It’s a rare book that can make the tried-and-true genre of the coming-of-age novel seem novel. There are the standard markers of the hero’s journey—the trials, the dark night of the soul, the lesson learned. From Printz Honor author Eric Gansworth comes My Good Man, a literary tour-de-force sure to turn the genre on its head.
Brian, a 20-something reporter on the Niagara Cascade City Desk, is navigating life as the only Indigenous writer in the newsroom, being lumped into reporting on stereotypical stories that homogenize his community—the nearby Tuscarora reservation. But when a mysterious roadside assault lands Tim, the brother of
Brian’s mother’s late boyfriend, in the hospital, Brian must pick up the threads of a life that he’s abandoned.
The resulting narrative takes us through Brian’s childhood and slice-of-life stories on the reservation, in Gansworth’s signature blend of crystal sharp, heartfelt literary realist prose.
But perhaps more importantly, it takes us through Brian’s attempt to balance his feet between Haudenosaunee and American life, between the version of his story that would prize the individual over all else, and the version of himself that depends on the entire community’s survival.
A powerful new book from Eric Gansworth, author of If I Ever Get Out of Here, that speaks the truth on race, relationships, and rock from two unforgettable perspectives.
Carson Mastick is entering his senior year of high school and desperate to make his mark, on the reservation and off. A rock band -- and winning the local Battle of the Bands, with its first prize of a trip to New York City -- is his best shot. But things keep getting in the way. Small matters like the lack of an actual band, or the fact that his brother just got shot confronting the racist owner of a local restaurant.
Maggi Bokoni has just moved back to the reservation from the city with her family. She's dying to stop making the same traditional artwork her family sells to tourists (conceptual stuff is cooler), stop feeling out of place in her new (old) home, and stop being treated like a child. She might like to fall in love for the first time too.
Carson and Maggi -- along with their friend Lewis -- will navigate loud protests, even louder music, and first love in this stirring novel about coming together in a world defined by difference.
"A heart-healing, mocs-on-the-ground story of music, family and friendship." -- Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of TANTALIZE and RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME
Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him -- people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home -- will he still be his friend?
Acclaimed adult author Eric Gansworth makes his YA debut with this wry and powerful novel about friendship, memory, and the joy of rock 'n' roll.
