I #amreading . . . 100 Teen Novels by Canadian Authors
First on my list of new year's resolutions is to read 100 Preteen/Teen novels by Canadian authors before the end of 2018. Some of these authors are well-known in classrooms across the country—the globe, in some cases—but others are much less so, but they have talent none-the-less.
Today I #am reading Will's Garden by Lee Maracle.
Will's Garden is a coming of age story of a young native boy. The book begins with the busyness of preparing for Will's Becoming a Man Ceremony. While Will, his brothers and male cousins prepare for the ceremony in the living room, down the hall in the kitchen the woman are busy too.
As his mother, sisters, aunts and cousins do their part in preparing for the ceremony, Will observes the way they do things in comparison to men. In the novel, Will takes the time to re-look at the women in his life. He considers his future as a caretaker of the land in this modern world, while dealing with the problems of face, love, sexuality and illness.
As a gifted orator, acclaimed author, poet and public speaker, Lee is recognized as an authority on issues pertaining to Aboriginal people and Aboriginal literature.
www.amazon.ca
About Lee Maracle
Lee Maracle is one of the most prolific aboriginal authors in Canada and a recognized authority on issues pertaining to aboriginal people and aboriginal literature. She is an award-winning poet, novelist, performance storyteller, scriptwriter, actor and keeper/mythmaker among the Stó:lō people. She was one of the founders of the En’owkin International School of Writing in Penticton, British Columbia and the cultural director of the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto, Ontario. She has given hundreds of speeches on political, historical, and feminist sociological topics related to native people, and conducted dozens of workshops on personal and cultural reclamation. She has served as a consultant on First Nations’ self-government and has an extensive history in community development. She has been described as “a walking history book” and an international expert on Canadian First Nations culture and history. Lee Maracle has taught at the University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, Southern Oregon University and has served as professor of Canadian culture at Western Washington University. She currently lives in Toronto, teaching at the University of Toronto First Nations House. She most recently was the writer-in-residence at the University of Guelph.
