Children's Fiction Fantasy & Magic
Broken Circle
- Publisher
- Dundurn Press
- Initial publish date
- Aug 2004
- Category
- Fantasy & Magic, Native Canadian, General
- Recommended Age
- 9 to 12
- Recommended Grade
- 4
- Recommended Reading age
- 9 to 12
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781894917155
- Publish Date
- Aug 2004
- List Price
- $34.99
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781459716605
- Publish Date
- Aug 2004
- List Price
- $6.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Angry at missing a week of summer video game entertainment, Jesse, a twelve-year-old boy of European/Native American descent, grudgingly follows through with his deceased father’s request that he join his Uncle Matthew and cousin Jason at Six Islands, on Georgian Bay, for a special camping trip. Uncle Matthew explains that Jesse’s father wanted Jason’s vision quest to be his introduction to their native culture. During their first night around the camp-fire, it is Jesse who has a vision, and the adventure begins. Not only is he swept back in time four hundred years, but he is transformed into a majestic, white-tailed deer. He must now survive the expert hunting skills of his ancestors while somehow rescuing his people before they are destroyed by warfare.
About the author
Christopher Dinsdale was born in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in Dundas, Ontario and spent his high school years in Ottawa. Throughout his life, Christopher has enjoyed working with children. He valued his several summers working with disabled children as a councellor at Merrywood Camp near Perth. While attending The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, he founded a Cystic Fibrosis winter camp for families in the area trying to cope with the childhood disease. After completing an honors degree in Cell Biology and a Masters of Science Degree in Zoology at Western, he then went on to complete a Masters of Arts in Education degree at Johnson State College in Johnson, Vermont. Christopher enjoys many sports, including tennis, skiing and sailing. Currently, he is coaching competitive basketball at the atom level in the Ontario Basketball Association. As a teacher with the York Region District School Board, he enjoys writing novels for both children and adults during his summer breaks. Broken Circle was his first published book for young readers and was chosen as a Great Books For 2006 by the Canadian Toy Testing Council. His second YA novel, Stolen Away, was released in the fall of 2006 and was shortlisted for the Red Maple Award. His third novel with Napoleon, Betrayed: The Legend of Oak Island, was published in the fall of 2009. Christopher lives in Newmarket, Ontario with his wife and his three daughters.
Librarian Reviews
Broken Circle
Raised in Toronto, Jesse is sent for a summer visit with his Wendat Nation uncle and cousin. The trip is designed to help him understand and appreciate his Aboriginal heritage about which he knows little. Although it is his cousin Jason’s vision quest, Jesse experiences disturbing dreams, in which he changes form to become a great stag. Time travel and magic realism combine as Jesse learns the history of his father’s people through his dreams.Selected by the Canadian Toy Testing Council for their 2006 Great Books for Children list.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. Canadian Aboriginal Books for Schools. 2007-2008.
