Name: Medicine River
ISBN: 9780140254747

Thomas King

A young Canadian Indian returns to his hometown outside the Blackfoot Reservation and recovers his lost heritage among a varied cast of characters, including an all-Indian basketball team, a marriage doctor, and a world traveler

Medicine River

"Medicine River is a small town near an Indian reserve in Western Canada. Narrated by the town's only Native American photographer, the loosely woven episodes revolve around Harlen Bigbear, whose specialty is providing "general maintenance" to his friends and acquaintances. There is humor and warmth, whether Harlen is persuading Will--who is over 40--to play on the all-Native basketball team or to court Louise Heavyhands, or whether he is arranging the lives of his neighbors and friends. Interwoven into the story are the narrator's bittersweet experiences of growing up with his brother, James; enduring the eccentricities of his Native American mother; and wondering about the white father he doesn't remember. These characters all fall within the mainstream of American cultural experience, yet they should expand YAs' multicultural awareness"--From School library journal.