The Game of Silence

By: Louise Erdrich

Narrated by: Anna Fields

Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, The Game of Silence is the second novel in the critically acclaimed Birchbark House series by New York Times bestselling author Louise Erdrich.

Her name is Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop, and she lives on an island in Lake Superior. One day in 1850, Omakayas’s island is visited by a group of mysterious people. From them, she learns that the chimookomanag, or white people, want Omakayas and her people to leave their island and move farther west.

That day, Omakayas realizes that something so valuable, so important that she never knew she had it in the first place, could be in danger: Her way of life. Her home.

The Birchbark House Series is the story of one Ojibwe family’s journey through one hundred years in America. The New York Times Book Review raved about The Game of Silence: “Erdrich has created a world, fictional but real: absorbing, funny, serious and convincingly human.”

©2005 Louise Erdrich; (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Great narrator & second installment in this series

In this second story of Omakayas, the infiltration of white settlers and the forcing West of Indigenous Americans through a child's eyes is particularly heartbreaking. Their family home, their favorite haunts, generations-old family gardens, their seasonal practices... the description of each of these brings you close to these people and their experiences. The looming threat of the colonial government grows with each passing tale until finally, they must leave all they know behind, migrating West into unknown and dangerous territory.

The narrator's voice lends authenticity and emotion to this story that was not as powerful in the first book on Audible. I hope this reader performs book three.

Brilliant

Well researched, well written, well read! This book, and the entire series that follows Omakayas and her family, is delightful to read or listen to. This is the absolute best of Historical Fiction. Couldn't recommend it more highly.

Heartbreakingly realistic. I love Erdrich!

Where does The Game of Silence rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's near the top!

What other book might you compare The Game of Silence to and why?

Difficult to compare.

Which scene was your favorite?

Surviving the cold snap.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A window into Native American History.

Any additional comments?

These stories need to be told & read.

beautiful story.

a beautiful story that I did not want to end. I loved being a part of this family.

Outstanding story

We have loved this series so far and the characters of Omakayas and her family, friends, and relatives.