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When we were alone / by Robertson, David,1977-; Flett, Julie.;
When a young girl helps tend to her grandmother's garden, she begins to notice things that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long, braided hair and beautifully colored clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family? As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is told about life in a residential school a long time ago, where all of these things were taken away. When We Were Alone is a story about a difficult time in history, and, ultimately, one of empowerment and strength.LSC
Subjects: Grandmothers; Native peoples; Indigenous peoples; Residential schools;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The sleeping giant / by Robertson, David,1977-;
Eli, Morgan and Emily embark on their most dangerous mission yet, to save the kidnapped animal beings of Ministik. But before they can reach the heavily guarded Land of the Sleeping Giant, Eli must rally more help, not just from old friends, but from surprising new allies. And he must rely on a new way to travel: on the back of the leader of the Bird Warriors himself, Pip. Together they will journey across the North Country, on a mission to reconnect the Bird Warriors, as well as confront old enemies. But even as he must fight for his life -- and the lives of his friends and new family -- Eli must also come to terms with his newfound knowledge: What does it mean that he is only part human?
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Space and time; Siblings; Kidnapping; Animals; Indigenous peoples;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The kodiaks : home ice advantage / by Robertson, David,1977-;
Everything is changing for 11-year-old Alex Robinson. After his father accepts a new job, Alex and his family move from their community to the city. For the first time in his life, he doesn't fit in. His fellow students don't understand Indigenous culture. Even a simple show of respect to his teacher gets him in trouble. Things begin to look up after Alex tries out for a local hockey team. Playing for the Kodiaks, Alex proves himself as one of the best, but he becomes a target because he's Indigenous. Can Alex trust his teammates and stand up to the jerks on other teams? Can he find a way to fit in and still be who he's meant to be?
Subjects: Sports fiction.; Moving, Household; Indigenous children; Racism; Hockey players;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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A season in Chezgh'un : a novel / by McLeod, Darrel J.,author.;
"A subversive novel by acclaimed Cree author Darrel J. McLeod, infused with the contradictory triumph and pain of finding conventional success in a world that feels alien. James, a talented and conflicted Cree man from a tiny settlement in Northern Alberta, has settled into a comfortable middle-class life in Kitsilano, a trendy neighbourhood of Vancouver. He is living the life he had once dreamed of--travel, a charming circle of sophisticated friends, a promising career and a loving relationship with a caring man--but he chafes at being assimilated into mainstream society, removed from his people and culture. The untimely death of James's mother, his only link to his extended family and community, propels him into a quest to reconnect with his roots. He secures a job as a principal in a remote northern Dakelh community but quickly learns that life there isn't the fix he'd hoped it would be: His encounters with poverty, cultural disruption and abuse conjure ghosts from his past that drive him toward self-destruction. During the single year he spends in northern BC, James takes solace in the richness of the Dakelh culture--the indomitable spirit of the people, and the splendour of nature--all the while fighting to keep his dark side from destroying his life."--
Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Friendship; Gay men; Indigenous children; Indigenous men; School principals; Teachers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A minor chorus : a novel / by Belcourt, Billy-Ray,author.;
"An urgent first novel about breaching the prisons we live inside from one of Canada's most daring literary talents. An unnamed narrator abandons his unfinished thesis and returns to northern Alberta in search of what eludes him: the shape of the novel he yearns to write, an autobiography of his rural hometown, the answers to existential questions about family, love, and happiness. What ensues is a series of conversations, connections, and disconnections that reveals the texture of life in a town literature has left unexplored, where the friction between possibility and constraint provides an insistent background score. Whether he's meeting with an auntie distraught over the imprisonment of her grandson, engaging in rez gossip with his cousin at a pow wow, or lingering in bed with a married man after a hotel room hookup, the narrator makes space for those in his orbit to divulge their private joys and miseries, testing the theory that storytelling can make us feel less lonely. Populated by characters as alive and vast as the boreal forest, and culminating in a breathtaking crescendo, A Minor Chorus is a novel about how deeply entangled the sayable and unsayable can become--and about how ordinary life, when pressed, can produce hauntingly beautiful music."--
Subjects: Novels.; Authors; Families; Gay men; Homecoming; Indigenous peoples; Small cities; Storytelling; First Nations reserves;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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Big chief / by Hickey, Jon,1981-author.;
"There, There meets The Night Watchman in this gripping literary debut about power and corruption, family, and facing the ghosts of the past. Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, is an outsider in the homeland of his Anishinaabe ancestors. But alongside his childhood friend, Tribal President Mack Beck, he runs the government of the Passage Rouge Nation, and with it, the tribe's Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel. On the eve of Mack's reelection, their tenuous grip on power is threatened by a nationally known activist and politician, Gloria Hawkins, and her young aide, Layla Beck, none other than Mack's estranged sister and Mitch's former love. In their struggle for control over Passage Rouge, the campaigns resort to bare-knuckle political gamesmanship, testing the limits of how far they will go-and what they will sacrifice-to win it all. But when an accident claims the life of Mitch's mentor, a power broker in the reservation's political scene, the election slides into chaos and pits Mitch against the only family he has. As relationships strain to their breaking points and a peaceful protest threatens to become an all-consuming riot, Mitch and Layla must work together to stop the reservation's descent into violence. Thrilling and timely, Big Chief is an unforgettable story about the search for belonging-to an ancestral and spiritual home, to a family, and to a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance"--
Subjects: Political fiction.; Novels.; Elections; Ethics; Families; Friendship; Interpersonal relations; Political corruption; Indigenous reservations; Ojibwe;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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White horse / by Wurth, Erika T.,author.;
"White Horse is a gritty, vibrant debut from Erika T. Wurth about an Indigenous woman who must face her past when she discovers a bracelet haunted by her mother's spirit. Some people are haunted in more ways than one. Old denim jackets, ripped jeans, Stephen King novels, and the occasional beer at the White Horse Lounge have defined urban Indian Kari James's life so far. But when her cousin Debby finds an old family bracelet that once belonged to Kari's mother, it inadvertently calls up both her mother's ghost and a monstrous entity, and her willful ignorance about her past is no longer sustainable ... Haunted by visions of her mother and hunted by this mysterious creature, Kari must search for what happened to her mother all those years ago. Her father, permanently disabled from a car crash, can't help her. Her Auntie Squeaker seems to know something, but isn't eager to give it all up at once. Debby's anxious to help, but her controlling husband keeps getting in the way. Kari's journey towards a truth long-denied by both her family and law enforcement forces her to confront her dysfunctional relationships, her spiritual beliefs, and her desire for the one thing she's always wanted but could never have"--
Subjects: Horror fiction.; Ghost stories.; Novels.; Family secrets; Indigenous peoples; Indigenous women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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An ordinary violence : a novel / by Chartrand, Adriana,author.;
Dawn hasn't spoken to her brother, Cody, since he was sent to prison for a violent crime seven years ago. Now living in a shiny new Toronto condo, Dawn is haunted by uncanny occurrences, including cryptic messages from her dead mother, that have followed her most of her life. When the life Dawn thought she wanted implodes, she is forced to return to her childhood home and the prairie city that hold so much pain for her and her fractured family. Cody is unexpectedly released from prison with a mysterious new friend by his side, who seems to be the charismatic leader of a dangerous supernatural network. Trying to uncover their plans, Dawn follows increasingly sinister leads until the lines between this world and the next, now and then, and right and wrong begin to blur and dissolve. What unfolds is an eerie, incisive, and at times darkly funny horror novel about a young Indigenous woman reckoning with trauma and violence, loss and reclamation in an unsettling world where spirit realms entwine with the living-and where it is humans who carry out the truly monstrous acts.
Subjects: Paranormal fiction.; Novels.; Ex-convicts; Homecoming; Indigenous women; Right and wrong; Siblings;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Elvis, me, and the postcard winter / by Gentile, Leslie,1959-;
"The winter rains have come to the Eagle Shores Trailer Park on a Reserve on southern Vancouver Island in 1978. Abandoned by her mother last summer, twelve-year-old Truly has settled into her new life living with Andy El, the Salish Elder who runs the trailer park. Truly eagerly awaits the postcards she receives from the King of Rock 'n Roll, Elvis Presley, who now tours as an Elvis Impersonator. When he sends Truly a second-hand guitar as a Christmas gift, she learns to play and discovers that her growing love of music deepens her friendship with twins Agnes and Linda, Andy El's Granddaughters. Truly's new world is shattered with the unexpected return of her mother, Clarice, who wants another shot at being a good mom. Truly is now faced with deciding whether or not she can trust Clarice and must ultimately choose if she is willing to give up the peace and security of her comfortable life with Andy El and her new family to give Clarice a second chance"--
Subjects: Presley, Elvis, 1935-1977; Postcards; Elvis Presley impersonators; Mother and child; Indigenous children; Indian reservations; Dysfunctional families; Mothers and daughters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Moon of the crusted snow : a novel / by Rice, Waubgeshig,1979-author.;
"A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow. The community leadearship loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision. Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn."--provided by publisher.Canadian
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Dystopian fiction.; City and town life; End of the world; Indigenous peoples; Interpersonal relations;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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