My Lists
Featured Lists
REVIEWS
School Library Journal
Reviewed on November 1, 2009
Gr 8-Up In 1917, Aaluk is drawn away from her small Alaskan village by a handsome young Siberian, tempted by his beautiful blue beads and wooed by mysteries across the sea. She leaves her sister with two beads and a promise: she will be back with a bead for every person in her Inupiaq family. Nutaaq watches the ocean and waits, year after year, but she never sees her sister again. In 1989, 14-year-old Blessing and her younger brother are taken away from their abusive stepfather and loving, but irresponsible and alcoho...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Magazine
Reviewed on November 1, 2009
In 1989, Blessing (her Inupiaq name is Nutaaq) and her little brother Isaac (Tupaaq) are taken from their alcoholic mother and her abusive partner in Anchorage and placed in the custody of their aaka (grandmother). In Aaka's village, far in the north, they discover their past—old ways observed, the Arctic environment, a host of relatives—and family stories. Readers are primed for these by the novel's first section, where another Nutaaq (Aaka's mother) recounts the l...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Guide
Reviewed on January 1, 2009
In 1989, Blessing and her brother are placed in the custody of their <i>aaka</i> (grandmother). The siblings discover their past through ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on March 1, 2010
Touching, realistic stories with believable, sympathetic characters. The two narrators h...Log In or Sign Up to Read More