84. Yellow Line by Sylvia Olsen

I grabbed this one from the free box on Esplanade really for my daughter.  At first glance it looked to be about a small town in B.C. where the First Nations and the white kids are separated, which it was.  I grew up in a similar situation and had some exposure and interaction with First Nations kids and people.  Out here in hipster Montreal, she doesn't have that opportunity so I want her at least to be aware of the reality of their existence on a day-to-day level.  Now that I've read it, I think it's a bit too old for her.  Though it is large print and a quick read, it is really targeted at teen readers.

The story is from the perspective of a white kid, Vince, whose dad is in forestry and is a straight up racist and whose mom says the right things but basically believes things should be the way they are.  The way they are is captured in the school bus ride where the First Nations kids (which they call "Indians" in the book, as we did) all sit at the front of the bus and the white kids at the back with an empty row in between.  Likewise, the First Nations stay on the reserve.  The conflict begins when the Vince's childhood friend who went to the city and sort of grew up starts dating a cool Indian kid called Steve. At the same time, a First Nations girl who seems quite cute starts giving Vince the eye and he can't get her out of his head.  Vince's initial resistance to Steve and his friend causes a big conflict at the high school with the Indian kids threatening to beat Vince up.  Vince tells his parents about the relationship which then causes a real furor and fucks it up for his friend whose parents are going to send to live with her uncle back in the city.

It's a very short book (I read it in one sitting) and at times a bit awkward.  Some of the details seem a bit wrong, like I don't know if there are rugby teams in small town B.C. (the Indian kids all play rugby while the white kids play basketball which doesn't ring true to me).  I get the feeling that Olsen really understands teenage issues and the racism towards the First Nations in B.C. but her perspective of shit-kicking B.C. logging towns is from someone who has only lived in Victoria.  Otherwise, though, I think for a story aimed at teens who aren't big readers, it keeps moving along and captures fairly well some of the realities of that racism and the complex interactions between what we are calling settlers today and the Indigenous people in western Canada.  I may keep it hanging around until my daughter gets older.