates this scene and others with full-page paintings in somber colors. The sad faces echo the child's misery. Gradually, though, with the help of her understanding father, she readjusts--even learning to drive a dog team. She contrasts her experience with that of the man the villagers call Du-bil-ak, the devil, a dark-skinned trapper no one speaks to. She has a home she can get used to again; he would always be alien. The first-person narrative is filled with details of this Inuit family's adjustment to a new way of life in which books and reading matter as much as traditional skills. A scrapbook of photographs at the end helps readers enter this unfamiliar world, as do the occasional notes and afterword. Olemaun's spirit and determination shine through this moving memoir. (Memoir. 8-12)

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