About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
At the age of seventeen, an Anishinabe boy who was raised in the south joined a James Bay Cree family in a one-room hunting cabin in the isolated wilderness of northern Quebec. He learned a way of life on the land that few are familiar with. Reflecting on those five months and his search for his own personal identity, that boy – Duncan McCue – takes us on an evocative exploration of the teenage years, growing up in a mixed-race family, and the culture shock of moving to the unfamiliar North. In the process, he illustrates the relationship Indigenous peoples have with their lands, and the challenges urban Indigenous people face when they seek to reconnect to traditional lifestyles.
The Shoe Boy is a contemplative, honest, and unexpected coming-of-age memoir set in the context of the Cree struggle to protect their way of life, after massive hydro-electric projects forever altered the landscape they know as Eeyou Istchee.
Contributor Notes
Duncan McCue is an award-winning CBC journalist and the host of CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup. He teaches journalism at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism and Ryerson University, and was awarded a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University. His numerous honours include an Innovation Award from the Canadian Ethnic Media Association, for developing curriculum on Indigenous issues. McCue is Anishinaabe, from the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in Ontario, and the proud father of two children. He lives in Toronto.
Editorial Reviews
McCue’s book, succinctly but beautifully written, takes the reader right to the people and places described, and leaves one wishing for more.
— Announcement of Edna Staebler Nonfiction Award Shortlist
It’s a thoroughly enjoyable, nicely balanced and ideal summer read (or winter read really, as it takes place in the cold).
— Eastern Door
If you’re like me, you’ll have watched Duncan McCue’s journalism on the CBC for a number of years now, admiring his skill and diligence as a reporter. If you read his new book, his first, you’ll no doubt admire him a little bit more.
— The Commentary
[Duncan McCue’s] voice is familiar as it is fresh.
— The Straight
Frank, funny and evocative, The Shoe Boy deftly entwines the challenges of identity for First Nations youth, the sexual frustration and hopeful confusion of the teenage years, and the realities of living in an enduring state of culture shock.
— CBC Books
The Shoe Boy is a valuable read and will enrich anyone who tunes in to CBC Radio One on Sunday afternoons, as McCue establishes his voice in the conversation of Canada.
— Globe and Mail
