Wagamese’s Indian Horse is an integral coming-of-age novel that everyone should come across, especially those in high school to post-secondary education. However, there should be a trigger warning of sexual assault. In this book, the main character Saul Indian Horse takes you on a journey in his personal life as an Ojibway battling through the cruel and dehumanizing tortures in an Ontarian Catholic residential school, St. Jerome’s. Saul decides to share his story in a written format using the first-person narrative. This is ironic, as storytelling through oral communication is known to be a tradition, especially to those of Indigenous descent. The irony here shows that Saul is engaging in the tradition of Western literature. Back to the story: in this book, we experience a narrative about family loss, the toxic residential school system in Canada, it’s abuses to both Saul and other children, integrating into the white-dominated sport of hockey, personal and inter generational trauma and racism, and alcoholism. This text is a great educational source for students to learn about the history of Indigenous oppression. If you’re interested to discover how Saul survives the traumatic experience at St. Jerome’s and finds familial comfort in foster parents, then this book is for you!

-Niki Anastasakis, JI 0132