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One of today’s most popular young adult fiction novels is David A. Robertson’s The Barren Grounds.
Robertson describes The Barren Grounds as “a middle-grade fantasy that is about two Cree foster children who discover a portal into another world called Askí, which is Cree for Earth. And they help the animal beings in that world, which has been cast into an eternal winter, find a way to save the world…. It’s an adventure story and it’s a journey of self-discovery.”
Like all good literature, Robertson’s book can be understood many ways, from how it teaches us Cree words to how it offers us Indigenous explanations for the night sky.
This issue of The PLEA looks to add to the conversations happening around The Barren Grounds. Across the coming pages, we’ll consider some ways that the book can introduce us to current issues in Canadian law and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and how we can apply this knowledge to the book and to the world around us.
