The Barren Grounds

The Misewa Saga, Book One

By: David A. Robertson

Narrated by: Brefny Caribou

Narnia meets traditional Indigenous stories of the sky and constellations in an epic middle grade fantasy series from award-winning author David Robertson.

Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home -- until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher). The only hunter supporting his starving community, Misewa, Ochek welcomes the human children, teaching them traditional ways to survive. But as the need for food becomes desperate, they embark on a dangerous mission. Accompanied by Arik, a sassy Squirrel they catch stealing from the trapline, they try to save Misewa before the icy grip of winter freezes everything -- including them.

Critic reviews

A 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People's Literature Nominee
One of Quill & Quire's Best Books of 2020
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the 21st Century
Recommended by booksellers on NPR's Code Switch
One of CBC Books' Best Middle-Grade and Young Adult Books of 2020
One of Canadian Children's Book News’ Best Books of 2020
A CBC Books Bestseller

PRAISE FOR The Barren Grounds:

"This middle-grade fantasy deftly and compellingly centers Indigenous culture." —STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews

“[T]he treatment of Cree culture resonates, and the engaging characters and folklore ensure readers will look forward to the next installment.” —Publishers Weekly

“This is a book that is rich in its characterization, evocative in its descriptions, and skillful in its weaving together of traditions of the past and life in the present.” —CM Magazine

“Reminiscent of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia stories, this fantasy is very much its own tale of ruptured Indigenous culture, of environmental reciprocity and care.” —Toronto Star

“The Barren Grounds has a strong message about living with the earth and not taking more than you need.” —Toronto Public Library

"David A. Robertson has written such a fine, beautiful novel. He manages to combine hard truths about our history with a Narnia-like fantasy, sweeping us into the world of the story while opening our hearts as well." —Susin Nielsen, author of We Are All Made of Molecules and No Fixed Address

For BIPOC students.

We heard this audio book for virtual learning in my sixth grade class. Most of my students are of BIPOC backgrounds and it was great to hear words in a story that they could relate to. Topics raised in this story allowed me to have courageous conversations with my class.

Is Pemmican the new Turkish Delight?

What an amazing fantasy story for everyone, with indigenous Canadian cultural woven throughout. Definitely one for the young people in my world, and well, anyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks David!!!

Great story and a few Moments to shed an tear.👍

I really think it's amazing because it puts a lot of character into the story!And I just want to say that a few moments in the book I laughed or I maybe got little mad or maybe got a little sad because of some of the bad things or good things that happened.

Sooo Good

One of the best books I’ve read in recent memory. As a teacher I have chosen how I will start every school year.

First Nations Foster Kids go traveling

It took me a while to get into this but once we managed to go through the portal it was very special. I assume that the words in Cree (?) were correctly pronounced and they added a lot.
Well worth reading.

What a treasure!

Having taught the Chronicles of Narnia throughout my career, I am overjoyed to see a successor to these books. Modern, yet deeply immersed in indigenous tradition, this first book makes me excited to read the rest of them, and even more excited for this generation of students and teachers to lose themselves in this world.

Creative and heartfelt

I'm a fully grown adult and I was so entertained with this story! After reading the book Betty, I needed to reclaim some of my innocence and wonder so I chose this hoping it would do the trick and it certainly did! Now I'm invested, I purchased book 2!

Beacon Light in our times

These days I don’t often get to listen to a book straight through but this one was such a salve for my soul that “I couldn’t put it down”. I made time to listen to it.

The Barren Grounds

It started REALLY slow but at the end it was better. Would not read on my own

the only thing that stood out was the giant bear

I do not like the pacing of the story or the story in general