Qaqavii: A Novel

by Miriam Kïrner

Overview

On the heels of Miriam Körner's critically acclaimed first novel, Yellow Dog, comes the highly anticipated young adult adventure — Qaqavii — set amongst the unforgettable land and people of the vast windswept North.

When 15-year-old Emmylou arrives in Churchill, Manitoba, all she can think about is getting out of town before she ends up on the wrong end of a polar bear dinner. But things are rarely what they seem in the North and Emmylou's outlook begins to change — fast. It all starts when she meets Barnabas, a young Inuk who is training sled dogs for the gruelling Arctic Quest. But her real Northern adventure begins when she falls for a spirited yet unruly puppy by the name of Qaqavii who turns her entire world upside down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889955707
Publisher:	Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Limited
Publication date:	03/15/2019
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Miriam Körner,
Is an award-winning writer and illustrator for children and young adults, who has travelled thousands of miles by dog team and canoe in Canada's Far North. Her first novel, Yellow Dog, was nominated for the Silver Birch, Red Cedar, Manitoba Young Readers' Choice, and Rocky Mountain Book awards. She and her husband live in a small cabin surrounded by their sled dogs near La Ronge, Saskatchewan.

Editorial Reviews

"Emmylou is a remarkable main character who tells the story from her point of view. She grows up a great deal in this coming-of-age novel and learns to have confidence in her own judgement and abilities. . . Author Miriam Korner makes the north come alive as Emmylou and Barnabas participate in the Arctic Quest, surrounded by ice and snow, bright sunshine and northern lights. The dogs are central to the setting as are other wild animals, such as caribou, which also make an appearance. . . Thank you, Miriam Korner, for letting us join you in a northern adventure, an inspiring coming-of-age story, and a love letter to dogs of all shapes and sizes!
Highly Recommended"
— CM Magazine

"The book deals powerfully with events experienced by the Inuk, also teaching readers about the clothing, hunting, and culture of dog sledding."
— Kirkus Reviews

"Canada's north is underrepresented in our literature and curriculum, and this book gently introduces a number of serious issues. Readers interested in the north, or in dogs, will appreciate this novel."
— Resource Links

"Miriam Korner's years of real-life experience in the Arctic with sled dogs ring true on every page. . . An unusual coming-of-age novel with a stunning setting of majestic natural beauty, the book will appeal to readers who are hungry for adventure and self-discovery. Recommended"
— School Library Connection

From the Publisher

★ 2019-07-13
Constantly moving from one town to the next with her frightened single mother, Emmylou desperately wants real friends.

She is only 15, yet when her mother moves them to Churchill, Manitoba, to wait tables in a tourist town, she has Emmylou drop out of school and work too. Studying on her own, young Emmylou begins to take an interest in local history. Her greatest lessons, however, come via the Indigenous family who take her under their wing. She makes friends with handsome Barnabas, an Inuk teenager planning to compete in an ambitious race, and his sled dog Qaqavii. She learns the locals' lifestyle as well as about the tragic history of prejudice and dispossession they have faced. The book deals powerfully with events experienced by the Inuk, also teaching readers about the clothing, hunting, and culture of dog sledding. Perhaps because of her itinerant lifestyle, Emmylou is drawn to Barnabas and his deep connection to the land. Unfortunately, their connective displacement is never explicitly discussed because Emmylou envisions Barnabas as rooted despite his ancestral loss. Rather than representing a failure on the part of the author, it feels as if she keeps a respectful distance from a culture that is not her own by rendering the world exclusively from the perspective of the white outsider, Emmylou.

A lonely teen heals herself with the help of an Inuk boy and his dogs. (map, dog commands, dog names, author interview, further reading) (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews