The Lesser Blessed

Publisher's description (Douglas and McIntyre, 2004): Larry is a Dogrib Indian growing up in the small northern town of Fort Simmer. His tongue, his hallucinations and his fantasies are hotter than the centre of the sun. At sixteen, he loves Iron Maiden, the North and Juliet Hope, the high school tramp. 

In this powerful and very funny first novel, Richard Van Camp gives us one of the most original teenage characters in Canadian fiction. Skinny as spaghetti, nervy and self-deprecating, Larry is an appealing mixture of bravado and vulnerability. His past holds many terrors: an abusive father, blackouts from sniffing gasoline, an accident that killed several of his cousins, and he's now being hunted and haunted by a pack of blue monkeys. But through his new friendship with Johnny, a Métis who just moved to town, he's now ready to face his memories and his future.

The Lesser Blessed is an eye-opening depiction of what it is to be a young Dogrib man in the age of AIDS, disillusionment with Catholicism and a growing world consciousness. Richard Van Camp is Tlicho Dene.
Note: This novel contains mature content, such as depictions of violence and incidents of drug and alcohol use.

Resource format: Novel

Age recommendation: Grades 10-12, University

Keywords: Dogrib, AIDS, disillusionment, mature, contemporary Dogrib, addiction, abuse

Year of publication: 2004

Publisher information: Douglas and McIntyre