There have been more than a few times over the last couple of years that my book club has chosen a book that I never would have looked twice at. This was one of them.When I mentioned to a few non-book-club friends that I was reading this book, they surprised me by telling me they'd read it in high school, and as I researched a little, I discovered that this is a fairly common school novel for teens in Canada. Being Canadian by immigration rather than birth, I started to look forward to reading it; in discussions I've discovered that my husband and I vary vastly on the books we read in school, and the same goes with some of my friends. They weren't taken by To Kill a Mockingbird or The Grapes of Wrath, two of the books in school that taught me to absolutely love books, and I realize looking back, that those are fairly classic American tales. In Search of April Raintree on the other hand is a classic Canadian tale of a Metis woman, and her struggles in Canadian society.April, born to alcoholic parents in a poor neighborhood, doesn't really understand how different her situation is from most Canadian kids until she is taken from her parents, along with her little sister Cheryl, and is placed in foster care. Oh, she was aware she was different, particularly from white children as they taunted her and others in the playground. She knew that her family looked different, acted differently, were seperate from white Canada, but that rift became accentuated when she was placed in a white foster family.My heart broke for April as she struggled to come to terms with her nationality, attempting to both pass for white and embrace her native half in various parts of her life. Her denial through school was easy enough, as she looked more "white" than her sister, but that relationship gave her away every time. The style of writing in this book is sparse, and it reads much as though it was written for a younger audience (which I'm guessing it was). I usually like YA books, but most contemporary YA is written in a more adult style for a more sophisticated breed of young adults than I think this was originally written for. As such, I found myself rolling my eyes and being annoyed in some places. The dialogue is stilted and sometimes unbelievable, but the lessons and experiences in the novel are worth the occasional frustration with the writing itself. In Search of April Raintree speaks of a wound to the Metis people of Canada that has festered for generations, and has infected both sides of the divide, from the stereotyped "poor, drunk Indians" to the ignorant white populace who lost out on a chance at cultural diversity. It's sad, almost unbearably so, to follow a child's suffering, but has it's moments of triumph as well, which is what earned it a three-star rating from me, despite the technical problems with the prose.This isn't a relaxing read, or necessarily one you'll enjoy, but it can be an important one if you are interested in becoming more sensitive to the plight of the Metis people.
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.In Search of April Raintree 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.
Do You like book In Search Of April Raintree (1999)?
Heart-breakingly beautiful - Culleton's unforgiving and raw story so strikingly forces us to confront the deep-seated racism of settler society here in Canada as she brilliantly weaves us into the lives of April Raintree and her younger sister, Cheryl, and their very different journeys to find themselves - April, who desperately wants to pass as white and, ultimately finds little satisfaction in denying her heritage, and her sister, who tries to proudly find ways to integrate being Metis into her life, and is swallowed up by the struggle. This is exactly why we can be Idle No More.
—Jeffrey
This was an assigned novel in my Canadian Lit course in my undergrad. I still remember it many years later (and have re-read it since). It's a gritty and depressing story of two Métis sisters who are removed from the care of their parents, who are alcoholics, and placed in separate foster care homes. One sister denies her Métis heritage to "pass" as non-Aboriginal, and one sister tries to proudly preserve her heritage. It isn't an easy story to read--it deals with rape, prostitution, and abuse--but it is a gripping read. It is still (unfortunately) relevant and addresses many of the issues affecting Aboriginal people in Canada today.
—Melinda Worfolk
This is a great book to read - especially as a Manitoban. It is about two Metis sisters growing up in Manitoba (and eventually move to Winnipeg) and their struggles with coming to terms with who they are. It is a very intense book that deals with a lot of difficult, adult issues such as alcholism, foster care, abuse (various kinds), rape, prostitution and suicide. I have found that reading this book really opened up my eyes to a culture that I am not a part of and seeing how different choices create very different, often hazardous paths. I like the honestly of the book. It does not ask for sympathy but tells it to you straight. I have taught this at the grade 10 level and often students are shocked into the real world around them.
—Caitlin Cranmer
