Review: Wenjack by Joseph Boyden

Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication: 10/18/2016 by Hamish Hamilton
Pages: 112 Pages
Format: Paperback
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
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Goodreads Summary
An Ojibwe boy runs away from a North Ontario Indian School, not realizing just how far away home is. Along the way he's followed by Manitous, spirits of the forest who comment on his plight, cajoling, taunting, and ultimately offering him a type of comfort on his difficult journey back to the place he was so brutally removed from.

Written by Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author Joseph Boyden and beautifully illustrated by acclaimed artist Kent Monkman, Wenjack is a powerful and poignant look into the world of a residential school runaway trying to find his way home.

My Thoughts
If you are a Canadian, read this book. Seriously.
This story is based on the true story of Chanie Wenjack who tried to walk home from his residential school in Norther Ontario. This story is absolutely heartbreaking, I felt sad just from opening the front cover. This book is so important because we don't talk about residential school enough. This is a terrible thing that happened in Canadian history (modern history even!). As a Canadian my whole life, I didn't learn anything about residential schools until fairly recently. Not in school, not anywhere. I even found out the town I grew up in had a residential school and I had no idea until a few weeks ago. I think we all need to learn more about this, and this is a good place to start.

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