First published 2011
Luke carries an I'nupiaq name filled with sounds that white people cannot pronounce. When he and his brothers travel hundreds of miles from their Arctic village to Sacred Heart School, that name must stay behind. The boarding school operates like a battlefield. Students separate into camps across the cafeteria. Eskimo children sit apart from Indian students who sit apart from white ones. English replaces the familiar comfort of words like tutu and maktak. Anyone caught speaking I'nupiaq or other native languages faces punishment. Father Mullen enforces the rules with swift violence, his anger striking like Arctic wind. Luke fights to endure this place, but other students wage their own battles. Amiq uses wit and rebellion to lead, though his defiance might destroy him. Chickie stands out with blonde hair and freckles, an outsider for different reasons. Junior observes everything in silence, recording each detail. Four separate struggles unfold within Sacred Heart's walls. When these individual stories finally intersect, they create a force that will reshape the school and reach far beyond it.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, abuse, 20th-century, coming-of-age, boarding-school, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Arctic, Sacred Heart School
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
248 pages · Hardcover · Skyscape
Content warnings: abuse, racism