This is a good, short comic that is about indigenous people, but also has a bit of time travel “flashbacks.” Hand to students who like They Called Us Enemy, Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, and Cleopatra is Space.

My apologies for not reviewing this book. I was unable to download it before the archive date. I would in the future really like to read it

I was expecting something... different. It was too juvenile for me and felt very forced. Also, just unrealistic in terms of what foster care is.

Didn’t really download properly, but what I read, I really enjoyed. Shame i wasn’t able to read it properly but oh well

This graphic novel is a beautiful read. It is full of subtle diversity, like a LGBTQ teacher, a (foster?) sibiling in a wheel chair, and students from many different cultures represented at Echo's new school. We meet Echo on her first day at a new school when she slips into an altered state and time travels back to Saskatchewan in 1814. She learns about the Metis people and shares in their struggles during this turbulent time. Echo herself is Metis, though doesn't know much about her family's history.
The plot is thought provoking and introduced me to some new pieces of history. I found the story to be very current and relatable for today's middle and high school students. I'd like to know more about Echo and will definitely be picking up a copy of "Pemmican Wars" and any further Echo series books for our school library.
I do hope the next book in the series is longer. This graphic novel so short it feels unfinished.

Echo Desjardins has just started at a new school, where she is struggling to fit in. In her history class, after an initial lecture on the Metis, she finds herself transported to another time and place, unsure of what happened and what it means for her.

This is the first volume in a series - it definitely piqued my interest, and I'm curious to see where it goes in the future.

A young Metis girl, Echo Desjardins, travels back in time to 1814. While there she learns about her Metis ancestry and how they were caught in the crossfire in the battle between the Northwest Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company. This little known aspect of Canadian History is known as The Pemmican Wars.

The time travelling alternates with Echo’s life in a foster home and at a new school.

It begins with a young girl looking out across a beautiful vista of the Qu’Appelle Valley (know called Saskatchewan). She connects with a group of Metis who are at their summer camp hunting and preserving buffalo. This first episode was triggered during her history class.

This beginning, and great swathes of the rest of book are without text. The intense isolation and loneliness of Echo’s day to day life is portrayed powerfully in wordless frames that show her moving from class to class at school, and then heading to her room when she returns to her foster home. Most of the story is conveyed in the gorgeous images alone.

The book concludes with Echo meeting with her mother having a conversation about their Metis roots with the words, "to be concluded…." at the bottom of the page. This ending felt abrupt and incomplete. It left me feeling irritated. The next book in the series, Red River Resistance, will be published in September. I am looking forward to it and hope, even if it is merely a continuation of the series, that the ending is more satisfying.

For readers who want to know more about this aspect of Canadian history, there is a timeline at the end of the book that outlines significant events. There is also a recipe for pemmican.

I rather enjoyed this, especially since I don't know that much about Canadian history. I'm glad this is the first in the series, though, because it was on the short side and I'd love to get more on Echo, why she can travel back in time, what other events in Métis history will she experience, and how that will continue forward within her schooling. The art is decent, and overall I think will be a good series for middle schoolers.

This story educates about part of the history of Canada and its First Nation people, which (as an American) I knew very little about. The graphics present the story (both past and present) in a compelling way, which I think that my older students will enjoy. I wish that the book told us more about what ultimately happens to Echo, and I look forward to the next book in the series so that I can find out!

A new graphic novel series that focuses on the audience learning more about Métis history. The illustrations are beautiful and I can see that this book is going to be a hit among educators. At 48 pages, I sure wish it had been longer, but it is a great start.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher and NetGalley

A Girl Named Echo is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about a thirteen-year-old girl adapting to a new foster home and a new school. On her first day of school, Echo is sitting in her history class learning about the Pemmican Wars when she is transported to 1814. Echo begins learning about her people and the struggles they had to face and overcome.

I would recommend this to anyone teaching World Literature or World History as a supplementary text and I'm definitely recommending this to my kiddos who love reading graphic novels and historical fiction.

Can't wait for the next volume!

Pemmican Wars
by Katherena Vermette, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk
Portage & Main Press

HighWater Press
Teens & YA
Pub Date 01 Mar 2018

I am reviewing a copy of Pemmican Wars through Portage and Main Press and Netgalley:


In this beautifully Illustrated graphic novel we meet Echo a thirteen year old Metis girl who is adjusting to a new school, and to the loneliness she feels from being away from her Mother.

But one ordinary day in Mr Bree's history class she finds herself being transported back to the time of the Pemmician Wars, she finds herself in a Bison hunt on the Saskatchewan Prarie and back again, a trip she makes several times in the weeks to follow giving her a deeper appreciation for her history.


I give Pemmican Wars five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Pemmican Wars, the first graphic novel in the series A Girl Called Echo, introduces us to thirteen-year-old Echo, who is largely invisible in her classes and lives apart from her mother. The novel is rich with vivid artwork, and the author has clearly prioritized representation in her cast of characters. Vermette incorporates history organically, teaching the reader about the Metis as Echo herself experiences pivotal moments during the Pemmican Wars. The language is accessible, and the graphics are engaging; I have no doubt that this graphic novel will be popular in school libraries, and among young readers of all backgrounds. If this is any indication, Vermette has set the stage for an informative and beautiful series.

A Metis main character, time travel, a teacher who uses gender neutral pronouns, whats not to like? I read about the author and series on CBC Indigenous and was fortunate to read an ARC through Netgalley. It was short and sweet and I look forward to the other three installments. Will be recommending we purchase for our school library.

It was an interesting read, on a subject I haven't seen or learned anything about. Would recommend.

Wow! I don't know why, but I often lump Canadian history in with the United States' during the periods of wagon trains and regular buffalo/bison hunting. But Canada was already separate at that point, and I shouldn't underestimate their unique history. This book not only taught me about a period of Canada's history that I had never heard about before, it also introduced me to a unique and intriguing character with great taste in music!

The premise of this graphic novel is that a teenage girl, Echo, finds herself sent back in time to a hunting party of Métis, Indigenous, and European freemen and their families during the Pemmican Wars. She watches the party hunt and fight and makes pemmican with a girl her own age, learning about the people and the time in person even while she learns about it in class when she comes back to the modern setting. The contrast of being separated from her mother (we don't know why yet) while making this personal connection to the Métis people of her ancestry is significant, but maybe this will be what brings Echo closer to her mother in future volumes?

Katherena Vermette is a very skilled writer who I had never heard of before. She does a great job of not writing too much--of finding the balance between her words and the art of Scott B. Henderson and Donovan Yaciuk. Even though Pemmican Wars isn't as long as a full novel, a lot of information and emotion is packed into these fifty-or-so pages. And it's a great place to spark interest in events and groups of people who may not be that well known, especially to U.S. citizens such as myself. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes YA graphic novels that are extra illustrative or historically informative, as well as those trying to get kids and teenagers interested in Canadian/North American History!

Echo, a Métis girl, finds herself in a new school, a new home, and away from her mother. When she begins learning Métis history in one of her classes, she finds herself living the history, as if transported through time. The first book in the series offers readers a glimpse into Echo's life and begins giving readers a historical context for the story. The color illustrations are exquisite and bring both the story's history and Echo's loneliness to life on the page. As the series continues, I look forward to learning more about Métis history and more of Echo's backstory.

In the spirit of the March series, Katherena Vermette uses the graphic novel format to make history accessible and appealing to ages teen-adult. Jumping between present day and the early 1800's, main character Echo's loneliness in her foster home parallels the frustrations of an unjust system.

Written and illustrated by Native Americans, this is a story about one tiny piece of the greater history of the settling of the United States by Europeans.

A girl with a seemingly troubled life (but only hints are given in this book) walks through her new school listening to her mother’s music and daydreaming about the history lessons her classes are presenting. She imagines herself (or perhaps is magically transported) in the villager her ancestors where she sees their interactions with two fur trading companies.

This is a chapter of a larger work. It reads quickly, but leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Think of it as a comic book rather than a full graphic novel.

Although I wish this were a complete story, I am going to give it five stars based on its unique presentation, historical accuracy and immediate draw for kids. I would buy this in a minute. Even though the Native American nations where I live are not the same, I believe this would draw in my Native students in a way very few other books can.

I have a vague recollection of learning about the Métis in grade 9 history, but even this short graphic novel made me aware that either I learned little or I’ve forgotten much. So, at the base, this is a really enjoyable way to brush up on my Canadian history.

But there’s a lot more than that going on. This is just the set up, but it’s clear that Echo has been separated from her mother and started a new school. The panels of her walking through school without any interaction drive home her loneliness. She’s clearly starting to connect with her history teacher though.

I like the diversity of the characters. It was interesting to learn the gender neutral title in French Mx and there is a character in a wheelchair, who I hope we will learn more about in future episodes.

The illustrations are great and the plot interesting. It’s a little less wordy than I prefer in a graphic novel, but I’m definitely interested in seeing where it goes next.