Recommendation For A Summer Read
From Upspash by: Dan Dumitriu @patriotbarrow
True confession: I don’t like to read books without hope. So, chances are there isn’t much on our Resource Reading List that lacks hope.
School is out, so I hope you are ready to hit your summer reading list. Can I recommend The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline?
“Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.”
Young Adult Fiction in the dystopian genre, this book is action-driven with compelling characters you will grow to love. Sometimes this imagined dystopian future feels a little closer than is comfortable, but it is well worth travelling to this dark terrain in order to see the power of dreaming. I love that dreams are the “super power” that all but Indigenous Peoples have lost, and that the rest of humanity realizes how important dreaming is. Travel through the dark places, and you will come out on the other side with hope and courage.
I have a classmate who is from the Gunadula People, an Indigenous People group who live in Panama. In her culture, when you see people in the morning they ask, “what did you dream?” This book reminded me of the gift of the Gunadula People and the value they place on dreaming. Read this book and maybe we will start asking one another: what did you dream?