Finders Keepers

by Andrea Spalding

Short-listed for the Sheila A. Egoff Award for Children’s Literature, 1996, the Violet Downey IODE Book Award, 1996 and the Silver Birch Award, 1997

While walking through a neighbourhood field in Alberta, Danny finds an 8,000-year-old arrowhead. His friend Joshua, who lives on the Peigan reserve at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, joins him on buffalo hunts, powwows, archaeological digs, and a break-in at the local museum. In the process Danny learns about history and gains the self-confidence to overcome dyslexia.

Genres: Middle Grade, Childrens

152 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1985

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a while since I have read a book specifically aimed for middle grade children. So I have to say this rating is based off of an adults standards. But for a middle grade novel this was quite good. It explores the struggles of a boy with dyslexia and how he copes with that while also discovering a whole new culture, that of the indigenous people of the lands he lives in, to him, one that is kept from the public eye. The novel handled these topics quite well for children I feel because it put these topics into a very positive light that will teach young readers of this book to look at things in a new perspective.
A side note, I believe the author tried to adapt the story from the time it was written to the present, which is noticeable through the Justin Bieber references. I feel like there could have been a bit more of an updated storyline with Carol, a specialist who helps Danny, the main character, since she's treating dyslexia as an unknown thing, which it would have been around the time of the original release, but as of current it seems a little outdated, as dyslexia is a very common thing in schools nowadays.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Finders Keepers is about a boy named Danny who runs away from school and finds a boy named Joshua who is First Nations. They go to a reserve where Joshua lives and find an arrowhead. Danny sees a bald eagle feather and asks Joshua’s Grandpa if he could have it. Joshua's grandpa says that they're only for young men. He also says your time will come.
When Danny gets home, the principal of Danny’s school comes over and tells him that you shouldn’t run from school because it makes people worried.
The next day, Danny goes to school again and the kids there tease Danny because they think he’s not smart. The teacher tells the class that they will be doing a report. Danny gets worried because he is not as good at spelling as the other kids.
Danny decides that he will do a report about First Nations because he met a First Nations boy. That day he plays with Joshua and they make plans to go to Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo-Jump on the weekend.
The next day, a boy named Brett brings a helicopter to school and bugs people with it. Then, Danny gets mad and swats it. Danny says sorry and says he’ll fix it when he gets home and so he does.
On the weekend, Danny and Joshua go to Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump and to see the Pow Wow, which is a First Nations dance competition. Joshua tells Danny how the Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump works.
After that, they go to watch the Pow Wow and Joshua goes to dance at the Pow Wow! After the ceremony, Joshua asks Danny if he wants to do a friendship dance with him. Danny says yes and so they do the friendship dance!
The next day, a person named Carol comes in to talk about Danny’s education. They do some tests and Danny finds out that he’s super smart! Danny’s teacher agrees with Carol that they will let Danny do recorded reports on tapes.
The day of the school report being done, the whole class likes Danny’s report and the example of how a buffalo jump works. Danny’s teacher, Mr. Berg, let’s Danny’s report count for 99% of his grade!
At the end of the book, Danny returns the arrowhead to the prairie, which he found out was actually a lance point and not an arrowhead. Then something floats down that Danny wanted for a long time. . . a bald eagle feather. Danny got this eagle feather because he returned the lance point to the First Nations reserve. In return, Danny got an eagle feather for growing up.
I really enjoyed Finders Keepers! I like it because of the ways Danny makes the First Nations drawings and tools. I like the materials he used to build the atlatl. I also like how he built a First Nations tipi with pickle jars for lanterns.
I hope you like Finders Keepers as well!

[Virginia McGee Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finders Keepers by Andrea Spalding, first published in 1995, has come out in a new and updated edition. When I saw the blurb mentioning that the setting included the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, I knew I wanted to read the book. This World Heritage Site was a highlight of a trip my husband, my sister Ruth, and I took to Canada in 2011. The site guide said this area was operational long before the Great Wall of China or Machu Picchu.

As I began reading the book, I struggled at first with the two issues, dyslexia and honor for First Nations beliefs and traditions, trying to decide which was the important premise for the story. Gradually, they become interwoven like yin and yang. Danny Budzynski, challenged with dyslexia, is very bright but not good at school skills. He finds an Indian lance head and new friends in Joshua Brokenhorn and his grandfather who are members of the Piikani Nation. Danny alternately grapples with his own learning disability and his conscience in deciding what to do with the ancient lance head, treasured by him in one way and his friends in another.

In the back matter, Andrea Spalding lists a number of resources for both the First Nations and the dyslexia strands of her story, including the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Center that we visited and hints at personal knowledge of dyslexia in her author’s notes as she thanks Dave for “untiring correction of my garbled spelling that baffles spellcheckers.”

Her glossary and author notes add authenticity to her understanding of the struggles of dyslexia and the importance of honoring the beliefs and traditions of the people of First Nations. Besides commending the book, I also recommend a trip to the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Center if you should find yourself in Alberta, Canada.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is kind of a good news, bad news story.
Good news: the kid's in book club chose Inkheart for this past month!
Bad news: it was too overwhelming for some, and some kids got too scared reading it
Good news: I found a great new book, and it came with great reviews from my son!
Bad news: I was later informed that the Gr. 4's use this book as a novel study (No wonder we had so many in our library
Good news: Hardly any of the Gr. 3's that I ended up getting this book for have read any of it (or is that bad news??)

Well, at least I enjoyed a good read!

The story is set in Alberta. Fort Macleod, as a matter of fact. I remember, as a kid, reading stories set in place I lived and being so thrilled by it. I still feel that way! It is kind of cool!

There are a lot of neat threads woven through the story. Learning disabilities, history and cool artifacts, relationships with white people and First Nations, and, did I mention, it is cool to read a book set in a place I know so well?

Definitely a book worth reading! It isn't too long either. I think it would make great read aloud.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book about 4 years ago when I was younger and I remember it being a good book. Not wonderful or all too memorable but enjoyable all the same.