The Barren Grounds

“When you take more than the land can provide, it stops giving. It can’t give. That’s what’s happened here. That’s what happens with humans.”
The Barren Grounds is the first in the Misewa Saga series by Cree author David A. Robertson. In this middle-grade portal fantasy, two Indigenous protagonists, Morgan and Eli are brought together in a shared foster family where they both struggle with themes of identity and family separation. In Narnia-like fashion, the two children discover a portal in the attic of their foster home which transports them to the alternate world of “Aski” where they meet Ochek, a brave Fisher determined to save his village Misewa from the endless “white time” of winter and Arik, a frisky, lighthearted squirrel. As a group, they embark on a mission to save Misewa from the certain despair and death of continued winter. Amidst the adventure, they also learn to save themselves through reconnecting with each other and Indigenous ways of living and being with the land.
The Barren Grounds challenges the anthropocentric ideology that the Earth and its resources are ours for the taking. By reading this book through an ecological posthumanism lens, readers are offered a way to build reciprocity with the land by carefully noticing how Morgan and Eli learn from Ochek and Arik how to live sustainably, to only take what is needed, and to have gratitude for the land in return. Ecological posthumanism examines how non/other/more-than-human actors shape the world, and how the agency of the natural world directly impacts the ways in which humans make sense of who we are in the world, as coexisting inhabitants. The alternate portal world of Aski mirrors our reality on Earth, and thus encourages discussions about resource depletion and overconsumption in both the story world of Aski and our planet Earth. Teachers and students can draw connections between the endless winter of Aski when “the wind was hard and strong, the grass and leaves were covered in snow, and the waters were frozen in place as though stuck in time. The weather wasn’t new to us, but there had always been a cycle” (p. 100) to the slow violence of climate change that is altering the intensity and longevity of seasonal climates across the globe. Teachers may also lead students to consider their personal relationship with the natural world in comparison to how Morgan and Eli develop a stronger relationship with the land. Discussion questions that center the outcomes of caring for the natural world may lead to deeper empathy and connection between Aski and Earth.
©2025 Climate Lit (Kirsten Hunt)
More.
Publisher: Puffin Canada, 2020
ISBN: 9780735266124
Pages: 247
Lexile Score: 680L
Format: Novels
Topics: Anthropocentrism, Climate Change, Consumerism, Ecological Posthumanism, Extractivism, Indigenous Environmental Practices, Slow Violence, Sustainability