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Young Adult Fiction General

Why the Monster

by (author) Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley & Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

illustrated by Toma Feizo Gas

Publisher
Inhabit Media
Initial publish date
Sep 2017
Category
General, Polar Regions, Monsters, Diversity & Multicultural
Recommended Age
12 to 18
Recommended Grade
8 to 12
Recommended Reading age
12 to 18
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781772271416
    Publish Date
    Sep 2017
    List Price
    $27.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Huuq is a young Inuit boy who has never fit in to camp life. One day, fleeing yet another attack from the camp bullies, Huuq finds himself alone and far away from camp, with only his dog Qipik as company. On a lonesome hill, they find an egg. But this is no ordinary bird's egg. It's big. And almost looks like a stone. When Huuq breaks this mysterious egg, it unleashes a series of events that turn Huuq himself into a monstrous half-human creature. As Huuq tries to figure out why he has been turned into a monster, what the egg and its contents mean, and how he can return to his natural self, he is thrust into a world of fearsome creatures, mystical powers, and an evil the likes of which Huuq has never encountered.

About the authors

Of Inuit-Cree ancestry, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley was born in a tent on northernmost Baffin Island. She learned Inuit survival lore from her father, surviving residential school and attending university. In 2012, she was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for numerous cultural writings. Of Scottish-Mohawk ancestry, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley was born in southern Ontario, learning woodcraft and stories from his father. Training as an artist, then writer, Sean’s sci-fi work won 2nd place at the California-based Writers of the Future contest, published by Galaxy Press. Rachel and Sean have worked for decades as Arctic researchers and consultants. In writing together, they have published 10 successful books and many shorter works, celebrating the history and uniqueness of Arctic shamanism, cosmology, and cosmogony. Their novel, Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic, was a Governor General Awards Finalist and First Prize Burt Award winner.

Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley's profile page

Of Inuit-Cree ancestry, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley was born in a tent on northernmost Baffin Island. She learned Inuit survival lore from her father, surviving residential school and attending university. In 2012, she was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for numerous cultural writings. Of Scottish-Mohawk ancestry, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley was born in southern Ontario, learning woodcraft and stories from his father. Training as an artist, then writer, Sean’s sci-fi work won 2nd place at the California-based Writers of the Future contest, published by Galaxy Press. Rachel and Sean have worked for decades as Arctic researchers and consultants. In writing together, they have published 10 successful books and many shorter works, celebrating the history and uniqueness of Arctic shamanism, cosmology, and cosmogony. Their novel, Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic, was a Governor General Awards Finalist and First Prize Burt Award winner.

Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley's profile page

From his early days of reading sci-fi and fantasy books, Toma Feizo Gas has been fascinated with the dramatic scenes portrayed on the covers of those books. There started his lifelong love affair with telling stories through pictures. Today, Toma’s key influence remains the people in these stories, the motives that drive us, and the decisions that shape us, propelling him to craft bold visual statements and contrast in his own art. As a career illustrator, his work can be found gracing the pages and covers of titles such as Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, the Star Wars and Mutant Chronicles role playing games, as well as several upcoming fantasy novel series.

Toma Feizo Gas' profile page

Editorial Reviews

“. . . [T]his book is a much-needed and eye-opening look into the Inuit worldview, and, at the same time, a journey into highly imaginative fantasy that draws on Indigenous and other mythologies from around the world.”

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