Angelique, Book 2: The Long Way Home

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

The Metis villagers are on their way home from the hunt with their carts
piled high with hides and pemmican. The hunt has been successful and the
mood is festive. Yet there is an unsettling threat in the air, both from
a storm brewing and from the suspicion that there are horse raiders in
the area. When Angelique and her friend Franзois witness the thieves
escaping with their horses they begin to pursue the raiders, followed
closely by Angelique’s little brother Joseph. The children are all
taken hostage by the bandits, but Angelique manages to escape on her
beloved Michif and the boys hide in the bush. After the raiders leave,
Angelique returns to get the boys, and the children and Michif safely
make their way back to their people.

This second book in the stories of Angelique from the Our Canadian Girl
series offers the same high-calibre writing that is the standard for
this series. The author uses historic detail (the story is set in the
1860s) and the inclusion of words and phrases from the Michif language
(a combination of French and Native languages) to enhance the historical
realism of the story. The author has an appreciation of the prairie that
is evident in her evocative description of the landscape.

The story is suspenseful and the characters are engaging and endearing.
The book includes an extensive bibliography, as well as a historical
introduction, a map, and a timeline. This is an excellent example of
historical fiction for young girls that can be recommended as a
classroom resource as well as an enjoyable work of fiction. Highly
recommended.