2017 and 2018 were MASSIVE for astounding new releases by Indigenous authors. As we continue to play catch-up with all the books on our to-read shelf, 2019 is winding up to not disappoint!
Here are a few works from Penguin Random House that we have our eyes on for 2019 and that we think you should put on your 2019 wish list! (All text and descriptions below come from Penguin Random House and do not reflect the opinions or perspectives of Raven Reads.)
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1. Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun by Paul Seesequasis.
Release date: October 22, 2019.
A revelatory portrait of eight Indigenous communities from across North America, shown through never-before-published archival photographs--a gorgeous extension of Paul Seesequasis' popular social media project. Moved and devastated by 2015's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report in Canada's residential school system, journalist and activist Paul Seesequasis-- inspired by his mother, a residential school survivor--wished to share the very different history he knew existed, of Indigenous communities holding together during even the most difficult times. He embarked on a social media project to collect and share archival photos capturing the everyday life of people in First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities from the 1920s through the 1970s.
2. A Mind Spread out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott.
Release date: March 26, 2019.
A bold and profound work by Haudenosaunee writer Alicia Elliott, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground is a personal and critical meditation on trauma, legacy, oppression and racism in North America. In an urgent and visceral work that asks essential questions about the treatment of Native people in North America while drawing on intimate details of her own life and experience with intergenerational trauma, Alicia Elliott offers indispensable insight and understanding to the ongoing legacy of colonialism.
3. Starlight by Richard Wagamese.
Paperback release date: May 21, 2019. *Previous released as hardcover Fall 2018*
From the beloved, bestselling author of Indian Horse and Medicine Walk, Richard Wagamese's final novel is a rapturous and profoundly moving story of love, compassion, mercy, and the consolations to be found in the natural world. Frank Starlight has long settled into a quiet life working his remote farm, occasionally venturing into the unbroken country around his property to photograph the wild animals who thrive there.
4. Peace and Good Order by Harold R. Johnson.
Release date: August 27, 2019.
An urgent, informed, intimate condemnation of the Canadian state and its failure to deliver justice to Indigenous people by national bestselling author and former Crown prosecutor Harold R. Johnson. "The night of the decision in the Gerald Stanley trial for the murder of Colten Boushie, I received a text message from a retired provincial court judge. He was feeling ashamed for his time in a system that was so badly tilted. I too feel this way about my time as both defence counsel and as a Crown prosecutor; that I didn't have the courage to stand up in the court room and shout 'Enough is enough.' This book is my act of taking responsibility for what I did, for my actions and inactions." --Harold R. Johnson
5. Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline.
Release date: September 17, 2019.
From the author of the YA-crossover hit The Marrow Thieves, a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou--a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities. A messed-up, grown-up, Little Red Riding Hood. Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year--ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument.
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