Ravensong by Lee Maracle
Summary: Growing up in the 1950s near Vancouver, Stacey lives in a Native community with her family but attends high school in town with the white teens. Her last semester and summer before leaving for university are eye-opening as a classmate of Stacey commits suicide and a ‘flu epidemic strikes Stacey’s community. She grows to learn the white community she is trying to be a part of has its’ own problems, including a complete lack of respect for their Native neighbours. Stacey can see how white culture is invading her community and changing things in a bad way, giving her...
Read MoreBeyond the Precipice by Eva A. Blaskovic
Summary: Living for six years with the guilt of a terrible secret only his brother knows, Bret is now an eighteen year-old young man haunted by the past. Hanging onto his father’s opinions about his gift for music, Bret is determined to get a practical education as a doctor. But as a musical savant with genius level intelligence, he can’t help but be drawn to the music department at his university. It is there that he meets Nicole, a cellist endeavouring to join the Calgary Symphony Orchestra, and finds a safe place with her and her family to confront his memories and move into a...
Read MoreRoad to Bliss by Joan Clark
Summary: After a major power outage in the city, Jim Hobbs makes his way out the subway tunnel he got stuck in and just starts walking. Everything just comes to a head and Jim decides he needs a break from school, his fractured family and the city itself, so he hitches a ride out to the Prairies and comes across an abandoned farm called Bliss where he learns to take care of himself without modern conveniences. Bliss is next to Majestic farm and when Jim gets to know a couple of his neighbours, he decides to seek work on their farm so he can get to know them better. But the farm turns out to...
Read MoreWho Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell
Summary: Living in smalltown Saskatchewan in the 1930s, Brian is experiencing his childhood in a harsh environment based on survival against the elements and each other. A sensitive child, Brian has a sense of there being something deeper to life, but can’t quite grasp what it is. This feeling flickers throughout the years, becoming stronger when he is around the younger Ben, but great loss enters his life increasing his questions and despair. Brian’s journey through childhood is highlighted by the parallel stories of the people who live in his community, and influence his reach...
Read MoreMostly Happy by Pam Bustin
Summary: From a young age, Bean has had to take care of herself. With a mother who continually brings home abusive boyfriends and a father who raped her when she was six years old, Bean has no other choice. Her mother’s new husband terrorizes their family with violence and intimidation, but what Bean doesn’t know at the time is that her younger sister is now the one being taken advantage of. Looking back over the memories of her childhood, Bean examines each carefully, slowly putting the pieces together and realising all of the past trauma she has been suppressing. Her reflection...
Read MoreAbout Amy
Amy Mathers has been passionate about reading from a very young age, and hopes others will share her enthusiasm for funding a teen book award. Read more Follow Amy
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