Young Adult Fiction Coming Of Age
Road Allowance Era
- Publisher
- Portage & Main Press
- Initial publish date
- Apr 2021
- Category
- Coming of Age, NON-CLASSIFIABLE, Canada, NON-CLASSIFIABLE
- Recommended Age
- 12 to 18
- Recommended Grade
- 8 to 12
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781553799306
- Publish Date
- Apr 2021
- List Price
- $21.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781553799313
- Publish Date
- May 2021
- List Price
- $18.00
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
In Road Allowance Era, Echo’s story picks up again when she travels back in time to 1885.
The government has not fulfilled its promise of land for the Métis, and many flee to the Northwest. As part of the fallout from the Northwest Resistance, their advocate and champion Louis Riel is executed. As new legislation corrodes Métis land rights, and unscrupulous land speculators and swindlers take advantage, many Métis settle on road allowances and railway land, often on the fringes of urban centres.
For Echo, the plight of her family is apparent. Burnt out of their home in Ste. Madeleine, they make their way to Rooster Town, a shanty community on the southwest edges of Winnipeg. In this final instalment of her story, Echo is reminded of the strength and resilience of her people, forged through the loss and pain of the past, as she faces a triumphant future.
About the authors
KATHERENA VERMETTE is a Métis writer from Treaty One territory, the heart of the Métis nation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Her first book, North End Love Songs (The Muses Company), won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her National Film Board short documentary, this river, won the Coup de Coeur award at the Montreal First Peoples Festival and a Canadian Screen Award.
Her first novel, The Break, was a national bestseller and won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award; the Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Young Adult Literature; and three Manitoba Book Awards. It was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and CBC’s Canada Reads. She is also the author of the children’s picture book series The Seven Teaching Stories and recently published the first book, Pemmican Wars, in the young adult book series A Girl Called Echo. Ms. Vermette’s second book of poetry, river woman, is forthcoming in the fall of 2018 from House of Anansi Press.
Katherena Vermette's profile page
Scott Henderson (he/him/his) is author/illustrator of the sci-fi/fantasy comic, The Chronicles of Era and has illustrated select titles in the Canadian Air Force’s For Valour series and Tales From Big Spirit series, the graphic novel series 7 Generations and A Girl Called Echo, select stories in This Place: 150 Years Retold, Fire Starters, an AIYLA Honour Book, and Eisner-award nominee, A Blanket of Butterflies. In 2016, he was the recipient of the C4 Central Canada Comic Con Storyteller Award. https://scotthendersonart.wordpress.com/
Scott B. Henderson's profile page
Since 1998, Donovan Yaciuk (he/him/his) has done colouring work on books published by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse comics, and High Water Press including A Girl Called Echo and Breakdown: Reckoner Rises series and This Place: 150 Years Retold. Donovan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from the University of Manitoba and began his career as a part of the legendary, now-defunct Digital Chameleon colouring studio. He lives in Winnipeg, MB Canada, with his wife and two daughters.
Awards
- Short-listed, Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Awards, Graphic Novel
Editorial Reviews
Among The Globe and Mail's Spring break 2021 reading list: 15 new books for kids and young adults
The Globe and Mail
Highly Recommended!
American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL)
Among Penn GSE’s Best Books for Young Readers 2021 list
Penn GSE
Among CBC Books Best Canadian Comics of 2021
CBC Books
This fourth volume in the A Girl Called Echo series rounds out the history of Métis dispossession from their land and subsequent social marginalization brilliantly. While dealing with the hard issues of colonialism, Vermette sensitively points to the resilience, determination, and power of Métis people. In Road Allowance Era, the stories of Ste. Madeleine and Rooster Town take their place alongside the more prominent stories of Métis nationalism situating the power of Métis family as the source of their survival.
Brenda Macdougall, University of Ottawa
This series is relatable for many young readers faced with the same situations of fitting in, popularity, connection and finding their place in the world. These volumes draw out the realities of many Métis who find their way home by finding strength and pride in their histories.
The Ormsby Review
Is enthralled the correct word when describing such a dark chapter in Métis dispossession, along the road allowances in the western prairies? Or is enraging more apt? Or maybe brilliant blinding beauty? Because that's what Vermette has achieved here. Even as the graphic novel closed, I was reflecting on this staggering and respectful work. A swell in my chest, a pride in my spirit; you'll feel the strength of our people, the Free People, the Otipemisiwak, against the injustice of Canadian imperialism in the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries.
Jesse Thistle
Among CBC Books 22 Canadian comics to watch for in spring 2021
CBC Books
Brilliantly mixes the portrait of a contemporary teen named Echo...with a time travelling adventure that takes her back to four key moments in the history of her people. Beautifully illustrated..., this concluding book offers a heart-wrenching look at how appallingly the Métis were treated....
The Globe and Mail
