ASPHYXIUM ZINE

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Book Review: NINE MICMAC LEGENDS (Alden Nowlan, Nimbus Publishing) by Devin Joseph Meaney

Author: Alden Nowlan
Illustrator: Shirley Bean
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing, June 1, 2008 (first published 1983)
While I was rummaging through old magazines and ancient school material belonging to an older member of my family, I stumbled upon a few books. One of these books was ''Nine Micmac Legends,'' a collection of nine stories (obviously). It was originally released in 1983, but went through a series of reprints over the years. I could not sleep last night, and by five in the morning, I decided it was time to do some reading.
I am well aware that the spelling and pronunciation of ''Micmac'' has been changed a few times over the years, but aside from this, Nine Micmac Legends was a neat little collection of legends of indigenous nature. Written by Alden Nowlan and illustrated by Shirley Bear, I am now more than content to have this within my reading collection.
The stories included in this short anthology are The Star Brides, Three Boys and the Giants, The Man Who Hated Winter, The Invisible Boy, The Captive, The Snow Vampire, The Chief Who Refused To Die, Brother to the Bears, and The Man Who Wanted To Live Forever. They were all fronted by a short introduction. Five of the stories in this collection were previously published in ''The Atlantic Advocate.'' One appeared in ''Toboggans and Turtlenecks,'' and another in ''Hockey Cards and Hopscotch.''
The legends were not intended to be children's stories, although a handful DID appear in children's books. They were stories told by adults to other adults, ''The nearest a people without a written language could come to creating a literature'' as stated within the confines of the introduction.
This was a great story collection, and I am sure I will read it again. Featuring under sixty pages, it is not a very long read. Excellent material! -Devin Joseph Meaney

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