Where Is Home?

Storied Places and Belonging in Indigenous and Immigrant Fantasy Novels for Children

Authors

  • Melanie Braith University of Winnipeg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/cl.vi258/259.199024

Keywords:

Linh S. Nguyễn, David Robertson, Settler Colonialism, Children's Literature

Abstract

This article examines how “home” is constructed for the young protagonists in two Canadian fantasy novels for children, Cree author David Robertson's The Barren Grounds (2020) and Vietnamese Canadian author Linh S. Nguyễn's No Place Like Home (2023). The article showcases how the genre of other-world fantasy provides a fitting framework for addressing both the complexities of belonging and the challenges surrounding settler colonialism. The literary analysis reads the two books in relation to each other, revealing how they conceptualize home as emerging from stories and relationships and thereby transcending the confines of the settler-colonial nation-state. Finally, the article underscores how these novels teach their readers about respectful relationships between Indigenous peoples and immigrants, along with the responsibilities entailed for the latter.

Author Biography

Melanie Braith, University of Winnipeg

Melanie Braith is the Senior Research Associate of the Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw
Īthiniwak project, a SSHRC partnership project at the University of Winnipeg that
creates children’s books in collaboration with Indigenous communities in northern
Manitoba, Canada. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Manitoba as
a non-Indigenous scholar who grew up in Germany. Her current research interests
are in Indigenous oral storytelling and Canadian children’s literature.

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Published

Jun. 10, 2025 (UTC)

How to Cite

Braith, Melanie. “Where Is Home? Storied Places and Belonging in Indigenous and Immigrant Fantasy Novels for Children”. Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review, no. 258/259, June 2025, pp. 134-53, doi:10.14288/cl.vi258/259.199024.

Issue

No. 258/259 (2024): How to Be at Home in Canada: Placemaking in Indigenous, Diasporic, and Settler Texts

Section

Articles