Tribal Journey

Synopsis:

There were machines beside my bed. They were beeping and making weird noises. I had a headache and a side ache and an arm ache. But I couldn’t feel my left leg.
Slowly I looked around the room. There was Mom asleep in a chair next to the bed.
“Mom? Mom, what happened?” She woke up and looked at me.
“Oh, Jason. I’m so glad you’re awake. Don’t try to talk. I’ll call the doctor to come check you.”
“What happened to me?”
“Don’t you remember? You were in a terrible car wreck. Two days ago.” As Mom left to find the doctor, the images of the accident flooded back into my mind.

After a bad car accident, Jason is left with one paralyzed leg. He’s lucky to have survived, but he’s not sure he can handle life confined to a wheelchair. Even when he was protecting his mom and siblings from his drunken father, or escaping from home to be with his friends, he never imagined having to deal with anything like this.
Now Jason sees himself only as someone who will always be paralyzed, but when he becomes part of the Raven Canoe Family and learns to “pull” a canoe, his outlook on life begins to change.

Educator & Series Information
Reading Level: 4.5

This book is part of the PathFinders series.

The PathFinders series of Hi-Lo (high interest, low readability) novels offers the following features: 

• Indigenous teen protagonists
• Age appropriate plots
• 2.5 – 4.5 Reading Level
• Contemporary and historical fiction
• Indigenous authors

The PathFinders series is from an American publisher. Therefore, Indigenous terminology in the PathFinders books is not the same as Canadian Indigenous terminology. This prompts a useful teaching moment for educators in discussing appropriate terminology use in Canada.

Recommended ages: 12-16

Additional Information