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A review by abbywebb
In Search of April Raintree - Critical Edition by Beatrice Culleton
4.0
Amazingly wonderful book. Not sure why I never had to read this in high school because I know other people had to. I’m just glad that I got the chance.
This was a powerful and moving story of two Native sisters growing up in Manitoba in foster care. The story covers their lives from living with their alcoholic parents to living with abusive foster parents, graduating high school to getting married, and of course everything in between.
Although this book was written in 1983 and captured the era from the 50s through the 70s, many of the issues facing Canadian Aboriginals are still relevant today. In fact, in a lot of ways, some of the social issues not only persist but have probably gotten worse over time.
[b:In Search of April Raintree|800780|In Search of April Raintree Critical Edition|Beatrice Culleton Mosionier|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178493516s/800780.jpg|786744] demonstrates almost every viewpoint that you can think of that exists about Aboriginal people and white people. The characters’ feelings fluctuated from pride to shame as they witnessed different events or had different experiences throughout the book. I loved April’s perspective of her parents when she was just a young child: She believed that her parents were taking so much “medicine” (aka alcohol) because they were so ill.
This novel has such a unique and moving story, one unlike something I have ever read before. Twenty-seven years after it was originally published, this book manages to find a way to become personally relevant to Canadians, especially those from Manitoba or Winnipeg. I found I could relate to the book on a personal level as I know many of the locations mentioned (e.g., street names, companies, etc) and could visualize them while I was reading. Sadly, not much has changed in those same inner city areas – they are still rough areas, heavy with prostitution, drug and alcohol addicts, gangs, etc.
What a candid reflection this book brings to all those of us who look the other way instead of asking why the problem exists and what we can do about it. I would not be surprised to learn that this was not a work of fiction but based on fact. I believe that a lot of people in Winnipeg (and across the province and country) are still battling the same old problems and continue to be oppressed in our stilted society.
This was a powerful and moving story of two Native sisters growing up in Manitoba in foster care. The story covers their lives from living with their alcoholic parents to living with abusive foster parents, graduating high school to getting married, and of course everything in between.
Although this book was written in 1983 and captured the era from the 50s through the 70s, many of the issues facing Canadian Aboriginals are still relevant today. In fact, in a lot of ways, some of the social issues not only persist but have probably gotten worse over time.
[b:In Search of April Raintree|800780|In Search of April Raintree Critical Edition|Beatrice Culleton Mosionier|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178493516s/800780.jpg|786744] demonstrates almost every viewpoint that you can think of that exists about Aboriginal people and white people. The characters’ feelings fluctuated from pride to shame as they witnessed different events or had different experiences throughout the book. I loved April’s perspective of her parents when she was just a young child: She believed that her parents were taking so much “medicine” (aka alcohol) because they were so ill.
This novel has such a unique and moving story, one unlike something I have ever read before. Twenty-seven years after it was originally published, this book manages to find a way to become personally relevant to Canadians, especially those from Manitoba or Winnipeg. I found I could relate to the book on a personal level as I know many of the locations mentioned (e.g., street names, companies, etc) and could visualize them while I was reading. Sadly, not much has changed in those same inner city areas – they are still rough areas, heavy with prostitution, drug and alcohol addicts, gangs, etc.
What a candid reflection this book brings to all those of us who look the other way instead of asking why the problem exists and what we can do about it. I would not be surprised to learn that this was not a work of fiction but based on fact. I believe that a lot of people in Winnipeg (and across the province and country) are still battling the same old problems and continue to be oppressed in our stilted society.