Muinji'j Becomes a Man. Saqamaw Mi'sel Joe. Illustrated by Clara Dunn. St. John's, NL: Breakwater, 2003. 63 pp., pbk., $9.95. ISBN 1-55081-167-3. Subject Heading: Indians of North America-Juvenile fiction. Micmac Indians-Juvenile fiction. Grades 3-5 / Ages 8-10. Review by Lynne McKechnie. *1/2 /4

When I first opened the package containing this book, I was quite excited. Muinji'j Becomes a Man was an aesthetically pleasing publication — a trade paperback with good quality paper, a relatively sturdy binding, and attractive cover art. The font size, layout and amount of white space on the pages were all suited to young readers just beginning to tackle chapter books. And best of all, this was a First Nations story told by a First Nations author. In other words, it looked like something every Canadian school and public library would desperately want to purchase to satisfy still unmet demand for this sort of material.

     I remained enthusiastic as I progressed through my background research on the title. First there was the publisher. Breakwater Books, now thirty years old, has an excellent track record in publishing regionally themed books about Newfoundland, Labrador and the Atlantic Provinces. Its children's list includes Down by Jim Long's Stage: Rhymes for Children and Young Fish which won the Amelia Frances Gibbon award for illustration and which has been recently re-issued in a 25th anniversary edition. Then there was the author. While this is Saqamaw Mi'sel Joe's first book, his cultural heritage, education in his peoples' ways and traditions, and his position as a respected chief and spiritual healer were indications that his voice would at least be authentic and representative of his Mi'kmaq culture. Finally, a search for similar titles, not surprisingly, came up with very little. There are few First Nations children's novels, let alone Canadian First Nations children's novels, and, among these, especially few that deal with East coast Mi'kmaq.

     Then I settled down to read Muinji'j Becomes a Man. Muinji'j, who seems to be about eleven years old, sets off on a canoe trip to the city with Niskamij, his grandfather, to sell their furs and buy supplies for the village. On the way, Niskamij becomes ill and Muinji'j must continue without him. Which he does. And successfully. Here's a story with a lot of potential. I anticipated wonderful descriptions of the Newfoundland wilderness and the early twentieth century small city that Muinji'j negotiated. I couldn't wait to see what challenges would be presented to the protagonist during the course of what looked like an adventure and survival story. After all, Muinji'j's name means "Little Bear," and it seemed to me that the plot just might include a life threatening encounter with a bear or other wild animal or, alternately, a scene that showed the special relationship between First Nations peoples and the wilderness. Unfortunately, the story never realized its potential. As can be seen from the following excerpt where Muinji'j's grandfather teaches him to sail the canoe, the writing is flat and the text too brief to develop important ideas or feelings.

     The text appears more as an outline or prospectus for a story rather than a fully developed and engaging tale. I desperately wanted to send it back to the author for revision and completion.

     While I can not honestly recommend Muinji'j Becomes a Man, it has some features that may make libraries want to add it to their collections. As noted above, it is sturdy and physically attractive. Clara Dunn's simple pen and ink drawings are quietly lovely. The author uses some authentic Mi'kmaq words and spellings and provides a short glossary of terms. And there simply is so little First Nations material that we should be supporting and promoting publication in this area. As with the early Canadian children's literature in the 1960's, we want to build and develop this literature and ensure that Canadian children, including Canadian First Nations children, have access to literature which reflects and explores their lives.

Recommended with reservations.

Lynne McKechnie is an Associate Professor who teaches children's literature and library services for children in the Graduate Program of Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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