Perfect for fans of Rain Reign, James Bird's middle-grade novel The Brave is about a boy with an OCD issue and his move to a reservation to live with his biological mother.Ĭollin can't help himself - he has a unique condition that finds him counting every letter spoken to him. Genres: American Indians, First Nations, Metis, Inuit Published by Square Fish on April 19, 2022 See Debbie Reese’s review at American Indians in Children’s Literature. Collin’s father is an alcoholic who has trouble keeping jobs, and must send Collin to live with his Ojibwe mother in Minnesota.
Specialists attempt to treat Collin, but no one can help. He calculates the number of letters in sentences spoken to him, and then repeats the number.
The story starts in California with Collin Couch, 12, who has an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that isolates him from classmates and frustrates the adults in his life. The best part of the book is the first third. All we learn is that one drinks too much alcohol, another is always getting into or out of her truck, and a wise, spooky grandmother appears and disappears. Insight into why adults do what they do is rarely offered. Huh? How closely did they read? Granted, the story is make believe and brimming with magic and mystery and ghosts, but this magic and mystery depicts wooden caricatures in a fake reservation setting. Other reviewers pronounced The Brave as “endearingly earnest,” “an amazing debut,” “bighearted,” and “a novel to cherish.” Another plus: for those who enjoy geographical familiarity, most of the story is set on the Fond du Lac Reservation in northeastern Minnesota. Granted, the book was written for middle school-age children, and has strengths including a compelling premise of overcoming fear and finding true love. This book, The Brave, by James Bird, about a boy who overcomes a disability and hard start in life, could have been great. The Brave is compelling, but could do without the stereotypes.
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