Moon of the Turning Leaves

After the success of his previous book Moon of the Crusted Snow, Anishinaabe author Waubgeshig Rice was convinced, by the ardent request of his fans, to write this sequel. Fans wanted to know what happened to Evan Whitesky and his family and friends after the exciting but ambiguous end to Moon of the Crusted Snow.

Moon of the Turning Leaves begins a decade after the first book which allowed Rice to focus not only on Evan Whitesky, but his now teenage daughter Nangohns, a powerful young woman in her own right who barely remembers life before the apocalyptic blackout. This slower paced, thought-provoking dystopian quest is about family, the fight to survive despite overwhelming odds and the strength we can find in family, culture and the natural world. 

Poignant, quietly compelling and perfectly concluded, I believe fans of Moon of the Crusted Snow will devour this book and will hopefully take time to consider the issues Rice so eloquently brings to this haunting story that illustrates our need to reconnect with nature and the realities of Anishinaabe peoples.

Note: I had the pleasure of meeting Waub at an event two weeks ago at the Kitchener Public Library. He and cannot wait to read whatever he writes next.

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Waubgeshig Rice

Genre: Dystopian, Indigenous, Canadian

Type and Source: Trade Paperback, personal copy

Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada

First Published: October 10, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: Twelve years after the lights go out . . .

An epic journey to a forgotten homeland

The hotly anticipated sequel to the bestselling novel Moon of the Crusted Snow

It's been over a decade since a mysterious cataclysm caused a permanent blackout that toppled infrastructure and thrust the world into anarchy. Evan Whitesky led his community in remote northern Ontario off the rez and into the bush, where they've been living off the land, rekindling their Anishinaabe traditions in total isolation from the outside world. As new generations are born, and others come of age in the world after everything, Evan's people are in some ways stronger than ever. But resources in and around their new settlement are beginning to dry up, and the elders warn that they cannot afford to stay indefinitely.

Evan and his fifteen-year-old daughter, Nangohns, are elected to lead a small scouting party on a months-long trip to their traditional home on the north shore of Lake Huron--to seek new beginnings, and discover what kind of life--and what dangers--still exist in the lands to the south.

Moon of the Turning Leaves is Waubgeshig Rice's exhilarating return to the world first explored in the phenomenal breakout bestseller Moon of the Crusted Snow a brooding story of survival, resilience, Indigenous identity, and rebirth.