Blue rabbits and Christmas tree farms. [A Blue Hare in Gunder's Glade by Todd R. Gunderson]

IPPY award-winning author, Todd Gunderson, crafts another Willow City adventure.

Mike leads the search for mysterious blue rabbits who are tormenting an old Norwegian farmer named Gunder. An unexpected meeting with a Chippewa girl named Omi drives Mike into action. Where did these blue hares come from and where have Omi’s rabbits gone? Can Mike and Omi solve the mystery?

It might never cease to amaze how regional histories are taught in outside regions. I feel as though it wasn't until my first years in college that I started learning about the Scandinavian migration in the Midwest and the Great Plains. I shouldn't be surprised, I don't think generally much focus was to be found even on the Dutch settlement of the New York in the NYC school curriculum. Even intermingled histories with nearby states, say Vermont, I've only found myself learning about recently. Though I imagine if I were in upstate northeast New York state that wouldn't have been the case.

Todd R. Gunderson's A Blue Hare in Gunder's Glade is a cute adventure tale that, presumably, because, again, I know nothing, reflects in the makeup of the region in its character cast. Set in 1950s North Dakota, the story follows Mike, Gus, Deevee and Levi, and their new friend, Omi, as they suss out a local rabbit mystery. We have a cast of Norwegian and German characters, other presumably White European settlers of indeterminate heritage, and we see the introduction of Chippewa characters to the local lot. 

Now, because Gunsmoke, a TV show was mentioned and referenced as new, in addition to other context clues, I read on as the story taking place in the mid '50s. So we've got this immigrant and ethnic melting-pot mix, we've got Omi mentioning she and her mother leaving the reservation. But besides referencing German traditions and Norwegian histories of immigration, we've get no inkling of any ethnic tensions. Yes, translated words are pretty and all, but why have Omi and her mother left the reservation? What's the story there? How is the adjustment as they try to fit in with the locals? Is there hostility? A push for assimilation? Is it that Omi's mother only wanted to go back to the reservation because she feared some ponies might be stolen? The math wasn't mathing. A honking huge amount left unsaid and unexplored there.

Okay, sure, this is a children's book. A middle grade book even. Children at that age know enough about American history to reference the forced displacement of the Indigenous people and all of the other general terribleness one thinks about when thinking about the country and how it's makeup came to be.  The story still could have been told as beautifully with a solid dose of reality. And again, it was a very fine story. Reluctant friend group adds another. A local whodunnit. Nefarious aims! Fantastic. I as an adult can't suspend my disbelief with regards to how the story likely did or did not reflect local histories and realities, and I don't think children's fiction has to soften that blow. I didn't have to do them when I was in school, but we live in age where active shooter drills are a norm. Surely, we can face realistically reflect historical tensions and struggles. So while I enjoyed my read, for its length, for its story, I'm giving blue rabbits on Christmas tree farms 4 stars.

A Blue Hare in Gunder's Glade (ISBN:9781950385720) was published November 2021.