Description
Rez Runaway is a 2016 teen novel by award-winning author Melanie Florence. Known for tackling difficult and edgy topics, the author turns her attention to Two-Spirit (LGBTQ) youth living in First Nations communities. This northern Ontario teen knows he is different and his religious family offers no answers or comfort. Joe Littlechief is seventeen and questioning his true identity and sexuality. His confusion turns tragic when his teen friends realize Joe is gay. Finding no options or friends Joe flees to Toronto. There his illusions are crushed when he realizes survival on the streets is dangerous. Finding a friend with a transgender girl named Sid, Joe learns to accept his true identity and begins understanding the older generation and the devastation of residential schools on their lives. A quick fairy-tale like conclusion when the residential school settlement allows for a happy ending for Joe and Sid, this gritty novel presents a unique approach for Indigenous teen fiction. Librarians and classroom teachers will want to direct this story to students who are in senior grades. Lorimer's Sidestreets series presents a unique read that features transgender characters from the Black and Indigenous communities. Recommended. Rez Runaway has been selected in the Young Adult/Adult Category Longlist for First Nation Communities READ 2017.