Tag: indigenous

Rez Ball by Byron Graves

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Byron Graves’ debut novel, Rez Ball, tells the story of a young basketball player determined to prove to his Ojibwe community that he  has what it takes to take the high school basketball team to the state championships for the first time ever.

Tre Brun, a sophomore at Red Lake Reservation high school, spends any free time he has playing basketball. Haunted by memories of his big brother Jaxon who recently died in a tragic accident, Tre decides he is going to try out for the varsity basketball team. He hopes to help take the team all the way to their first state championship. When Jaxon’s former teammates offer to help Tre on this new journey, he decides this must be fated. With one of his friends filming Tre for a future documentary, his dreams of playing in the NBA become even more solid. At home, Tre is constantly reminded of Jaxon and how much he doesn’t measure up to him, but Tre hopes that using his skills on the basketball court will allow him to match Jaxon’s talent. Tre knows he cannot mess up. The team has almost made it to state many times, but after decades of just misses, they actually have a chance with Tre this year. They have to win state, for Jaxon and for the whole rez.

This was a heartbreakingly gorgeous read. Graves portrays the ugly times, alongside the beautiful moments, but paces the story in a way to keep readers wanting more from start to end. This is a realistic look at balancing grief and legacy while trying to be your own person. As a non-basketball player, I can say that the basketball scenes were very well-written and easy to follow. This is a five star read for me!

This title is also available in large print.

Interested in this book? Rez Ball is the November See YA Book Club pick. We will be discussing this book on Wednesday, November 5th at 6:30pm at our Eastern Avenue branch. For more information about future See YA book picks, visit our website.

See YA Book Club

Join our adult book club with a teen book twist. See why so many teen books are being turned into movies and are taking over the best seller lists.

Registration is not required. Books are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Eastern Avenue library. We meet the first Wednesday of the month at Eastern at 6:30pm. Stop by the service desk for more information.

November 5 – Rez Ball by Byron Graves

December 3 – Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Find Her by Ginger Reno

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Have you ever had a book cover capture your interest and demand you read it? That’s how I felt when I saw Find Her by Ginger Reno while scrolling Libby late one night. The red hand covering the mouth is the identifying symbol for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons movement. This movement seeks to bring focus to the alarming issue surrounding the high rate of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the United States, particularly women and girls. Knowing that Find Her is middle grade fiction, I wanted to see how the MMIP movement would be showcased to a younger audience, so I decided to give this a read.

Twelve-year-old Wren’s mother has been missing for over five years. Sadly she is one of the hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Oklahoma alone. Even though her father is the chief of police in her small town, this hasn’t helped them find her any quicker. Some days it feels like Wren and her grandmother are the only two who care that her mom is missing. Wren has a secret weapon though: her finder sense. Looking for ways to help find her mom, Wren decides she needs to sharpen her finder sense. She starts a pet finding business and soon finds her detective skills tested.

When one of the missing pets is found badly hurt, Wren is devastated. When more are found injured, Wren grows worried. Who is behind this animal abuse? Why aren’t the police moving faster? With the help of a friend, Wren decides she is going to find the person behind these crimes. If she can solve these cases, maybe then she’ll be able to find her mother. Taking this on means Wren is going to have to keep secrets from the two most important people in her family: her grandmother and her father. Hopefully they will understand.

This book destroyed me. Even though Find Her is middle grade fiction, it dealt with heavy topics that had me up late at night wondering why and how people could behave so cruelly to other humans and to animals. While I expected this book to wrap up all its threads in a neat bow, I was pleasantly surprised when the author left some questions unanswered. Definitely recommend for people of all ages!

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

- Stephanie Leave a comment

‘And a man without dreams is just a meaty machine with a broken gauge.’ – Cherie Dimaline, The Marrow Thieves

Are you looking for book recommendations? Ask a librarian! My latest read came courtesy of one of our Youth Services Librarians. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline tells the story of the indigenous people of North America and their struggle to survive in a futuristic climate-change ravaged world.

People on Earth have lost the ability to dream, sending them all to madness. Desperate to find a solution, the government looks into who is still able to dream. They discover that the only people who can dream are North America’s Indigenous people. Wanting to understand why, the government looks for a cure, finding that the Indigenous people’s bone marrow holds the ability to save the dreamless. In order to get the marrow though, the donors must die. Schools are established across the country with recruiters sent out to round up the Indigenous people to harvest their marrow. This has far-reaching repercussions for all Indigenous people. On the run, Frenchie yearns to find his family, even though he fears they are lost to him. He and his travel family spend years struggling to survive as they make their way up north, looking for friends and family. Their search for refuge is dangerous, but may lead to joyous reunions.

I was left wanting more from this book. I wanted more history of the character, of the government, what exactly is happening to the people that are taken, and how/why the lands were so ravaged and destroyed. Luckily, The Marrow Thieves is the first in a series AND the second book, Hunting by Stars, is out! I’m hoping this second book will give me the answers to my questions from the first book. Nevertheless, I’m glad I decided to read The Marrow Thieves – it feels like a book that should be required reading.

‘Sometimes you risk everything for a life worth living, even if you’re not the one that’ll be alive to live it.’ – Cherie Dimaline, The Marrow Thieves

Sugar Falls by David A. Robertson, illustrations by Scott B. Henderson, and colours by Donovan Yaciuk

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Elder Betty Ross from Cross Lake First Nation has a story to tell. It may have taken her decades to tell her truth, but with the help of David A. Robertson, she has introduced the world to her resiliency and abuse at Canadian residential schools in the graphic novel, Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story. The hidden history of the Canadian Residential School System is shocking and needs to be talked about more than it has been in the past.

Betsy Ross was abandoned by her family at a young age. Betsy was eventually rescued and adopted by a loving family. Her world changed a few years later when, at the age of 8, she was taken away to a residential school against both her and her adopted family’s wishes. Her father made her promise to remember the strength of her relationships in order to survive. Those relationships would help light up any dark time she ran up against in the future.

When Betsy arrives at the school, she has no idea what to expect. She undergoes unspeakable abuses and indignities while at the school. She and other students are constantly berated and belittled by the priests and nuns. Her father’s words echo in her brain over and over filling her with hope, strength, determination, and resiliency she needs to survive this ordeal.

Betsy ended up changing her name to Betty in honor and remembrance of her friend, Helen Betty Osborne. Elder Betty Ross wrote this book with the help of David A. Robertson as a way to tell the truth about the residential schools.