196 pages
English language
Published June 13, 2017 by Thistledown Press, Limited.
Stories that interconnect four First Nations people, Everett Kaiswatim, Nellie Gordon, Julie Papequash, and Nathan (Taz) Mosquito, over two decades against the cultural, political, and historical backdrop of the 90s and early 2000s. These young people are among the first of their families to live off the reserve for most of their adult lives, and must adapt and evolve. The stories are primarily written in the voice of Nellie, who left her home on the rez with top grades to attend university. She is hard working, confident in her academic skills and from a stable family but she is filled with self-doubt and low confidence in her personal life and about her looks. Her friend Julie, on the other hand, is slim and beautiful; abandoned by her mother, she meets Nellie as she is running away from a foster family on the rez. Both characters are fundamentally flawed as individuals …
Stories that interconnect four First Nations people, Everett Kaiswatim, Nellie Gordon, Julie Papequash, and Nathan (Taz) Mosquito, over two decades against the cultural, political, and historical backdrop of the 90s and early 2000s. These young people are among the first of their families to live off the reserve for most of their adult lives, and must adapt and evolve. The stories are primarily written in the voice of Nellie, who left her home on the rez with top grades to attend university. She is hard working, confident in her academic skills and from a stable family but she is filled with self-doubt and low confidence in her personal life and about her looks. Her friend Julie, on the other hand, is slim and beautiful; abandoned by her mother, she meets Nellie as she is running away from a foster family on the rez. Both characters are fundamentally flawed as individuals and as friends. Everett is from the same rez, also abandoned by his parents and raised by an uncle. He is content to party and sleep around and take advantage of whatever falls his way. Taz is from the north and meets Nellie at university; he is smart, and driven to succeed in First Nation politics but he too likes to drink to excess and has violent tendencies. Everett and Taz are also likeable characters who are fundamentally flawed.
An outstanding of collection of linked short stories.
These would appeal to anyone who has an interest in people surviving impossible childhoods and how all of it can wind up messing up a whole life.
The stories were often bleak, but still there's hope.
