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Hopeless in Hope
Fourteen-year-old Eva, who is Cree, lives in a small Canadian community with her little brother, Marcus, and her beloved grandmother, Nokhum, who takes care of them. Her mother, Shirley, is an alcoholic, unpredictable and unreliable; her negligence sent Eva into temporary foster care when she was little. Now Nokhum provides love and warmth and stability, although uncertainty is unescapable with money tight and Shirley in and out of their lives. When Nokhum breaks her hip, Shirley tries to pull herself together, but Eva and Marcus end up in separate foster homes after a frightening incident. Eva doesn’t like her social worker, and resents being separated from Marcus, but Grace, her foster parent, proves to be a reliable guardian. One of five Native teens in the house, Eva slowly builds trust—trust in Grace, trust in her housemates and, finally, trust in her mother, who is working hard in recovery. Eva is also reluctantly learning more about her mother’s and Nokhum’s past through her mom’s journal. Although she’s always thought of Nokhum as infallible, it turns out Shirley grew up in foster care because Nokhum, too, was an alcoholic during her daughter’s childhood, drinking after the trauma of residential school and losing her own mother. The intergenerational trauma of residential schools is a strong theme throughout Eva’s tale, as is recovery—and the fact that recovery often includes relapse. Eva’s story ends in a place of hope as she looks toward a brighter future. ©2023 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 12 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Addiction
Cree People
Diaries and Journals
Drugs and Alcohol
Economic Hardship and Poverty
Families
First/Native Nations
Foster Families
Grandmothers
Hope and Healing
Secrets
Trauma
Trust
Diversity subject:
Indigenous
Psychiatric Disability/Condition
Publisher:
HighWater
Publish Year: 2023
Pages: 203
ISBN: 9781774920831
CCBC Location: Fiction, John-Kehewin