The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Winner of the 2017 Governor General’s Award for Young People’s Literature.
- Powerful words and messages for a troubled time.
- It’s so Canadian right down to the Hudson’s Bay blankets… how ironic!
- Great promise of going somewhere brilliant when you start off with quotes from William S Burroughs and Cormac McCarthy. And the promise is fulfilled. What a brilliant concept.
- Sickness = sadness = stop dreaming… The author brings in Camus – The Plague – to ponder on the nature of humanity and inhumanity, on what makes people tick, on what makes people change.
- I love the structure of the book: the personal ‘coming-to stories’ interwoven with the story of the group and also the story of indigenous history and mythologies. All of the pieces build nicely on each other to fill in gaps. The book also – despite being in print – celebrates the oral storytelling traditions.
- The book takes no prisoners… a total no holds barred approach. It takes aim at everything: Colonialism; Treaties; Pandemics; Residential schools; Political ignorance; Failure to heed traditional wisdom about stewardship of the land and water…. Water diversion projects, Industrial pollution, Industrial agriculture (dead food), Oil pipelines; Pharmaculture; Reserves; Indigenous Incarceration rates; Cultural appropriation; History repeating itself (looking to indigenous wisdom but then wanting to ‘own’ it (p88)); and, I’ve probably missed some…
- All this with a wry sense of humour… especially the ‘Apocalyptic Boy Scouts’ and ‘Hunting and Homestead’ duties in the travelling camp.
- I love the characters: French/Francis; Miig; Rose; Minerva (her self sacrifice… her dreams… her song… she brings it all down… the power of the generations, of the stories, of the elders)
- And last, but not least, I especially love the environmental message which comes across loud and clear, particularly in the latter part of the book. Nearer the ending we get this message of faith and hope… When we heal our land, we are healed also… We’ll get there. Maybe not soon, but eventually (p193).
Read the review at Quill and Quire.
Winner, Governor General’s Award for Young People’s Literature.
Winner, Kirkus Prize for Young Reader’s Literature.
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- Learn more about the Forest of Reading here.
- Check out Forest Fridays, virtual visits with featured authors (link is to last year). We look forward to their return. When they do, we will be hosting a couple of them here at ESA.
- Students who would like to join us at the Festival of Trees, at Harbourfront, on Tuesday May 15th should see Ms. Wray or Ms. Kennedy in the Library.
- Permission forms will be available closer to the date.