Creeboy

by Teresa Wouters

Overview

Sixteen-year-old Josh is no stranger to gang life.

His dad, the leader of the Warriors, a gang on their reservation, is in jail, and Josh's older brother has taken charge.

Josh's mom has made it clear the Warriors and their violence aren't welcome in her home—Josh's dad and brother included. She wants Josh to focus on graduating high school. Josh is unsure whether gang life is for him—that is until gang violence arrives on his doorstep.

Turning to the Warriors, Josh, now known as "Creeboy," starts down the path to becoming a full gang member—cutting himself off from his friends, family, and community outside the gang.

It's harder than ever for Creeboy to envision a different future for himself. Will anything change his mind?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459416789
Publisher:	James Lorimer and Company Ltd., Publishers
Publication date:	08/01/2022
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.75(h) x (d)
Lexile:	HL590L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Teresa Wouters is a Métis teacher, musician, actress, TV personality, public speaker, and writer. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Studies, a Bachelor of Education, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Teresa lives in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Editorial Reviews

"...[T]he resentment and redemption narrative is strong and the action consistent. Recommended."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2022-07-13
A novel for reluctant readers about gang violence set on a First Nations reserve in Canada.

Sixteen-year-old Josh has dropped out of school. He lives with his family in Alberta on the fictional Pâ-ko-sey-i-mo-min reserve where his father was the head of the Warrior gang until he went to jail nearly a year ago. Josh’s older brother, Darion, who goes by the gang name Razor, takes him under his wing: Josh is a Warrior initiate, dubbed Creeboy for his knowledge of Indigenous traditions. In this story of self-discovery, Creeboy needs to discover who he wants to be, choosing between his family in the gang and his family outside it, with costs on both sides. The story is written in the first-person perspective, allowing readers to understand Josh’s inner thoughts. However, the characters feel like underdeveloped types playing out a predictable storyline involving an angry teenager, an incarcerated father, a gang member brother, and a worried mother. The book is filled with Cree vocabulary and knowledge, but these elements are not incorporated organically into the story or characterization. Readers seeking more nuanced representation of the impact of gangs on Indigenous communities would be better served by the graphic novel The Outside Circle by Patti LaBoucane-Benson and Kelly Mellings.

Readers looking to understand the complexities of gang violence should look elsewhere. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews