Winner of the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction

The year is 1959, and fifteen-year-old Nipishish returns to his reserve in northern Quebec after being kicked out of residential school, where the principal tells him he's a good-for-nothing who, like all Indians, can look forward to a life of drunkenness, prison and despair.

The reserve, however, offers nothing to Nipishish. He remembers little of his late mother and father. In fact, he seems to know less about himself than the people at the band office. He must try to rediscover the old ways, face the officials who find him a threat, and learn the truth about his father's death.

Michel Noel is the author of several award-winning books for young people, including La ligne de trappe, which won the Governor General's Award and the Prix Alvine Belisle for the best children's book published in Quebec. Because his father worked for an international paper company, Michel grew up in the logging camps of northern Quebec, living alongside the Algonquian of Lac Rapide, Lac Victoria and Maniwaki. He now lives in Quebec City.

Michel Noel's profile page

SHELLEY TANAKA is an award-winning author, translator and editor. She has written more than twenty books for children and young adults, winning the Orbis Pictus Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Science in Society Book Award and the Information Book Award, and she has twice been nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis. Other honors include Texas Blue Bonnet runner-up, School Library Journal Best Books, ALA Notables and IRA Young Adults’ Choice. Her translation of Michel Noel’s Good for Nothing won the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and was on the IBBY Honor List (Commended). Shelley teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts, in the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Shelley Tanaka's profile page

• Commended, IBBY Honor List
• Commended, CCBC Our Choice
• Winner, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
• Short-listed, McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year Award

[Michel Noel] has crafted a story of pain and triumph, with both universal appeal and cultural authenticity. Tanaka's accomplished translation introduces an award-winning Canadian author to an English-speaking audience, and all libraries should take note.

School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

Michel Noel...knows his craft...the text is extremely accessible.

Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW

[An] inspiring story by an authority on native affairs...

VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)