The Marrow Thieves vs Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess

I'm posting on behalf of the ABM Team of Lisa, Angie, Ben, Arlene, Andrea and Annabel.

What a delight to read these two books.  They are quite different from each other, yet both valuable in their own ways.  The Marrow Thieves is a heavy, emotional, layered read about a dystopian Canada in which the dreams of Indigenous Peoples are being drained in places reminiscent of Residential Schools in order to fuel the lives of others remaining in a country that has become desperate in the face of social and environmental devastation.  The importance of story. Family. Kin. Lessons from elders. Blood memory. The land and the importance of place. The environment and language are all explored in this beautiful novel.

Rainbow Goddess is the story of complex the relationships woven into the life of Macy McMillan who is part of the deaf community but is attending her neighbourhood school.  She is on a journey of identity and trying to figure out her story while immersed in the stories of those around her. Written in verse it has a clear voice and is accessible for students at the grade 5 or 6 level.  References to books students will recognize such as The Tale of Desperaux, El Deafo and Anne of Green Gables abound in this novel.  

Our reading team felt both were worthwhile novels and both deserve to be in the hands of students.  There was some conversation about Marrow Thieves being more appropriate for high school aged students while Rainbow Goddess is one that our reading group feels can be shared with upper elementary students.  

In the end our tally was 4 for Marrow Thieves and 1 for Rainbow Goddess and 1 abstain.  Marrow Thieves moves on from our bracket.