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October 2008
Goodbye Buffalo Bay
Drama and humour combine in Goodbye Buffalo Bay. The sequel to the award-winning As Long as the Rivers Flow and the award-finalist When the Spirits Dance, Goodbye Buffalo Bay is set during the author's teenaged years.
In his last year in residential school, Lawrence learns the power of friendship and finds the courage to stand up for his beliefs. He returns home to find the traditional First Nations life he loved is over. He feels like a stranger to his family until his grandfather's gentle guidance helps him find his way.
Lawrence fights a terrifying forest fire, makes his first non-Native friends, endures the harsh working conditions of a sawmill, meets his first sweetheart and fulfills his dream of living in the mountains. Wearing new ice skates bought with his hard-won wages, Lawrence discovers a sense of freedom and self-esteem.
Reviews:
Canadian Material Review
Like many of the tens of thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Metis children who were taken from their families and sent to residential school for years, Lawrence felt like a stranger in his community when he returned, questioning both his place and his role in the world. But with the help of his grandmother and grandfather and the experiences he had while working at his first jobs, Lawrence gets stronger, takes pride in himself, and learns to feel like a part of his family and community again.
Goodbye Buffalo Bay is based on the author's life at a residential school. A short epilogue in the back of the book, as well as a three page section entitled, "A Brief History of Residential Schools," explain why these poorly funded schools opened, how they operated, and why they were finally shut down. Other back matter in this book includes a small Cree glossary and a website link where readers can see photographs of students and activities at a residential school.
Highly Recommended.
CM . . . . Volume XV Number 10. . . .January 9, 2009
Tanya Boudreau
-- Tanya Boudreau is a librarian in the Cold Lake Public Library in Cold Lake, AB.
$14.95 CAD
$14.95 USD
Genre: Young Adult
Pub Date: October 2008
ISBN 978-1-894778-62-6
Size: 5 x 8 Inches
Page Count: 152
Binding: paper
Age Range: Ages 12 and up
BISAC 1: JNF007000
BISAC 2: JNF053200
BISAC 3: JNF053060
See related Reviews
Pub Date: October 2008
ISBN 978-1-894778-62-6
Size: 5 x 8 Inches
Page Count: 152
Binding: paper
Age Range: Ages 12 and up
BISAC 1: JNF007000
BISAC 2: JNF053200
BISAC 3: JNF053060