I just finished reading this book for the second time and I’ve enjoyed it again! It is the biography of Fred Sasakamoose, the first Indigenous hockey player to play in the NHL. Fred does a wonderful job of writing about his early life in residential school and describing how he gets involved in hockey at the school. As a youngster, at about five years old, Fred’s grandfather teaches him how to skate and has visions of him doing great things one day. Fred is very honest as he describes his life before residential school, during his schooling years, and afterward. He shares his challenges with alcohol and his troubled relationships with his children. For a look into the impact of colonization, racism in hockey, and residential school on someone, read this book. Fred writes it in such a way that it sounds like he is having a conversation with the reader. It is easy to read, funny in places and emotionally raw at times.
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