CREEBOY

A novel for reluctant readers about gang violence set on a First Nations reserve in Canada.

Sixteen-year-old Josh has dropped out of school. He lives with his family in Alberta on the fictional Pâ-ko-sey-i-mo-min reserve where his father was the head of the Warrior gang until he went to jail nearly a year ago. Josh’s older brother, Darion, who goes by the gang name Razor, takes him under his wing: Josh is a Warrior initiate, dubbed Creeboy for his knowledge of Indigenous traditions. In this story of self-discovery, Creeboy needs to discover who he wants to be, choosing between his family in the gang and his family outside it, with costs on both sides. The story is written in the first-person perspective, allowing readers to understand Josh’s inner thoughts. However, the characters feel like underdeveloped types playing out a predictable storyline involving an angry teenager, an incarcerated father, a gang member brother, and a worried mother. The book is filled with Cree vocabulary and knowledge, but these elements are not incorporated organically into the story or characterization. Readers seeking more nuanced representation of the impact of gangs on Indigenous communities would be better served by the graphic novel The Outside Circle by Patti LaBoucane-Benson and Kelly Mellings.

Readers looking to understand the complexities of gang violence should look elsewhere.