Book 26
Four Faces of the Moon by Amanda Strong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I rounded this one up thanks to the afterword and timeline at the end and also some of my disappointment with this was explained by the author's bio. They're a stop-motion artist and it showed. I have been repulsed by those kind of characters since childhood, probably traumatized by the Thunderbirds as a kid in the 70s. I can barely stand Rudolph. So the art in this was a fail across the board for me and that's why I went for the fourth star. It's my deal not the artist's.
The other mildly disappointing thing to me is the history is something I have heard so many times (however freaking sad that is) but I remind myself that this is probably aimed at those younger than me and haven't spent decades studying Indigenous history, heartbreaking as it is and so that's another reason to four star this.
We're hearing the author's family history which mirrors so many other Indigenous stories. From the more benign trading alliance beginnings to the full on genocidal colonization and war to the outright slaughter of bison down to just a handful left in North America as another way of destroying the Indigenous people.
For me I wish Strong would have focused less on her grandfathers many times removed and more on her grandmother who managed to survive and reject both the Indian schools and the Catholic Church, both of which did so much harm to the Indigenous people. To me her grandmother is the most interesting character and the one who is in the spotlight the least.
The afterward does a light dive into the history which I thought would be nice for someone who doesn't know it well.
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