Thank you Dundurn Press for sending a copy of this book to me. Oh, I could go on and on, but, if Canada needs to read one book right now, this is the one. Canada and Canadians have a lot of work to do to resolve this incredibly important issue and it needs to be heard far and wide.Īlexandra Shimo only spent a few months on the reserve and came away with PTSD, severe mental and physical health problems, a growing dependency on drug use in order to cope but she was able to escape. It's disgusting how the regulations or laws or whatever it is that the federal and provincial governments conduct themselves with the Indigenous population and is so ass-backward it's appalling.

It seems too coy to just apply sticky notes to a page in a book. I have pretty close to every single page marked off with yellow sticky notes, some pages have 3 or 4 on the same page. I had to put it down after each chapter in order to 1.) calm down because I would become so enraged at what I was reading, and 2.) to absorb how absolutely disgusting, devastating and horrible life on a reserve is. This is definitely one book every Canadian should read now.Ĭonceivably, this book is short enough to be read in one sitting. The theme this year (and has been in different variations of the same theme in the last few years) is What is the One Book Canada Should Read Now? Invisible North is not in the running this year, and it's a shame. I had to put it down after each chapter in order to 1.) cal Right now there is a debate about books in Canada, called Canada Reads. Conceivably, this book is short enough to be read in one sitting. This is definitely one book every Canadian should read now. Right now there is a debate about books in Canada, called Canada Reads. Part memoir, part history of the Canadian reserves, Shimo offers an expansive exploration and unorthodox take on many of the First Nation issues that dominate the news today, including the suicide crises, murdered and missing indigenous women and girls, Treaty rights, First Nations sovereignty, and deep poverty.more Unable to cope with the desperate conditions, she begins to fall apart.Ī moving tribute to the power of hope and resilience, Invisible North is an intimate portrait of a place that pushes everyone to their limits. When freelance journalist Alexandra Shimo arrives in Kashechewan, a fly-in, northern Ontario reserve, to investigate rumours of a fabricated water crisis and document its deplorable living conditions, she finds herself drawn into the troubles of the reserve. Unab A vivid first-person account of life on a troubled reserve that illuminates a difficult and oft-ignored history.

She teaches creative nonfiction part-time at University of Toronto Continuing Studies.A vivid first-person account of life on a troubled reserve that illuminates a difficult and oft-ignored history. She also serves on the advisory board of Grimanis' charitable organization Up With Women. Īn out lesbian, she is the partner of activist Lia Grimanis. Ī former editor at Maclean's, Shimo is a freelance journalist who has contributed to The Guardian, the Toronto Star, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Maclean's, the National Post, The Globe and Mail and Toronto Life, she is also the author of The Environment Equation: 100 Factors That Can Add to or Subtract From Your Total Carbon Footprint. It was one of the Globe and Mail's best books of the year. The book was longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, and a finalist for the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

Based on first person reportage of the four months Shimo lived in Kashechewan First Nation reserve in northern Ontario, the book describes how inhuman conditions had decimated the local community and the legal, economic and political circumstances that trap many northern indigenous communities in poverty. In 2016, Shimo published Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve. Paul's Secondary School in Islington before attending Oxford University. Alex spent her formative years in London, attending St.

Alexandra shimo