My Name is Not Easy

Luke knows his Inupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers fly from their remote village in the Arctic tundra to a Catholic boarding school hundreds of miles south in the Alaskan bush. Things are different at Sacred Heart School. Instead of good food like whale meat, there are greasy carrots and gluey potatoes. Instead of family, there are students –Eskimo, Indian, White– who line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. And instead of comforting words like tutu and maktak, there’s English. Speaking Inupiaq –or any native language– is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke’s not the only one struggling to survive at Sacred Heart. There’s smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader –if he doesn’t self-destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. They all have their own stories to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School –and the wider world— will never be the same.

Ages: Teen
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5980-4
Price: $17.99
Published by: Amazon Children's Publishing