You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
stephanie_jmc 's review for:
Five Little Indians
by Michelle Good
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. 9.8/10.
A historical fiction telling the stories of five residential school survivors, and the different trajectories their lives took following release from the schools, as well as how they remained connected to one another. This book was informative of the realities of residential schools and the trauma that occurred there, and increased my awareness and consideration for the trauma that continued when these individuals were released at age 16 and expected to just figure it out with nothing to their names, no where to go, and no one to support them. It sounds silly but I never really considered what happened to those people who aged out of the schools and clearly the trauma just continued in different ways.
This really was a sad and yet also beautiful story of survival and community. Aside from the story, it is also told in such a well-paced manner. I highly recommend. The only reason it’s not a perfect ten is the story occurs over decades of time and it doesn’t always make it clear how big of a jump we’ve taken into the future, and that made it challenging to visualize where the characters were at in their lives.
A historical fiction telling the stories of five residential school survivors, and the different trajectories their lives took following release from the schools, as well as how they remained connected to one another. This book was informative of the realities of residential schools and the trauma that occurred there, and increased my awareness and consideration for the trauma that continued when these individuals were released at age 16 and expected to just figure it out with nothing to their names, no where to go, and no one to support them. It sounds silly but I never really considered what happened to those people who aged out of the schools and clearly the trauma just continued in different ways.
This really was a sad and yet also beautiful story of survival and community. Aside from the story, it is also told in such a well-paced manner. I highly recommend. The only reason it’s not a perfect ten is the story occurs over decades of time and it doesn’t always make it clear how big of a jump we’ve taken into the future, and that made it challenging to visualize where the characters were at in their lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry