Luke knows his I'nupiaq name is full of sounds white people cant say. He knows hell have to leave it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles from their Arctic village.At Sacred Heart School things are different. Instead of family, there are studentsEskimo, Indian, Whitewho line up on different sides of the cafeteria like theres some kind of war going on. And instead of comforting words like tutu and maktak, theres English. Speaking I'nupiaqor any native languageis 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 hes not the only one. Theres smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leaderif he doesnt self destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. Each has their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart Schooland in the wider worldwill never be the same.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade-12th grade.

There are 256 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2013 by Amazon Publishing .