Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Lyrical celebration of culture, connection in time of COVID.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
REZ DOGS, a tale told in verse, finds Malian, a tween born on the Wabanaki reservation in New England but currently living in Boston, on a visit to her grandparents, who still live on the rez, when COVID-19 strikes, putting everyone on lockdown. As she quarantines with her elders, looks out for their well-being, learns more of their stories, and tries to keep up with school and her parents online, Malsum, one of the many dogs who make the reservation their home, appoints himself her particular protector and companion.
Is It Any Good?
Joseph Borchac's lyrical tale of a Native American tween, her family, and the dog who protects them in the pandemic packs a powerful message of family, friendship, culture, community, and connection. Rez Dogs is a worldview and way of being, for the dogs who live on the reservation and the people they connect with, defining who they really are and the ties that bind them. Here, Malian and her parents leave the reservation for Boston, where her dad has an interview with a law firm:
"She was only five,
But she had to ask,
'Why are all those dogs
tied to people like that?
Don't they have any
lives of their own?
How come they're not
allowed to run free?'
"Her dad went down on one knee,
put his hands on her shoulders.
'It's just kind of the way
not only the dogs
but the people have to live
in the city where they're
all so close together.
If they're not controlled,
they might get hurt
or maybe even hurt each other.'
"That was when her mom
smiled down at her dad
and said, 'Well now, Thomas,
it seems to me you could say
that we are rez dogs too.'
"'Woof,' Malian said.
'Woof, woof, woof!'
"Then all three of them
started barking
and laughing together,
no one else walking by
understanding
why they were barking,
maybe not even knowing
the three of them were
Indians-- Dad in his suit,
Mom in her best jeans,
and Malian in her new
Catholic school uniform,
three rez dogs in the city.
That was how she
saw them back then
and saw herself still."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the the COVID-19 pandemic is portrayed in Rez Dogs. How did it affect you and your family? Did you find, like Malian, that lockdown brought out unexpected revelations and connections?
How would you feel if some outside agency decided your family was "unfit" and forced you to live far away from them? Or had some other excuse about why it was necessary to take you away "for your own good"? Who gets to decide what your own good is?
Did you go to class via the internet during the pandemic? How did distance learning compare with in-classroom instruction? Which do you like better? Why?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Animals , History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Dial
- Publication date : June 8, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 192
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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