Synopsis
Summary
On a trip to visit his older sister, who has moved away from the family home on the reserve to Salt Lake City, a young boy and his mother are posed a simple question with a not-so-simple answer. Are you Canadian, the border guards ask, or American? The mother answers: “Blackfoot.” When border guards will not accept their citizenship, mother and son wind up trapped in an all-too-real limbo between nations that do not recognize who they are.
Notable Achievements
Boston Globe: Horn Book Honor Book Award for Fiction and Poetry, 2022; Short-listed, TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, 2022; Nominee, Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award for Northern Lights, 2023; Nominee, Walter Dean Myers Award for Younger Readers, 2022; Nominee, Rocky Mountain Book Award, 2023; People Magazine Best Book, Fall 2021
Reviews
Link to Review
Link to Review
Link to Review
Link to Review
Link to Review
Educator Guide
This guide, created by Indigenous writer Karen McBride, includes discussion questions and activities designed to connect the book with various curriculum areas.
