Turns out this novel involves high-school-aged teens in a community
in Northern Canada. Added to the usual themes of coming of age,
raging hormones, girls, sex, and parents are issues of gasoline
sniffing, drugs, alcoholism, poverty, whitey vs native.
Told from the point of view of Larry, a Dogrib, the picture painted
is not pretty. The narrative is violent, depressing, drug-filled, and
despondent. Children grow up fast in this environment. We read about
suicide rates in Northern communities, here we hear about the culture
that spawns them from the point of view of those youth.
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