{"product_id":"real-ones-isbn-9780735247505","title":"real ones","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 GILLER PRIZE*\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e*FINALIST FOR THE 2025 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD*\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFrom the author of the nationally bestselling Strangers saga comes a heartrending story of two Michif sisters who must face their past trauma when their mother is called out for false claims to Indigenous identity.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJune and her sister, lyn, are NDNs—real ones.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyn has her pottery artwork, her precocious kid, Willow, and the uncertain terrain of her midlife to keep her mind, heart and hands busy. June, a Métis Studies professor, yearns to uproot from Vancouver and move. With her loving partner, Sigh, and their faithful pup, June decides to buy a house in the last place on earth she imagined she’d end up: back home in Winnipeg with her family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut then into lyn and June’s busy lives a bomb drops: their estranged and very white mother, Renee, is called out as a “pretendian.” Under the name (get this) Raven Bearclaw, Renee had topped the charts in the Canadian art world for winning awards and recognition for her Indigenous-style work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe news is quickly picked up by the media and sparks an enraged online backlash. As the sisters are pulled into the painful tangle of lies their mother has told and the hurt she has caused, searing memories from their unresolved childhood trauma, which still manages to spill into their well curated adult worlds, come rippling to the surface.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn prose so powerful it could strike a match, \u003ci\u003ereal ones\u003c\/i\u003e is written with the same signature wit and heart on display in \u003ci\u003eThe Break\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Strangers\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Circle\u003c\/i\u003e. An energetic, probing and ultimately hopeful story, \u003ci\u003ereal ones\u003c\/i\u003e pays homage to the long-fought, hard-won battles of Michif (Métis) people to regain ownership of their identity and the right to say who is and isn’t Métis.\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of:\u003cbr\u003eIndigo’s Top Ten Best Books of 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWinnipeg Free Press’\u003c\/i\u003e Best Books of 2024\u003cbr\u003eOne of CBC’s “Best Canadian fiction of 2024”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“With the same artistry and open heart that vermette’s character lyn practices in throwing and displaying her pottery, vermette has crafted \u003ci\u003ereal ones\u003c\/i\u003e to explore—in real time—the traumatic outward rippling effect of a mother’s ethnic fraud on all her relations.”\u003cb\u003e \u003cbr\u003e—Michelle Good, author of \u003ci\u003eFive Little Indians \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Truth Telling\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A brilliant novel, infused with anger and rich with empathy. In \u003ci\u003ereal ones\u003c\/i\u003e, katherena vermette holds a mirror up to an issue that Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities are all grappling with—the rise of false claims to Indigenous identity. Vermette tells this story like no one else can. By focusing on the relationship between sisters June and lyn (who are Métis on their father’s side) following the public discovery of their own mother’s false claims, vermette offers up an understanding of the way the phenomenon reverberates at the personal and political levels. A healing and eye-opening story, \u003ci\u003ereal ones \u003c\/i\u003eis a must-read.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Michelle Porter, author of \u003ci\u003eA Grandmother Begins the Story\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“With conviction and compassion, vermette shines a light on \u003ci\u003epretendianism\u003c\/i\u003e—motivations, tangled emotions, far-reaching consequences—and re-centres collective Métis identity and sovereignty.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eChantal Fiola, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eReturning to Ceremony: Spirituality in Manitoba Métis Communities\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Through lithe prose that occasionally slips into poetry, vermette’s refreshing novel shines in its biting satire of white hubris and its conclusions about the slipperiness of identity.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eThe Walrus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] warm, incredibly timely and at times rather funny novel.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eChatelaine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Timely. . . . vermette’s talent for exploring tough topics with passion, humour and hope helps the story unfold. Through the family’s experience, tributes are paid to the hard-fought battles of Michif (Métis) people who have regained and maintained ownership of their identity. A deep understanding of art and a love of language abounds in vermette’s careful prose. Throughout the sad story, moments of simple beauty shine. vermette is passionate about her ancestry and inserts lived experience and cultural awareness through family discussions. . . . Though \u003ci\u003ereal ones\u003c\/i\u003e explores a lot of anger caused by the pretendian theme, there’s heartfelt experience from the daughters’ perspectives [and] conflicted feelings about Renee. . . . That core struggle makes \u003ci\u003ereal ones\u003c\/i\u003e so very real.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eWinnipeg Free Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003ekatherena vermette (she\/her) is a Michif (Red River Métis) writer from Treaty 1 territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Born in Winnipeg, her Michif roots on her paternal side run deep in St. Boniface, St. Norbert and beyond. Her maternal side is Mennonite from the Altona and Rosenfeld area (Treaty 1). Her first book, \u003ci\u003eNorth End Love Songs\u003c\/i\u003e, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her most recent novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Circle\u003c\/i\u003e, was the third and final companion to \u003ci\u003eThe Break\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Strangers\u003c\/i\u003e, which garnered several literary awards. Her work for children and young adults includes a picture book, \u003ci\u003eThe Girl and the Wolf\u003c\/i\u003e, and the graphic novel series A Girl Called Echo. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Manitoba. katherena lives with her kids—fur and human—in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River.","brand":"Hamish Hamilton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233504637157,"sku":"NP9780735247505","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780735247505.jpg?v=1767735476","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/real-ones-isbn-9780735247505","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}