Walking in Two Worlds

 

My Thoughts:

This YA fantasy takes place after the current pandemic on an Anishinaabe reservation as well as in the "Floraverse." The two worlds that Bagonegiizhigok, "Bugz" and Feng walk are both in real life as well as in the virtual world. Like Ready Player One, life in the virtual or "Floraverse," is an ideal creation of the players where they can change skins, change identities, find clan and get followers even if in real life, they do not have friends.

For Bugz, she has found a way to give life to her culture and gain energy from sacred places both in the real world as well as in her created world. As the internationally top ranked warrior in the Floraverse, she is able to bring the creatures of her cultural stories to life like the Thunderbirds and Mishi-pizhiw, the underwater panther. Although the natural enemy of the Thunderbird, although these creatures try to fight with each other, Bugz is able to use them as her warriors against the Clan:LESS, an all male "misogynistic neo-alt-right mob" of warriors led by Alpha who want to find her power source and take her down. The fact that Feng, who is moved from China to live with his aunt on the same reservation is a member of Clan:LESS is the source of friction that is his own "two worlds" that he has to navigate.

As a middle grades YA fantasy, it is a fast read and I appreciate the resources at the back of the book for Indigenous youth to find mental health services. I wanted to see more of Bugz' older brother Waawaate and have his story more developed as well as the relationship between Bugz and her parents, but perhaps another story.

 If students like this book, and want books for older YA, give them books by other Indigenous YA authors like Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Firekeeperʻs Daughter by Angeline Boulley and Huting by Stars Cherie Dimaline. If they are looking for younger or more middle grades, try Ancestor Approved by Cynthia Leitich Smith or Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac. For a nonfiction book, I like Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask: Young Reader's Edition by Anton Treuer.  For adult fiction, definitely There, There by Tommy Orange. I am still processing that read. 

From the Publisher:

An Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual, in the YA fantasy debut from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and the Otherworld series.

Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.
     Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.
     But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.