Sunriver Books & Music

My name is not easy. My name is hard like ocean ice grinding

at the shore . . . Luke knows his I upiaq name is full of sounds

white people can't say. So he leaves it behind when he and his

brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from

their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students Eskimo,

Indian, White line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there's

some kind of war going on. Here, speaking I upiaq or any native

language is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a

force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey.

Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he's not the only

one. There's smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader if he doesn't selfdestruct;

Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider;

and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down.

They each have their own story to tell. But once their separate

stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School and the wider

world will