Moon of the Crusted Snow: A Novel (Moon #1) [J0387]

2018 french-flap PB in nice clean condition. A 2023 Canada Reads Longlist Selection. Winner of the 2019 OLA Forest of Reading Evergreen Award. Shortlisted for the 2019 John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Shortlisted for the 2019/20 First Nation Communities READ Indigenous Literature Award. With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe [original people of the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States] community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the council and community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow. The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision. Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I quite enjoyed this book. I will say it is very slow burn, but I thought the writing was fantastic. It was really immersive, which I enjoyed."; "This was an awesome story, excellent writing. I loved it."; "This was an eerie and interesting book, written by an Anishinaabe author. I'm curious to see where the series takes us next!"