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A review by homosexual
The Case of the Missing Auntie by Michael Hutchinson
5.0
OOps forgot to say I got this as an ARC from Netgalley!
This book got me out of a reading slump and that is all I can ask for in a book.
5/5 stars is an easy rating to give this book because it deserves every star. I usually have to buffer my criticism of MG works, but for this one it was so good I don't have to do that at all.
Indigenous Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew is basically what I would pitch this as, and it does a great job doing exactly that and more. I didn't read the first book in the series (but I am definitely going to be getting it in the future), and I felt like this book is easy to jump into without having read the first one. There are references to the first book, but more so in the form of callbacks than like important plot information.
Basically the Muskrats are in the big city with the mission to go to the Ex... and find their grandpa's sister who went missing during the Sixties Scoop (when Canada was basically sending off First Nations kids to any white family that wanted to them, by stealing them from their real parents/family). It does a good job breaking down what residential schools were, and the Sixties Scoop is in a language that is easy to understand. This would be a great book to act as like an introduction to what both of those are. It covers them without going into the worst aspects off it or the nitty gritty, while still being realistic to what happened and being respectful about the situation (you know, not glossing over it or making it seem happier than it actually was).
I liked all the Muskrats so much, though I am biased to Chickadee. I felt that there was a decent cast to this group of characters and we learned a lot about how indigenous people ARE in big cities and present, and how that affects them. As well as seeing a lot about what the Truth & Reconciliation projects can do, when it works.
It also does a good job of having the Muskrats being really representative of First Nations kids, they aren't extremely wealthy but also aren't in the depths of poverty. Straight down the middle hitting right between both, which is a good way to be so it can resonate with more kids looking to find themselves in literature. The Muskrats are a great depiction of modern kids as they might not be extremely well off, but they still know what technology is and how it functions.
The only warning I would give is that there is a bullying scene, but it is very minor and doesn't get too intense.
Would highly recommend to anyone who is looking to diverse-ify their library or their own bookshelves, as it is still entertaining even to a grown adult.
This book got me out of a reading slump and that is all I can ask for in a book.
5/5 stars is an easy rating to give this book because it deserves every star. I usually have to buffer my criticism of MG works, but for this one it was so good I don't have to do that at all.
Indigenous Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew is basically what I would pitch this as, and it does a great job doing exactly that and more. I didn't read the first book in the series (but I am definitely going to be getting it in the future), and I felt like this book is easy to jump into without having read the first one. There are references to the first book, but more so in the form of callbacks than like important plot information.
Basically the Muskrats are in the big city with the mission to go to the Ex... and find their grandpa's sister who went missing during the Sixties Scoop (when Canada was basically sending off First Nations kids to any white family that wanted to them, by stealing them from their real parents/family). It does a good job breaking down what residential schools were, and the Sixties Scoop is in a language that is easy to understand. This would be a great book to act as like an introduction to what both of those are. It covers them without going into the worst aspects off it or the nitty gritty, while still being realistic to what happened and being respectful about the situation (you know, not glossing over it or making it seem happier than it actually was).
I liked all the Muskrats so much, though I am biased to Chickadee. I felt that there was a decent cast to this group of characters and we learned a lot about how indigenous people ARE in big cities and present, and how that affects them. As well as seeing a lot about what the Truth & Reconciliation projects can do, when it works.
It also does a good job of having the Muskrats being really representative of First Nations kids, they aren't extremely wealthy but also aren't in the depths of poverty. Straight down the middle hitting right between both, which is a good way to be so it can resonate with more kids looking to find themselves in literature. The Muskrats are a great depiction of modern kids as they might not be extremely well off, but they still know what technology is and how it functions.
The only warning I would give is that there is a bullying scene, but it is very minor and doesn't get too intense.
Would highly recommend to anyone who is looking to diverse-ify their library or their own bookshelves, as it is still entertaining even to a grown adult.