All children are naturally inquisitive and Minuk is no different. Something I love about reading middle grade books and younger is that you see the world through the eyes of younger characters and it takes you back, regardless of the time period.

While she doesn't act very mature, her young age is not a turn-off, it's endearing. Minuk is a 12 year old Yup'ik Eskimo girl who lives in Alaska in 1890. I'm happy to say that Minuk does not make me feel that way. I'm always a bit apprehensive about reading and reviewing middle grade books since I know that I have to be patient with younger characters and I'm not always, sometimes I just want to tell them to 'grow up'. And if you wanted to believe, you had to pretend a little.

But the more people believed those things, the easier it was for you to believe them, too. Wanted you to believe what they believed, and why they didn't want you to ask questions.

IQ 'It was sometimes hard to believe things you were supposed to believe, so you needed help from other people. Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway by Kirkpatrick Hill I read this book when I was younger and I decided to re-read it in honor of Native American Heritage Month (even though it's now over). It's when I review books from my childhood or from 2007 and back. She lives in Fairbanks, and spends as much time as possible at the family home in Ruby, on the Yukon River.The idea of Throwback Thursday came from Tashi at Taste Life Twice. She is the mother of six children, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of two. She graduated from Syracuse University and taught for the next 30 years, mostly in the Alaska bush which is the setting for Toughboy and Sister, Winter Camp, Minuk, Dancing at the Odinochka The Year of Miss Agnes, and Miss Agnes and the Ginger Tom. 'Sure to satisfy survival-story fans.'- Kirkus ReviewsĪbout the Author Kirkpatrick Hill spent her first six years at a mining camp outside Fairbanks, Alaska, which was a lot like the mine in Bo at Ballard Creek. What are they going to do now? 'This quiet, simply told story speaks in a distinctive voice about stoic courage, dignity, and survival.'- The Horn Review Their food runs out, and their radio stops working. No one knows that Toughboy and Sister have been left alone in the wilderness to fend for themselves. This year, their father brings them back to the camp, but before he can set things up, he vanishes. But that was before their mother died and everything changed. There, away from their Alaskan village, they help their parents catch and smoke salmon. Every summer, Toughboy and his younger sister stay at their isolated family fish camp on the Yukon River. Now they're alone-and they have no choice. Sure to satisfy survival-story fans'.-Kirkus Reviews.īook Synopsis They've never faced danger before. About the Book An 11-year-old Indian boy and his younger sister must fend for themselves alone in an Alaskan wilderness camp when their father disappears on a drinking binge.

Minuk by Kirkpatrick Hill