Surviving the City
Illustrator
Natasha Donovan
Publisher
Highwater Press
Publication Year
2019
ISBN
9781553797562
Pages
56 pages
Genre
realism
Format
graphic novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
Tasha Spillet's graphic-novel debut, Surviving the City, is a story about womanhood, friendship, resilience, and the anguish of a missing loved one. Miikwan and Dez are best friends. Miikwan's Anishinaabe; Dez is Inninew. Together, the teens navigate the challenges of growing up in an urban landscape - they're so close, they even completed their Berry Fast together. However, when Dez's grandmother becomes too sick, Dez is told she can't stay with her anymore. With the threat of a group home looming, Dez can't bring herself to go home and disappears. Miikwan is devastated, and the wound of her missing mother resurfaces. Will Dez's community find her before it's too late? Will Miikwan be able to cope if they don't?
Grade Level
6-8; 9-12
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Disability and Health; Family member death; Parental rights termination; Legal guardianship; Illness; death of a parent; death of a mother; losing parental rights; legal guardian; grandparents raising grandchildren; diabetes
Main Character
female teenager
Race/Ethnicities
Native American
Family Formation
grandmother
Keywords
social worker; school; phone; missing; friendship; sisterhood; group home; grandparent; sickness; bus; missing
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Spillett, Tasha, "Surviving the City" (2019). Diverse Families. 1844.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1844