The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel

by Patti LaBoucane-Benson, Kelly Mellings (Illustrator)

Overview

Winner, CODE’s 2016 Burt Award for First Nation, Inuit and Métis Literature

In this important graphic novel, two brothers surrounded by poverty, drug abuse, and gang violence, try to overcome centuries of historic trauma in very different ways to bring about positive change in their lives.

Pete, a young Indigenous man wrapped up in gang violence, lives with his younger brother, Joey, and his mother who is a heroin addict. One night, Pete and his mother’s boyfriend, Dennis, get into a big fight, which sends Dennis to the morgue and Pete to jail. Initially, Pete keeps up ties to his crew, until a jail brawl forces him to realize the negative influence he has become on Joey, which encourages him to begin a process of rehabilitation that includes traditional Indigenous healing circles and ceremonies.

Powerful, courageous, and deeply moving, The Outside Circle is drawn from the author’s twenty years of work and research on healing and reconciliation of gang-affiliated or incarcerated Indigenous men.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770899377
Publisher:	House of Anansi Press
Publication date:	05/02/2015
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	265,977
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

PATTI LABOUCANE-BENSON is a Métis woman and the Director of Research, Training, and Communication at Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA). She has a Ph.D. in Human Ecology, focusing on Aboriginal Family Resilience. Her doctoral research explored how providing historic trauma healing programs for Aboriginal offenders builds resilience in Aboriginal families and communities. She has also been the recipient of the Aboriginal Role Model of Alberta Award for Education. She lives in Spruce Grove, Alberta.

KELLY MELLINGS is an award-winning art director, illustrator, and designer. His work has appeared in comic books, magazines, apps, museum exhibits, and online games, and his clients include Microsoft. He is the co-owner of the acclaimed illustration, animation, and design firm Pulp Studios. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

Editorial Reviews

06/22/2015
This debut graphic novel, pairing LaBoucane-Benson's words with Mellings's captivating art, take readers into the journey of a young aboriginal man from a life of violence and gangs to healing. The tragic toll Canada's colonial past has taken and still takes on young aboriginal people today is vividly brought to life when readers meet Pete. He's a thug collecting money for a drug dealer, but he is also taking care of his young brother Joey, with no father and a drug-addicted mother. When he comes home to find Joey sitting in an empty apartment, with all their belongings pawned for drug money, a violent confrontation with his mother's abusive boyfriend quickly ends with Pete's arrest, and Joey is placed in foster care. During Pete's incarceration, he is given a chance to transfer to an aboriginal healing centre and to be part of a program that teaches him about aboriginal history and culture. As he begins to find himself and develop an identity tied to a community, the story becomes one of hope, not only for Pete, but for all aboriginal people healing from the intergenerational wounds of Canadian colonialism. (June)

Publishers Weekly

I’m in awe of what you are holding in your hands. This is more than a graphic novel. It’s a teaching; it’s a reminder; and it’s a textbook of hard-won wisdom. It’s also a wish.

author of The Lesser Blessed Richard Van Camp

[W]ith the Outside Circle, Patti LaBoucane-Benson and Kelly Mellings have brought Canada’s colonial history and its effects on Aboriginal people today to life in a powerful story.

Prairie Books Now - David J. Fuller

As brutal as Pete’s family’s story is, LaBoucane-Benson and Mellings’ sensitive, careful, honest presentation reveals a narrative that must be told, acknowledged, remembered, confronted, fixed.

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Centre

I’m in awe of what you are holding in your hands. This is more than a graphic novel. It’s a teaching; it’s a reminder; and it’s a textbook of hard-won wisdom. It’s also a wish.” — Richard Van Camp, author of The Lesser Blessed


"A beautifully and powerfully told story." -School Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/01/2015
Gr 10 Up—Pete, an aboriginal teen from Canada, has had a hard life. His mother is a junkie, and his mother's boyfriend is abusive. Pete's girlfriend has just told him she's pregnant, and like his father before him, Pete abandons her and rejects his unborn child. Pete's part of a gang that takes advantage of his rage against the world: he's the muscle who makes sure customers pay their debts. In a confrontation with his mother's boyfriend, Pete lashes out, killing the man. He's arrested and sent to prison, where racial conflict still drives his life. Meanwhile, Pete's little brother is at the mercy of a group home where he faces his own challenges, and life in a gang appears to be the only way to survive. After an altercation in prison, Pete is offered an opportunity to be a part of an intensive historical-trauma rehabilitation program called In Search of Your Warrior. In this program, Pete has the opportunity to face his past and the wrongs done to his ancestors in order to heal and find his path. The artwork in this book adeptly conveys the contrast between wearing a mask of rage and finding one's true path. The illustrations are interspersed with historical details that explain the trauma to the aboriginal people in Canada, while the story outlines a pathway to healing. The authentic, rage-filled language is edited out with symbols, making it more accessible to slightly younger readers, but the emotionally challenging narrative is more appropriate for older readers. VERDICT A beautifully and powerfully told story.—Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO

School Library Journal