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iceangel9's review
4.0
Larry is a Dogrib teenager living on a reservation in Canada. He was in a terrible accident and lost much of his memory. This book follows his experiences with his mother, her boyfriend, and other teenagers in his community. The novel is full of the horrors of drugs, abuse, and violence that seem to be found on many reservations. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful, but painful ,story of coming of age. As we glimpse Larry's past in snippets throughout the story, we can't help but hurt with and for him. An excellent book!
michaelkerr's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Larry Sole is an Indigenous northerner, living in the fictional town of Fort Simmer, NWT. This first-person narrative is a feverish, dream-like coming-of age tale in which Lare slowly gets dragged into the world of sex, drugs, and alcohol (he already had rock and roll covered), by his new friend Johnny. There's a slow reveal of events from Larry's past that he'd done his best to forget, and this compounds the tension and anxiety the book raises. This text is beautiful, awful, true, creative, raw, and scary. Not for the faint of heart, this book is like a train wreck you cannot turn away from.
willande123's review
5.0
Growing up is painful. Faces crack with acne, hormones blossom, and love singes and scars. Adolescence isn't easy, but I can only begin to imagine what it's like for a First Nations boy surrounded by alcoholism, drug addiction, shame, and dominating poverty.
Van Camp knows how to devastate. His images are so powerful I could feel Larry's fear, anguish, and naïve optimism. I cried out for every character through death, abuse, flames, overwhelming sexuality.
I felt like a rumpled piece of trash at the end. I wanted to scream, screech "It's a trap!" on each page. But I realized that for countless First Nations/Native American youth in the USA and Canada, life is a continuous sequence of traps, and once you fall down it's nearly impossible to climb out.
Van Camp has written something unforgettable, something so raw and powerful I'll never forget. Read it.
Van Camp knows how to devastate. His images are so powerful I could feel Larry's fear, anguish, and naïve optimism. I cried out for every character through death, abuse, flames, overwhelming sexuality.
I felt like a rumpled piece of trash at the end. I wanted to scream, screech "It's a trap!" on each page. But I realized that for countless First Nations/Native American youth in the USA and Canada, life is a continuous sequence of traps, and once you fall down it's nearly impossible to climb out.
Van Camp has written something unforgettable, something so raw and powerful I'll never forget. Read it.
moh's review
4.0
I nearly put this down at first because the voice was a little too butch for my taste. I'm so glad I stuck with it. For such a short book, this is amazingly layered. It's also beautifully written. I've gone from "Am I going to finish this?" to "How soon I can I re-read this?"
angela's review
4.0
really really good book!! can't wait to watch the film and discuss both in class!!
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