WEIRD RULES TO FOLLOW

A coming-of-age story narrated by an Indigenous preteen living in British Columbia, Canada.

It’s 1985, and 10-year-old Amelia “Mia” Douglas lives with her mother and her grandmother in the small coastal town of Prince Rupert. Short chapters convey the many different aspects of Mia’s life; she is sensitive but tough, fun-loving yet serious, and observant and analytical. Her wealthier best friend, Lara, a White Mexican Hungarian girl, lives in the same cul-de-sac, though Lara’s house is a large white one with a view of the mountains and the ocean, while Mia’s is an old wartime house with a view of a retaining wall. It is largely through this friendship that Mia slowly becomes aware of differences in attitude, outlook, and behavior between White and Indigenous people. She encounters racism and microaggressions. When Lara’s and her brother Owen’s bicycles are stolen and her father says, “It must have been the Indians,” Mia says nothing, pretending she didn’t hear those words. As the months, then years, go by, the girls slowly drift apart, but Mia makes new friends and develops a deeper understanding of the world around her. Readers will be left with a rich image of Mia’s world and the family and people that surround her as well as a strong sense of how culture and class impact people’s experiences.

A touching exploration of identity and culture.