I have been a fan of the Misewa Saga from book one and The Sleeping Giant by David A Robertson is great addition to the series. The story is growing with the characters with more mature themes and character development. With the bird warriors depleted in numbers along with the kidnapping of the Ministik animals and Eli just starting to understand his power, the time is now to act so Eli and Morgan can save their friends. Eli must use his powers to carefully navigate not only the humans and their captives, but also time, narrowly missing himself on a journey to speak with his father in the past to help save his friends in the present. The journey to the land of the Sleeping Giant was a tense point in the story. It is hard not to draw parallels to the sixties scoop and history of residential schools with how the animals were taken from their communities and the devastation left behind. Eli’s character has come front and centre with Morgan playing more of a supporting role in this book. We learn about Eli’s Mother as the book comes to a close preparing us for the next installment where magic, friends who are family, and a ruthless enemy have all collided. I can’t wait. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“The Sleeping Giant” picks up soon after book 4, in which humans had captured Morgan’s and Eli’s Askí village friends, having found a way into Misewa.

The kids decide to rescue their friends, but they encounter obstacle after obstacle, including a terrible attack by some lizard people that gravely injures the brave Pip, who was critical to their plans, but also has his own terrible grief to shoulder.

Eli crafts a daring plan after getting a chance to talk to his father, but everything goes wrong and everyone is in dire situation by this book’s end. I’m deeply worried that Eli and Morgan won’t be able to get free (Eli is also injured, making things worse), much less successfully break all their friends out of their chains, and, also prevent the humans from ever returning to Aski to again terrorize the animal people.

It’s all horribly reminiscent of the atrocities settlers committed against the indigenous in Canada, with Eli drawing the parallel for younger readers.

I am deeply anxious for these characters, and the next instalment cannot arrive fast enough.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.

The Sleeping Giant by David A. Robertson [Penguin Random House Canada #gifted #Netgalley]

The Misewa Saga by David A. Robertson continues to be one of my favourite middle grade series of all time. Spoilers ahead as in Book 5, The Sleeping Giant, the adventure continues right after Book 4 where we left off with Eli and Morgan set out with their friends to rescue the kidnapped animal beings. They are up against some heavy forces as humans have made their way into the portals, bringing heavy duty reinforcements. In order for this group of friends to have any chance, they are going to need to bring in their own reinforcements, even if it means confronting beings from their past who have made less-than-honourable choices.

I really enjoyed this latest installment of the series as it continues to dive into Eli's own journey as he finds out more about where he comes from, as well as looking at redemption for those who have wronged others in the past. The one thing that I would say that I'm not a huge fan of are these endings that leave on a huge cliffhanger. I want some sort of resolution and particularly in this book, I feel like we end off in a much worse situation than we did at the end of Book 4. So I guess what I'm saying is that I really, really need Book 6 now so that these characters are not in such a huge limbo in my head.

Some series die out as they stretch through multiple books. Not so with David A. Robertson's Misewa Saga.

The Sleeping Giant is the fifth instalment in this middle-grade series featuring Eli and Morgan, two foster kids from Winnipeg, who have stumbled into another world, filled with animal beings that the kids have come to love and treasure as family. The story picks up directly from the fourth book, The Portal Keeper, and the tension remains high as Eli, Morgan, their human friend Emily, along with Arik, Mahihkan and the remaining Bird Warriors work to rescue kidnapped animal beings from Ministik, and overpower the other humans who have gained access to Aski and are using it for nefarious purposes.

Robertson deftly weaves in lessons about colonization and the attempted eradication of indigenous traditions and values, while writing a story that is appealing to young people, and some of us older youngsters. I flew through this book, wanting to see how Eli and his friends were going to defeat the interlopers. And that ending... cliffhangers are soooo hard. Can not wait until the next book is released!!

Many thanks to Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books and NetGalley for offering me a complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

David A. Robertson's Misewa Saga is one of the most captivating Canadian series of middle-grade novels I've read in recent years. "The Sleeping Giant" did not disappoint! The novel follows the adventures of the characters introduced in the original trilogy and highlights the importance of collaboration and community-building. Highly recommended.

What a wild ride! David A Robertson does it again with another wholly satisfying story in the Misewa saga - a Narnia-inspired series featuring foster siblings Eli and Morgan, complete with Cree sky stories and legends.

As in Book 4, Eli is front and center in this installment, and we learn more about his newfound powers. Eli struggles to control these powers and come to terms with the knowledge that he is only half-human. Eli, Morgan, their friends, and even former enemies work to rescue kidnapped animals from the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg. Time travel and portals don't make this easy. It is dangerous work, and several thrilling, violent battles occur between and among humans and creatures. New characters are introduced, and old characters reveal a different side of themselves. Can't wait for the next (is it the final?) book.

Thanks to the author, Tundra Books at Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for an electronic advanced reading copy of this book. Opinions are my own.