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A review by eleanorcd
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a great book for adults and teens alike that gives insight to Canada's dark and gruesome history in regards to the government's treatment of Indigenous peoples. The story is made accessible through a speculative-fiction lens taking place in the future where residential schools are brought back in a different way.
Memorable quotes:
"Dreams get caught in the webs woven in your bones. That's where they live, in that marrow there." - The Fire (French)
"I was okay with my decision, but not okay with the consequences." - Haunted in the Bush (French)
"There were a few inches between them, but their breathing was matched, an even greater intimacy than touch." - The Four Winds (French, about Wab and Chi)
"I'll never forget the way that man looked when they tossed his grandson in the back of the van like a bag of rice. I watched his soul fold up on itself like a closing door." - Wab's Coming-To Story (Wab)
"'Come, daughter. Time to hear Story.'" - Wab's Coming-To Story (Miig)
"People died in the millions when that happened. The ones that were left had to migrate inward. It was like the second coming of the boats, so many suck people and not enough time to organize peacefully ... Those that were left worked longer, worked harder. And now the sun was gone for weeks at a time. The suburban structure of their lives had been upended. And so they got sicker, this time in the head. They stopped dreaming. And a man without dreams is just a meaty machine with a broken gauge." - Story Part 2 (Miig telling Story)
"'We go to the schools and they leach the dreams from where our ancestors hid them, in the honeycombs of slushy marrow buried in our bones. And us? Well, we join our ancestors, hoping we left enough dreams behind for the next generation to stumble across.'" - Story Part 2 (Miig telling Story)
"'If I had honestly known what was in store for us, I would have used it [the shotgun] top finish us both, right then and there.'" - Miigwan's Coming-To Story
"I fell asleep watching the rise and fall of Rose's breaths and tried to imagine us in another time, building instead of running." - Finding Direction (French)
"'This is my family.' Miig held his hand out to us and we approached in a bundle. 'My boys Zeegwan, Tree, French, Slopper, and Chi. My daughters Wab, Rose, and RiRi. And Nokomis Minerva.'" - The Other Indians (Miig introducing the family before betrayal by the "other Indians")
"When the last body had fallen, we straightened ourselves out and re-shouldered our packs. We stopped at Minerva's bed, rolled up the bags, and folded her faded star blanket. Wab took that one. She unfolded it halfway to tuck RiRi's soft blankie inside and then folded it back over, her grief inside grief like the blankets themselves."- Rogarou Comes Hunting (French the morning after Minerva was taken by the Recruiters in the barn)
"'Sometimes you risk everything for a life worth living, even if you're not the one that'll be alive to live it.'" - Rogarou Comes Hunting (Chi-Boy)
"How could anything be as bad as it was when this moment existed in the span of eternity?" - On the Road (French about Rose)
"We cried together like that, happy in a way that had no words, until he suddenly pulled back and scanned the group behind me. And I knew what he was looking for. I caught his gaze and shook my head slowly. Then we cried for a different reason." - Found (French is reunited with his dad, but without his brother Mitch)
"She sang. She sang with volume and pitch and a heartbreaking wail that echoed through ehr relatives' bones, rattling them in the ground under the school itself. Wave after wave, changing her heartbeat to drum, morphing her singular voice to many, pulling every dream from her own marrow and into her song. ANd there were words: words in the language that the conductor couldn't process, words the Cardinals couldn't bear, words the wires couldn't transfer." - The Miracle of Minerva
"'Kiiwen. Kiiwen, promise?' Minerva whispered, and Miig nodded. Miig took her other hand, and she began to sing, low, sweet words depleting breath that wasn't being replaced. I knew she was going. Miig picked up the verse and sang. It was a traveling song. We were frantic but silent. We needed her! We all needed her! She couldn't go. But she was singing her song. She'd already begun." - Lost and Found and Lost
"I't where I keep my geart. It's too dangerous to keep in my chest, what with the shape edges of bones so easily broken." - Kiiwen (Miig's pouch with what he thought was Isaac's vile)
"I rose from the table, adrenaline pinching my calves to action, stopping long enough to hug him. And he kissed me on the top of my head, just like he used to when I was little. And I felt safe. Safe enough to leave him." - Kiiwen (before French left)
"How could anyone be so lucky to have two fathers at this horrible time? Something had to give." - Locks Mean Nothing to Ghosts (French about Miig and his dad)
"I heard it in his voice as Miigwans began to weep. I watched in the steps that pulled Isaac, the man who dreamed in Cree, home to his love. The love who'd carried him against the rib and breath and hurt of his chest as ceremony in a glass vile. And I understood that as long as there were dreamers left, there will never be want for a dream. And I understood just what we would do for each other, just what we would do for the ebb and pull of the dream, the bigger dream that held us all.
Anything.
Everything." - Locks Mean Nothing to Ghosts
"Dreams get caught in the webs woven in your bones. That's where they live, in that marrow there." - The Fire (French)
"I was okay with my decision, but not okay with the consequences." - Haunted in the Bush (French)
"There were a few inches between them, but their breathing was matched, an even greater intimacy than touch." - The Four Winds (French, about Wab and Chi)
"I'll never forget the way that man looked when they tossed his grandson in the back of the van like a bag of rice. I watched his soul fold up on itself like a closing door." - Wab's Coming-To Story (Wab)
"'Come, daughter. Time to hear Story.'" - Wab's Coming-To Story (Miig)
"People died in the millions when that happened. The ones that were left had to migrate inward. It was like the second coming of the boats, so many suck people and not enough time to organize peacefully ... Those that were left worked longer, worked harder. And now the sun was gone for weeks at a time. The suburban structure of their lives had been upended. And so they got sicker, this time in the head. They stopped dreaming. And a man without dreams is just a meaty machine with a broken gauge." - Story Part 2 (Miig telling Story)
"'We go to the schools and they leach the dreams from where our ancestors hid them, in the honeycombs of slushy marrow buried in our bones. And us? Well, we join our ancestors, hoping we left enough dreams behind for the next generation to stumble across.'" - Story Part 2 (Miig telling Story)
"'If I had honestly known what was in store for us, I would have used it [the shotgun] top finish us both, right then and there.'" - Miigwan's Coming-To Story
"I fell asleep watching the rise and fall of Rose's breaths and tried to imagine us in another time, building instead of running." - Finding Direction (French)
"'This is my family.' Miig held his hand out to us and we approached in a bundle. 'My boys Zeegwan, Tree, French, Slopper, and Chi. My daughters Wab, Rose, and RiRi. And Nokomis Minerva.'" - The Other Indians (Miig introducing the family before betrayal by the "other Indians")
"When the last body had fallen, we straightened ourselves out and re-shouldered our packs. We stopped at Minerva's bed, rolled up the bags, and folded her faded star blanket. Wab took that one. She unfolded it halfway to tuck RiRi's soft blankie inside and then folded it back over, her grief inside grief like the blankets themselves."- Rogarou Comes Hunting (French the morning after Minerva was taken by the Recruiters in the barn)
"'Sometimes you risk everything for a life worth living, even if you're not the one that'll be alive to live it.'" - Rogarou Comes Hunting (Chi-Boy)
"How could anything be as bad as it was when this moment existed in the span of eternity?" - On the Road (French about Rose)
"We cried together like that, happy in a way that had no words, until he suddenly pulled back and scanned the group behind me. And I knew what he was looking for. I caught his gaze and shook my head slowly. Then we cried for a different reason." - Found (French is reunited with his dad, but without his brother Mitch)
"She sang. She sang with volume and pitch and a heartbreaking wail that echoed through ehr relatives' bones, rattling them in the ground under the school itself. Wave after wave, changing her heartbeat to drum, morphing her singular voice to many, pulling every dream from her own marrow and into her song. ANd there were words: words in the language that the conductor couldn't process, words the Cardinals couldn't bear, words the wires couldn't transfer." - The Miracle of Minerva
"'Kiiwen. Kiiwen, promise?' Minerva whispered, and Miig nodded. Miig took her other hand, and she began to sing, low, sweet words depleting breath that wasn't being replaced. I knew she was going. Miig picked up the verse and sang. It was a traveling song. We were frantic but silent. We needed her! We all needed her! She couldn't go. But she was singing her song. She'd already begun." - Lost and Found and Lost
"I't where I keep my geart. It's too dangerous to keep in my chest, what with the shape edges of bones so easily broken." - Kiiwen (Miig's pouch with what he thought was Isaac's vile)
"I rose from the table, adrenaline pinching my calves to action, stopping long enough to hug him. And he kissed me on the top of my head, just like he used to when I was little. And I felt safe. Safe enough to leave him." - Kiiwen (before French left)
"How could anyone be so lucky to have two fathers at this horrible time? Something had to give." - Locks Mean Nothing to Ghosts (French about Miig and his dad)
"I heard it in his voice as Miigwans began to weep. I watched in the steps that pulled Isaac, the man who dreamed in Cree, home to his love. The love who'd carried him against the rib and breath and hurt of his chest as ceremony in a glass vile. And I understood that as long as there were dreamers left, there will never be want for a dream. And I understood just what we would do for each other, just what we would do for the ebb and pull of the dream, the bigger dream that held us all.
Anything.
Everything." - Locks Mean Nothing to Ghosts
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Child death and Rape