The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo by Kent Nerburn

The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo by Kent Nerburn is the type of story that you will think about long after you finish reading the last page. It might even change your outlook on the world. This is the type of story that truly captures the spirit of the Native Americans, and can be shared for centuries to come. A classic in the making, this is one you want to read!

Book Description

“A haunting dream that will not relent pulls author Kent Nerburn back into the hidden world of Native America, where dreams have meaning, animals are teachers, and the “old ones” still have powers beyond our understanding. In this moving narrative, we travel through the lands of the Lakota and the Ojibwe, where we encounter a strange little girl with an unnerving connection to the past, a forgotten asylum that history has tried to hide, and the complex, unforgettable characters we have come to know from Neither Wolf nor Dog andThe Wolf at Twilight. Part history, part mystery, part spiritual journey and teaching story, The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo is filled with the profound insight into humanity and Native American culture we have come to expect from Nerburn’s journeys. As the American Indian College Fund has stated, once you have encountered Nerburn’s stirring evocations of America’s high plains and incisive insights into the human heart, “you can never look at the world, or at people, the same way again.”” – The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo

My Thoughts

The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo is a beautifully enchanting story about a hidden Native American world where your dreams have special meaning, animals are also our teachers, and you will never look at the world the same again.

Nerburn’s writing style is very easy to read, follow, and get pulled in. He doesn’t move at a very fast pace, but for the subject, I think that is perfect, and I was still able to read it very fast because I wanted to learn more and find out what happened with these characters. I especially loved Zi, the four year old who was incredibly special, but because the “white” doctors and people did not understand it, wanted to put her on medication and even go so far as place her into a “white” foster home. This is a hopeful story that is incredibly sad at times, and will have you truly see the world and its inhabitants in a much different way after you finish this book.

This is the third book in the trilogy, but I read this one without having read the previous ones. I don’t think that it took away from the others, because this one was so well written. I do however, want to read the other two now. If you want to just jump into this one, I think you can appreciate it for what it is, too.

I highly recommend this book, it is one that should be cherished and shared with everyone for years to come.

* Thank you to the publisher of The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo, New World Library, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.