The Shoe Boy, Duncan McCue
The Shoe Boy, Duncan McCue
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
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The Shoe Boy
A Trapline Memoir

Author: Duncan McCue

Narrator: Duncan McCue

Unabridged: 2 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: ECW Press

Published: 04/04/2023


Synopsis

At the age of seventeen, an Anishinabe boy who was raised in the south joined a James Bay Cree family in a one-room hunting cabin in the isolated wilderness of northern Quebec. He learned a way of life on the land that few are familiar with. Reflecting on those five months and his search for his own personal identity, that boy – Duncan McCue – takes us on an evocative exploration of the teenage years, growing up in a mixed-race family, and the culture shock of moving to the unfamiliar North. In the process, he illustrates the relationship Indigenous peoples have with their lands, and the challenges urban Indigenous people face when they seek to reconnect to traditional lifestyles.The Shoe Boy is a contemplative, honest, and unexpected coming-of-age memoir set in the context of the Cree struggle to protect their way of life, after massive hydro-electric projects forever altered the landscape they know as Eeyou Istchee.

Reviews

Goodreads review by George on December 01, 2021

A slim volume of memoir that touches upon a formative 5 months in the woods near James Bay. I met Duncan McCue at Joy Kogawa House, and he explained the book started from an exercise where he was supposed to write about a teacher. Here the teacher is the "old man" (the language used in the text; a t......more

Goodreads review by Jaime on January 31, 2021

Maybe for my son to read 😆 he’d be so embarrassed if I gave him my copy to read. Overall it was pretty cool to see how the author’s connection to land was on another Indigenous Territory. The life of hunter’s and trappers in the bush, on the land - I think it’s something my dad could relate to! It m......more

Goodreads review by Darryl on January 23, 2021

A read of landscapes and connections between an Ojibwe to Swampy Cree. Mis-tah Duncan sees lands, waters and skies by 'Big River' as I do. I find it a wonderful read because eeyou life is (still to this day) the foundation of the generation I'm born into. I have cousin who lives this life Duncan wri......more

Goodreads review by Katie on November 17, 2017

A quick, riveting read. Really enjoyed this memoir, especially after getting the chance to work with the author for a week.......more

Goodreads review by Aartjan on October 16, 2024

Fascinating, short narrative of growing up as a 16-year-old between two worlds —where do I belong?—shared history?—a real hunter-gatherer I'll never be—where I come from, though?— then having the opportunity to accompany a Cree family on several months of autumn hunting in Canada.......more