Surviving the City

by Tasha Spillett, Natasha Donovan (Illustrator), Donovan Yaciuk (Illustrator)

Overview

Miikwan and Dez are best friends. Miikwan is Anishinaabe; Dez is Inninew. Together, the teens navigate the challenges of growing up in an urban landscape—they’re so close, they even completed their Berry Fast together. However, when Dez’s grandmother becomes too sick, Dez is told she can’t stay with her anymore. With the threat of a group home looming, Dez can’t bring herself to go home and disappears. Miikwan is devastated, and the wound of her missing mother resurfaces. Will Dez’s community find her before it’s too late? Will Miikwan be able to cope if they don’t?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781553797562
Publisher:	Portage & Main Press
Publication date:	03/01/2019
Series:	Surviving the City , #1
Pages:	56
Sales rank:	146,502
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	HL550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Tasha Spillett, PhD, (she/her/hers) is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, and public speaker who draws her strength from her Cree and Trinidadian bloodlines. Tasha’s work centers around the liberation and affirmation of BIPOC women and children. She acknowledges her unique opportunity and responsibility as an Afro-Indigenous woman to create learning environments that are culturally responsive. Infusing her teaching with cultural knowledge, Tasha supports and fosters belonging amongst BIPOC students and their families.

Tasha is the author of the award-winning graphic novel series, Surviving the City, the New York Times bestselling picture book, I Sang You Down from the Stars, and Beautiful You, Beautiful Me. Tasha weaves her cultural identity into both her trade and scholarly work focusing on issues affecting Indigenous women like calls for justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people. Her work is a continuation of the resistance against the legacy of colonialism and a celebration of the beauty and brilliance of her ancestors.

Natasha Donovan (she/her/hers) is a Métis illustrator originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. Her sequential work has been published in This Place: 150 Years Retold, Wonderful Women of History, and Thomas King's graphic novel Borders. She is the illustrator of the award-winning Surviving the City graphic novel series and Mothers of Xsan children's book series, as well as Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer. She currently lives by the Nooksack River in Washington State. @natashamdonovan

Since 1998, Donovan Yaciuk (he/him/his) has coloured books published by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse comics, and HighWater Press including the A Girl Called Echo and The Reckoner Rises series, as well as select stories in This Place: 150 Years Retold. Donovan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from the University of Manitoba and began his career as a part of the legendary, now-defunct Digital Chameleon colouring studio. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with his wife and two daughters.

What People are Saying About This

Richmond News - The Canadian Press

Finalist for Indigenous Voices Award

LeanneBetasamosake Simpson

Centering the strong hearts of Indigenous women and girls and shattering racist assumptions, Surviving the City is a beautiful, uncompromising honour song to those of us that not only survive the urban, but navigate through it with the courage of our Ancestors. — Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, author of This Accident of Being Lost

McNally Robinson

Among McNally Robinson Booksellers 2019 Bestsellers, Manitoba

NetGalley - Cande Suarez

5 out of 5 stars

A breathtaking graphic novel about what it means to be a young Native woman in today’s world. The art is gorgeous and storytelling so gripping and terrifying. Terrifying because of this a reality of so many. There is so much grief between these pages, so much pain, and rightful anger, but also love and hope. Surviving the City is a celebration of culture and community. A must-read for everyone, really. So short but very important. Highly recommended.

—NetGalley reviewer

Canadian Children's Book Centre

June Reading Picks for Indigenous History Month
 

YALSA

Among YALSA's 2020 Great Graphic Novels for Teens

AIYL

An AIYL Young Adult Honor Book

author of This Accident of Being Lost Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Centering the strong hearts of Indigenous women and girls and shattering racist assumptions, Surviving the City is a beautiful, uncompromising honour song to those of us that not only survive the urban, but navigate through it with the courage of our Ancestors.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Centering the strong hearts of Indigenous women and girls and shattering racist assumptions, Surviving the City is a beautiful, uncompromising honour song to those of us that not only survive the urban, but navigate through it with the courage of our Ancestors. — Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, author of This Accident of Being Lost

CBC Books

Selected for CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens list

Editorial Reviews

03/25/2019

In this haunting graphic novel, debut author Spillett and Donovan (The Sockeye Mother) present a story of girls growing up with the historical legacy of Canada’s treatment of indigenous people, particularly women and girls. Indigenous Canadian teens Dez (who is Inninew) and Miikwan (who is Anishinaabe) have always been closer than sisters; they tell each other everything and partner up to tell the story of their berry fast for a school heritage project. But after Dez learns that she can no longer live with her ailing grandmother, who is suffering from complications of diabetes, she spends the night in a park, fearing a possible move to a group home. Indigenous women routinely disappear in their city, and Miikwaan, whose own mother is dead, becomes frantic, fearing the worst. In scenes of a city spilling over with tension, Donovan renders ghosts of lost kindred walking the bright city streets alongside menacing, mostly male specters. Spillet’s appendix “Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People” adds further context and suggestions for additional reading. Ages 13–up. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Centering the strong hearts of Indigenous women and girls and shattering racist assumptions, Surviving the City is a beautiful, uncompromising honour song to those of us that not only survive the urban, but navigate through it with the courage of our Ancestors.

author of This Accident of Being Lost Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Selected as an AIYLA Young Adult Honor Book

American Indian Youth Literature Award (AIYLA)

Selected for 2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, an annual booklist of the best feminist books for young readers

American Library Association (ALA)

Nominated for the Forest of Reading's Red Maple Award

Ontario Library Association

The importance of community, especially a community of women, is a running theme throughout the book. [This book] would be [a] welcome addition to a secondary school library or classroom, or to an Indigenous Studies or Indigenous Literature curriculum.

Professionally Speaking

These YA comic books help fill some glaring omissions in Canada's understanding of its past.

Chatelaine

"Tasha Spillett, who is Nehiyaw and Trinidadian, tells the story through the girls' dialogue and text messages—featuring Indigenous words and references to traditional practices—allowing readers to be continually immersed in their world…In these haunting images, the girls' personal drama plays out within the larger struggle of Canada's Indigenous women."

Quill & Quire

"Centering the strong hearts of Indigenous women and girls and shattering racist assumptions, Surviving the City is a beautiful, uncompromising honour song to those of us that not only survive the urban, but navigate through it with the courage of our Ancestors."  - Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, author of This Accident of Being Lost 

From the Publisher

Tasha Spillett, who is Nehiyaw and Trinidadian, tells the story through the girls' dialogue and text messages – featuring Indigenous words and references to traditional practices – allowing readers to be continually immersed in their world.

Metis artist Natasha Donovan's full-colour illustrations stand out in this field of graphic novels, with pale-blue ghostly figures representing missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as well as darker, hollow-eyed male figures who symbolize the constant threats to women. In these haunting images, the girls' personal drama plays out within the larger struggle of Canada's Indigenous women.

Quill & Quire - Joanne Findon

Just in time for Women’s History month comes this offering from Portage & Main Press centering an group that we rarely see represented anywhere in most media: Indigenous people and especially Indigenous girls and women. Familiar with Portage & Main Press when I picked up and read A Girl Called Echo, Vol. 1 (Pemmican Wars) penned by Métis writer Katherena Vermette, I figured that I’d once again be able to read another graphic novel centering these women handled by a female creative team and this time both members with an Indigenous background. This graphic novel features two best friends, Miikwan and Dez, and chronicles their struggles not only being young but Indigenous young women navigating a world that historically hasn’t been kind to those who look like them. Miikwan is Anishinaabe, and Dez is Inninew. Their friendship is strong, something akin to sisters, and they find themselves tested like never before.

This is writer Spillett’s debut graphic novel, and I couldn’t be happier to have a narrative written about Indigenous girls from an Indigenous woman who writes that she is most heart-tied to contributing to community-led work that centers on land and water defense, and the protection of Indigenous women and girls. As an educator, poet, and emerging scholar who draws her strength from both her Nehiyaw and Trinidadian bloodlines, I’m furthermore happier to see an educator writing a book about Brown girls aimed at tween and teen readers.

WHEW. The narrative presented in this comic offering does several things, and it’s done so right–this work is not only centering Indigenous girls and women but also giving us a beautiful glimpse of sisterhood. Miikwan and Dez celebrate each other, their coming into womanhood together, fret, fall victim to fear, try to protect each other and ultimately make it back to each other. There was a world wind of emotions I experienced reading and following along in their journey; sometimes I wept, other times I cheered, and smiling at them being together and safe.

I picked up on the strong sense of community portrayed on the pages, from a parent who pops in with a family heirloom when needed with a kind word, to a counselor at school who takes one girl aside to listen and offer a spiritual resolution that honors ancestors, and to a female stranger who comes to the aid of a runaway teen girl. Spillett pens a tale where community matters and kinfolk ain’t just your skin folk and the narrative is strengthened as a result. There are so many stereotypes that plague People of Color, Native and Indigenous people don’t escape this reality, yet in this book there are no gross jokes beaten into our consciousness. They are no unfortunate caricatures of the folks who walked these lands before colonization disrupted their ways of life.

It is in one of the strongest and most emotional sequences of pages in the book where Dez reveals that she is afraid of being separated from her grandmother because of her ailing health. It is also in this moment that the book shines brightly. The threat of being sent to a group home makes Dez feel that she will be taken away from home, her kin, and everything she loves. It really touches upon what isn’t empathized enough–the trauma that sets itself in the genetic makeup of many groups of People of Color and also ethnic groups that have endured and survived horrific events. (Trauma from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade continues to plague Black folks for example. More and more people are living with PTSD symptoms as researchers are linking together trauma and heritability.)

For this, I appreciate the attention to detail here and the cultural authenticity. Dez refers to her grandmother as her Kokum, a Native counselor chants a prayer with an offering for their ancestors in another language-in Anishinaabemown with translations by Jerry Summer. While I believe that this book is accessible, I will note that I don’t believe for one minute that this book caters to the white or male gaze. This is why I was elated to learn that the illustrator of this graphic novel was also another Indigenous woman. Artist Dononvan is a freelance creative and illustrator from Vancouver, British Columbia. A member of the Métis Nation of British Columbia, her sequential work has been published in The Other Side anthology, and she’s responsible for the art for award-winning children’s book, The Sockeye Mother.

Donovan’s artwork is somewhere between dreamy and definitive: a few of my rereads of this title was to just focus on the art and be mesmerized. There’s never a lack of Brown folks in the panels, and Donovan’s coloring enriched the pages and made some moments stand out more: moments of joy and moments of fear, equally. The biggest takeaway was the artistic decision to portray the spirits of the women still here in some form watching over and protecting the young Indigenous women present. A more recently deceased female family member of one of the girls sits at her bedside as she mourns–that same family member stands behind her as she admires a sculpture created as a memorial for the missing and murdered women in town.

The women, and the ancestors, are on the pages in the book in faint forms colored with the palest of blues. Some have NO DAPL t-shirts, and others have less modern forms of dress like the ones in full skirts that look to be more from perhaps the later 1800’s to early 1900’s era. The other forms present are the grey, creepy, eyeless creatures that tend to appear and mostly cling to non-Native men who approach the girls and women in this comic. They show up in most places the female spirits are, and my best guess is that they are spirits of past efforts of colonization and fear that refuse to be banished from this plane. It is a visually compelling and moving depiction by the artist to include, and I immediately had an idea of what both spirits and what they were supposed to represent.

I initially was worried about the length of this book as it’s not longer than sixty pages. I read A Girl Called Echo, Vol. 1 (Pemmican Wars) and while I really liked the story I felt that it was too short to fully fell immersed in it. (Thankfully, there is another volume to continue Echo’s adventures.) The creative team paced the narrative well enough where Surviving the City Vol. 1 ends on a satisfying note, and I didn’t feel cut off. As this book is for the demographic of younger audience in the grades seven to twelve, it’s a good length with a few pages of educational content like stats about murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit people, and some additional readings to look up.

Surviving the City is one book in The Debwe Series, and it is a book that I can’t recommend enough; first for representation reasons, and secondly for centering Indigenous girls and women in a narrative that doesn’t succumb to the trauma porn People of Color are so used to seeing in the media. While this book focuses on Native girls and women in Canada and British Columbia, it is important to note that Native women are some 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than any other ethnic group, and that is an international crisis of violence that affects Indigenous girls and women everywhere.

What I love most about Surviving the City is that it feels like a love letter from Indigenous women to Indigenous girls, letting them know that they are seen and that they are loved. Surviving the City is a promise that the fight is still ongoing, never ceasing to mourn those gone and to prevent more from going missing is heartfelt and true. While reading it, I kept seeing women come to the rescue of other women, the standout examples: the woman coming to the aid of teenage girl runaway getting her to safety and the older woman standing in as a grandmother, a spiritual leader, and later an activist. The cornerstones of many communities are women, and women are the protectors of other women.

Let the circle be unbroken.

Let women remain as protectors and guides and leaders.

And let the conversation about the murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people be one that we fight to keep alive and also one that brings justice and closure.

NetGalley - Carrie McClain

Let me begin by saying that this isn't a story for the faint of heart. The history of indigenous peoples in Canada is rife with violence and oppression. This short graphic novel deals with one aspect of it: murdered and missing women, girls, and two spirited peoples. ... Part of what makes this book so profound is the artwork. The girls are beautifully portrayed in bold colours. Translucent ghosts of all kinds of women populate the pages.
This is the first book in The Debwe Series. I am excitedly looking forward to what comes next.

NetGalley - Cheriee Weichel

This graphic novel explores the plight of indigenous women and girls in Canada. The art and story was beautiful. Everyone should read this.

NetGalley - Mahvellous Books

5 out of 5 stars
Beautiful moving story with rich illustrations appropriate for tweens and teens. I only wish it were longer!

NetGalley - Sussan Navabi

This is the most impactful, moving graphic novel I have ever read. The illustrations were breathtaking and haunting, and absolutely LAYERED. So, so much depth and complexity and heart to this story.

This story matters.

It was beautiful to see Anishinaabe and Inninew rep (and language rep!) on page. I teared up the first time I saw "kokum" on page. Just. I don't even know where to begin. This book dives deep into inter-generational trauma and the way our past and our families and their wounds haunt us. I could go on about both of those books for days, but I just want to say this: this will be a re-read, re-read, re-read. Native kids deserve to see themselves represented in a story like this. I'm so very grateful.

Portage & Main Press website - M

I started this graphic novel with no idea of what was to come. What I got was a touching, diverse read. Characters struggling in their world and trying to hold on to the life they have. Friendship that makes a family. In this story we have teen girls, both from native tribes, learning their way in “regular” school. This world is different from what their culture finds “normal”. The only difficulty I had was trying to understand some of the illustrations that would blend current themes with native ones. #SurvivingtheCity #NetGalley

NetGalley - Caroline Dube

#5 on the McNally Robinson Booksellers bestseller list

McNally Robinson

I pre-ordered as soon as I read it. It was haunting and gorgeous and I already want to read it again. I can't wait to put this in my kid's hands.

NetGalley - Mary Roach

This was a compelling story of two girls having a tough time growing up. The most compelling character is that of Dez who is dealing with a lot of issues that might be considered tough but normal, and also being split from her Kokum by a social worker who decides that Kokum's failing health means Dez needs to move to a group home.

With the characters having connections to missing or murdered Indigenous women, that real fear is always in the background, and this book could open a lot of discussions about the generational impact. When Dez decides not to go home and be taken by the social worker to a group home, you can see why she would do that, but right away it brings back memories of past trauma for the people in her life.

There also seems to be a nameless, faceless evil lurking throughout the story and I think it signifies the fear that many women live in as they travel, and that not much is done about it.

The uplifting things about this story are the relationship between the two friends, Dez and Miikwan, whose friendship helps them get through, and also the message that Dez gets from a stranger on the need of a community to support one in times of need.

The story packs a lot into a relatively small number of pages. There were times that I wished for more details about a character's background, or the rest of the story of what happens to Dez. However, that might have detracted from the message that the love Dez has from others and the support of people in her community will ultimately help her. That being said, I hope there is more to come and that this develops into a series that my readers would read in one serving.

NetGalley - Aaron Cleaveley

This is an important book that should be read by everyone. Missing indigenous women and girls is a huge problem within both Canada and the United States. And it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Everyone should be concerned about this and helping to make this come to an end. No more!

NetGalley - Cindy Post-Petkus

According to the RCMP, ten percent of women in Canada who have been missing for at least 30 days are Indigenous. Indigenous women are five times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women. So, this graphic novel, about two Indigenous girls, who live in the city, is very sad, and very true. Surviving in the city is hard when you are a target. I love how the spirits of the dead hang around the Indigenous peoples, but the white people have an alien spirit that hangs around them. Very to the point. This is not an easy story to read. But it is also true that this is still happening, right now, and far too many girls and women have been lost to not make a point that we have to care for each other.

And the resource center, mentioned in the book Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc. is real (http://www.kanikanichihk.ca/), so this is also a good source for girls and women reading this to know there is a safe space for them. There is so much going on, that is background for this story, but anyone can read this, and know what is happening, and be aware. Highly recommended for school, libraries and personal libraries. Thanks to Netgalley and Highwater Press for making this book available for an honest review.

NetGalley - Laura Testa-Reyes

A short but powerful graphic novel about the experience of two Indigenous Canadian girls that I'm really happy I got the chance to read.

NetGalley - Gabrielle Edwards

A startling, timely, and beautifully illustrated account of the plight of indigenous girls, women, and two-children in Canada. Not to be missed.

NetGalley - Rogene Carter

Tasha Spillett writes with the kind of raw voice that Indigenous girls deserve to hear. Surviving the City takes the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit, and she brings that to life in a story that doesn't just focus on MMIWG2S.

I think what I really admire about Surviving the City is that Spillett is able to tell the story of two girls, Miikwan (Anishinaabe) and Dez (Inninew), just being girls while living in a world that just can't handle Indigenous girls getting to enjoy their lives and their culture. Miikwan and Dez are living their lives, while also dealing with a sick grandmother, a missing mother, and the looming fear of not being allowed to live at home due to government interference. Miikwan and Dez are trying to do the things they love, while also having to deal with the racist misogyny that all Indigenous women have to face. 

Surviving the City is a painful read, but it's also incredibly uplifting and touching at times. I think this is why it struck me the way it did. I never felt like Miikwan and Dez were the vehicles for a story they were barely a part of. They were incredible characters who felt like the real people who deal with these issues, largely in part because the story isn't just about their issues. It is also about their love for each other and their families and their cultures.

The art here is absolutely lovely, and it did a lot to make this story feel more real to me. The background scenery is lovely, but I especially love the design of Miikwan and Dez.

I definitely recommend this one. The story highlights real issues that everyone should know about, without entirely being about those issues. This is evocative and touching. The extra information included at the end is vital for anyone looking for the stats that lead to the creation of stories like this one. I'll be watching out for more work from both Tasha Spillett and Natasha Donovan in the future.

NetGalley - Elizabeth Kolar

"This is a book to read slowly, reflect upon, and then read again."

NetGalley - Martha Dodge

Graphic novels that are memoirs or lean toward nonfiction are some of my favorites. I think it’s a really powerful way to tell a very personal story, and this is a great example.

Surviving the City illustrates the issue of murdered and missing indigenous women in Canada by following two girls facing numerous barriers in their school and social service support system. It challenges the idea that the systems we have benefit all people fairly and speaks to the generational trauma that indigenous people carry.

The artwork was a little too clean for me (I usually like the hand sketched look best), but the colors and flow of the story were really wonderful. Within the story itself, there are several moments in which I wondered what something was (such as the berry fast), and I love that the graphic novel doesn’t do your work for you - it gives you enough that you can follow up and learn more.

Thanks to netgalley for letting me sneak a look at this graphic novel early and for promoting a story by native authors and with native protagonists!

NetGalley - Megan Cohen

Surviving the City is an interesting graphic novel that comes with a message. The story focuses around two friends, Dez and Miikwan, who are First Nations girls. They are in school together and the best of friends. Dez lives with her grandmother.

The two girls are inseparable. So, when Dez fails to show up for school, Miikwan is worried. Dez had been given some bad news – that her grandmother was getting sicker and that Dez might have to go live in a group home. Miikwan worries because she thinks that Dez could have disappeared, as have other indigenous women and girls, including her own mother. Many of them turn up murdered.

This is a book that addresses a real-life issue that indigenous women and girls face daily. There is an epidemic of missing women and girls and you see some indications of that in the book. Everywhere the girls go, there are people who have shadowy ghost figures following them, the evil spirits. People watch them, and you know that not everyone has good intentions toward them. The girls are not really safe anywhere, as is graphically portrayed with very well-done artwork. There are threats everywhere, even from people who they should be able to trust. This is the reality that they face daily. This novel brings home that message so well. It brings attention to a very real issue while presenting characters in a situation that anyone of their age might find themselves in.

The novel also shows bright spots. The center where the girls can go to connect with others of their culture. The people that join together to march in protest of all the missing women who have not been found. There are places the girls can go to feel safe and to be with like-minded people. That is a message that many young people should hear.

This novel would make a great addition to a classroom reading or social studies program. There are many opportunities for lessons and class discussions that center around the story in the book and the larger issues it represents. This could be an important book to show students this reality. The issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is, sadly, not going away. We need to work on finding the missing ones. This book is great for raising awareness of this issue. There are other lessons here as well. The fact that Dez might be removed from her home, living with a blood relative, and placed in a group home, shows that government interference in the lives of indigenous people is still an ongoing issue. These are things that are not at the forefront of the knowledge or experience of the general public. If people learned of these things going on, maybe they could be changed. For those reasons, I think this, and books like it, are so important to get out there.

It is written in an easy-to-read graphic format. The illustrations are top-notch. The graphics contribute much to the storyline. I find graphic novels are an interesting art form. The words and illustrations work together to bring a story to life in ways that plain text cannot. This one was very well done and I recommend it highly, not only for its message, but for the excellent artwork as well.
 

NetGalley - Kim Cabrera

Whoa! Talk about raising awareness! This reminds me of why I truly love to read, why I became a Librarian, books like this. Not just to be entertained, but to learn, then to put this book in the hands of others! God, I cannot wait until this is published, this is the kind of book you go hunting for when it’s a day late! Is March 15th a hard date or can we get this out there sooner?!?!?! Excellent work, we need more from Spillett!

NetGalley - Tiffini Terry

I'm smarter than I was 1/2 hour ago. Before I read this ARC of Surviving the City, I had no idea about the plight of Indigenous women and girls in Canada. This will be going in our middle school library upon release. In addition to a beautiful, important story, the illustrations of ancestors, spirits, and even evil highlight the importance of the culture and how in tune this population remains. There are many lessons to gain reading these 58 pages. I can't wait for students to learn them.

NetGalley - Andee Zomerman

This is the most impactful, moving graphic novel I have ever read. The illustrations were breathtaking and haunting, and absolutely LAYERED. So, so much depth and complexity and heart to this story.

This story matters.

It was beautiful to see Anishinaabe and Inninew rep (and language rep!) on page. I teared up the first time I saw "kokum" on page. Just. I don't even know where to begin. This book dives deep into inter-generational trauma and the way our past and our families and their wounds haunt us. I could go on about both of those books for days, but I just want to say this: this will be a re-read, re-read, re-read. Native kids deserve to see themselves represented in a story like this. I'm so very grateful.

Portage & Main Press website - M

CBC Books' The Best Canadian comics of 2018 https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-comics-of-2018-1.4944651

CBC Books

https://quillandquire.com/review/surviving-the-city/
"Surviving the City, the story of Miikwan and her best friend Dez, highlights the dangers Indigenous teens face in Canada. Miikwan is Anishinaabe and Dez is Inninew; they are very close and even shared their berry fast – a rite of passage for young women. But when Dez’s grandmother becomes ill, Dez fears the prospect of living in a group home and runs away. Miikwan, whose mother was murdered, is frantic to find her. Tasha Spillett, who is Nehiyaw and Trinidadian, tells the story through the girls’ dialogue and text messages – featuring Indigenous words and references to traditional practices – allowing readers to be continually immersed in their world.

Métis artist Natasha Donovan’s full-colour illustrations stand out in this field of graphic novels, with pale-blue ghostly figures representing missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as well as darker, hollow-eyed male figures who symbolize the constant threats to women. In these haunting images, the girls’ personal drama plays out within the larger struggle of Canada’s Indigenous women.

Each of these graphic novels invites young readers to engage with contemporary social justice issues and to empathize with the teens who face such challenges."

Quill & Quirre - Review Editor

★ 03/01/2019

Gr 7 Up—A poignant look at the lives of two best friends, Miikwan and Dez. Miikwan is Anishinaabe; Dez is Inninew. Being Indigenous, they belong to one of the most marginalized populations in Canada, and every day they face the risk of experiencing violence, going missing, or even being murdered. Miikwan's mother is already missing, and Dez is worried about where she will live now that her grandmother has become too ill to be her guardian. Despite all their hardships, the teens endeavor to honor their cultures and navigate an unsafe urban environment. The main characters in this graphic novel are so expressive and authentic, it's impossible not to care for them. The earth-tone palette is appealing, and the backgrounds are dynamic—vivid yet subtle, with real-world places depicted and actual posters for books and albums on indoor walls. There are often spirits present, portrayed in transparent blues for the Indigenous ancestors, who always offer warmth and support, or stark grays and blacks for the alien spirits who identify the predators. The action moves through panels in a multitude of sizes, which advances the action smoothly and enhances the tension of the story line. Factual information is included at the end of the book, along with selected bibliographies for anyone interested in statistics and further reading. VERDICT An important title with first-rate storytelling and beautiful use of color and design. Pair with David A. Robertson's Will I See? for timely accounts of the systemic violence impacting Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people and their families and communities.–Kelley Gile, Cheshire Public Library, CT

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