Michael Hutchinson

Les cousins Sam, Otter, Atim et Chickadee sont inséparables. Au sein de la Première Nation de Lac-aux-Vents, où ils ont grandi, ils sont surnommés « les Rats musclés » en raison de leur propension à la rigolade, à la bagarre et aux aventures de toutes sortes. Avec eux, une péripétie n’attend pas l’autre!Lorsqu’un archéologue venu effectuer des fouilles sur le territoire de la réserve est porté disparu, les Rats musclés se mettent en tête de le retrouver. Au milieu des conflits, des drames familiaux et des manifestations environnementales qui agitent leur communauté, les quatre cousins mènent l’enquête pour faire le jour sur cette disparition.Ils font d’un vieil autobus scolaire leur quartier général, depuis lequel ils examinent chaque indice, explorent chaque piste pour découvrir la vérité. Une chose est certaine : ils n’abandonneront pas tant que le mystère n’aura pas été résolu!Cette série primée au Canada anglais reprend la formule aguerrie des romans d’enquête pour la jeunesse en mettant en scène quatre apprentis détectives qui n’ont pas froid aux yeux. Elle révèle aussi aux jeunes lecteurs tout un pan de la réalité des Premières Nations du Canada en abordant des sujets sensibles tels que la colonisation et l’effacement des cultures autochtones. Une excellente porte d’entrée pour parler de réconciliation tout en gardant un pied dans l’aventure.

Educator Information
Juvenile Fiction

This book is available in English: The Case of Windy Lake 

Additional Information
224 Pages | Paperback

Des Cris des Plaines vivant au pied des Rocheuses albertaines jusqu’aux Attikameks du Québec, ils sont nombreux à avoir fait le voyage pour assister à l’Assemblée nationale des Cris, qui se tient cette année dans la petite communauté de Lac-aux-Vents. Depuis plusieurs jours, des tipis, des tentes et des véhicules récréatifs se dressent dans tous les coins de la réserve, s’installent sur chaque parcelle vacante. L’événement, qui doit durer sept jours, est l’occasion pour les communautés de se rencontrer, de participer à des activités traditionnelles et de transmettre aux jeunes générations des savoirs immémoriaux. Sam, Otter, Atim et Chickadee sont surexcités. Or la bonne tenue de l’Assemblée est mise en péril par la disparition d’un précieux traité contenu dans un sac dépositaire de la mémoire de la nation. Est-ce un hasard si Pearl, qui trône au sommet de la hiérarchie des durs à cuire de la réserve, s’est éclipsée au même moment? Quoi qu’il en soit, tous les regards sont tournés vers la communauté de Lac-aux-Vents. Comme le dit toujours le grand-père des Rats musclés : « On est le territoire dans lequel on vit. » Il en va donc de leur dignité : il faut absolument retrouver le traité envolé! Cette série primée au Canada anglais reprend la formule aguerrie des romans d’enquête pour la jeunesse en mettant en scène quatre apprentis détectives qui n’ont pas froid aux yeux. Sous un couvert ludique, elle révèle aux jeunes lecteurs tout un pan de la réalité des Premières Nations du Canada en abordant des sujets sensibles tels que la colonisation et l’effacement des cultures autochtones. Une excellente porte d’entrée pour parler de réconciliation tout en gardant un pied dans l’aventure.

Educator Information
Juvenile Fiction

This book is available in English: The Case of the Burgled Bundle 

Additional Information
Paperback

Dans cette deuxième aventure des Rats musclés, les cousins Sam, Otter, Atim et Chickadee se rendent en ville. Ce qui s’annonçait comme une sortie éducative parfaitement ordinaire se transforme en une nouvelle enquête lorsque Chickadee découvre le sort réservé à la petite sœur de son grand-père, il y a de nombreuses années. Du jour au lendemain, tante Charlotte a été arrachée à sa famille et placée dans un pensionnat autochtone avant d’être donnée en adoption à des étrangers. Comment se fait-il qu’on n’ait jamais retrouvé sa trace?Hors de la communauté de Lac-aux-Vents, les Rats musclés se frottent à des tyrans pleins de préjugés, mais ils font aussi la rencontre de personnages inspirants qui en ont beaucoup à leur apprendre sur l’histoire des Premières Nations du Canada. Non sans émotion, ils prennent la pleine mesure du traitement odieux qui a été réservé à des milliers d’autochtones à travers le pays – dont les membres de leur propre famille. Ils mettent les bouchées doubles pour résoudre le mystère de la disparition de tante Charlotte.Cette série primée au Canada anglais reprend la formule aguerrie des romans d’enquête pour la jeunesse en mettant en scène quatre apprentis détectives qui n’ont pas froid aux yeux. Sous un couvert ludique, elle révèle aux jeunes lecteurs tout un pan de la réalité des Premières Nations du Canada en abordant des sujets sensibles tels que la colonisation et l’effacement des cultures autochtones. Une excellente porte d’entrée pour parler de réconciliation tout en gardant un pied dans l’aventure.

Educator Information
Juvenile Fiction

This book is available in English: The Case of the Missing Auntie

Additional Information
264 Pages | Paperback

The Mighty Muskrats, four cousins from the Windy Lake First Nation, are back for another mystery!

The National Assembly of Cree Peoples has gathered together in the Windy Lake First Nation, home to the Mighty Muskrats—cousins Chickadee, Atim, Otter, and Sam. But when the treaty bundle, the center of a four-day-long ceremony, is taken, the four mystery-solving cousins set out to catch those responsible and help protect Windy Lake’s reputation!

What’s worse, prime suspect Pearl takes off to the city with her older brother and known troublemaker, Eddie. If they have the burgled bundle with them, the Mighty Muskrats fear it may be lost for good. With clues pointing in too many different directions, the cousins need to find and return the missing bundle before the assembly comes to an end. The history and knowledge passed down to each generation through the bundle is at stake.

Educator & Series Information
This is Book 3 in the Mighty Muskrats Mystery Series. It continues the entertaining dynamic of the Mighty Muskrats, the four cousins who each bring their unique talents to solving mysteries in their community.

This book's setting is the Windy Lake First Nation, where an important cultural gathering is happening, called in the book "The National Assembly of Cree People" and inspired by real-life First Nation/Cree gatherings and ceremonies.

Recommended for ages 9 to 12 (middle-grade read).

Subjects: Civil Rights, Indigenous (Rights to Land, Rights to Natural Resources, Knowledge, Protection of Cultural Ceremonies)

This book is available in French: Le Traité envolé: Une enquête des Rats musclés 

Additional Information
216 pages | 5.25" x 7.50"

In the bright lights of the big city, the Mighty Muskrats search for an auntie lost long ago.

The Mighty Muskrats are off to the city to have fun at the Exhibition Fair. But when Chickadee asks Grandpa what he would like them to bring back from the city, she learns about Grandpa’s missing little sister. She was, they learn, “scooped” years ago – like many Indigenous children, the government had arranged for her adoption by strangers without her parents’ permission. Now, the Mighty Muskrats have a new case to solve: to find the whereabouts of their grandpa’s long-lost sister. Once in the bright lights of the big city, the cousins get distracted, face off with bullies, meet some heroes and unlikely teachers, and experience many of the difficulties First Nations kids can face in the city. The Muskrats’ search for their missing auntie takes them all the way to the government, and reveals hard truths about their country’s treatment of First Nations kids and families.

Reviews
"The Case of the Missing Auntie is the second book in the Mighty Muskrats Mystery series and features the group visiting an Exhibition fair in the city. The Muskrats find their next mystery to solve when Chickadee learns that Grandpa’s missing sister was adopted without permission many years ago." - The Dalai Lama Center

Educator & Series Information
This is Book 2 in the Mighty Muskrats Mystery Series.  Following The Case of Windy Lake, this second edition to the series follows these young sleuths as they explore the history of residential schools and the "scoops" that saw Canada take Indigenous children from their families and adopt them out to strangers. 

This book introduces young people to the history of Sixties Scoop in North America and how thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families and given to white families to be raised.

This book tells of a classic fish-out-of-water experience as the kids try and figure out the nuances of the big city.

Recommended for ages 9 to 12.

Guided Reading: V 

Lexile: 670L

This book is available in French: Sur les traces de tante Charlotte: Une enquête des Rats musclés 

Additional Information
192 pages | 5.25" x 7.50"

The Windy Lake First Nation’s lands have been shared with cottagers for fifty years, but no one can agree on where the reserve land ends. The only thing that can prove the boundary is a steel surveyor’s pin with the borders of the Windy Lake reserve etched into its head.

When the Mighty Muskrats hear that the pin was stolen years ago—and that it is connected to their grandpa’s mysterious past—they make it their mission to find the missing pin and prove that the land belongs to their people. But the mystery gets tense when Grandpa becomes a suspect. Cousins Sam, Otter, Atim, and Chickadee must find that pilfered pin!

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 9-12.

This book is part of the fun and adventurous A Mighty Muskrat Mystery Series. This series puts an Indigenous spin on the classic Hardy Boys and Three Investigators books. 

Additional Information
184 pages | 5.25" x 7.50" | Paperback 

Windy Lake First Nation is hosting the annual Trappers Festival, and the four Mighty Muskrats are excited about the sled-dog races and the chance to visit with family and friends from far and wide. But during the Teen Sled Race, the lead dog is the victim of a frightening accident that may be more than it seems.

Between mysterious strangers seen lurking by the trail and a loud group of animal rights protestors, the Muskrats have a lot of suspects. Despite the chill of winter, the case is heating up for Sam, Otter, Atim, and Chickadee!

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the fun and adventurous A Mighty Muskrat Mystery Series. This series puts an Indigenous spin on the classic Hardy Boys and Three Investigators books. 

Recommended for ages 9-12.

Additional Information
232 pages | 5.25" x 7.50" | Paperback

The Mighty Muskrats won’t let a mystery go unsolved!

Sam, Otter, Atim, and Chickadee are four inseparable cousins growing up on the Windy Lake First Nation. Nicknamed the Mighty Muskrats for their habit of laughing, fighting, and exploring together, the cousins find that each new adventure adds to their reputation. When a visiting archeologist goes missing, the cousins decide to solve the mystery of his disappearance. In the midst of community conflict, family concerns, and environmental protests, the four get busy following every lead. From their base of operations in a fort made out of an old school bus, the Mighty Muskrats won’t let anything stop them from solving their case!

Awards

- The Case of Windy Lake was the co-winner in Second Story Press’ 2018 Indigenous Writing Contest!

Reviews
"Chickadee's rez-tech savvy pairs well with her cousin Otter's bushcraft skills, and, along with Atim's brawn and brother Samuel's leadership, the four make a fine team. From Cree author Hutchinson, an Indigenous version of the Hardy Boys full of rez humor." — Kirkus, December 2018

"The Case of Windy Lake is a smart and thought-provoking mystery for middle-grade readers." — Foreword Reviews

Educator & Series Information
This fun and adventurous series, A Mighty Muskrat Mystery Series, puts an Indigenous spin on the classic Hardy Boys and Three Investigators books. 

Recommended for ages 9-12.

Subjects & Themes: Environment (Protection, Protest); Civil Rights; Indigenous (Rights to Land, Rights to Natural Resources, Knowledge, Protection of Cultural Ceremonies).

Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2019-2020 resource list as being useful for grades 6-9 in the following subject areas: English Language Arts and Social Studies.

This book is available in French: Le Disparu de Lac-aux-Vents: Une enquête des rats musclés

Additional Information
134 pages | 5.25" x 7.50"

A fresh and fearless collection of short fiction, poetry and graphic fiction for today’s middle-grade readers.

In this timely, thought-provoking, funny and heartbreaking collection, ten acclaimed BIPOC authors from across Canada explore the theme and concept of home.

From awkward family dinners, to life on the rez, to moving to a new town, each of these stories provides a unique perspective on the theme of belonging through characters tasked with navigating and finding their place in this world.

Brought together by curator (and story contributor), Jael Richardson, Today I Am will make readers laugh and cry while opening their hearts and minds to the world around them, validating how it feels to be young and alive today.

Today I Am includes stories by Jael Richardson, Marty Chan, Rosena Fung, Michael Hutchinson, Chad Lucas, Angela Misri, Mahtab Narsimhan, Danny Ramadan, Liselle Sambury and Brandon Wint.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 10 to 14.

The majority of authors on this work are not Indigenous.  This work includes a contribution from Michael Hutchinson, a citizen of the Misipawistik Cree Nation.  Readers will need to determine if this text will work for their purposes.

Additional Information
240 pages | 5.49" x 8.25" | Paperback