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Five Little Indians: A Novel

Author:
Michelle Good
Read by:
Kyla Garcia
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Unabridged Audiobook

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Ratings
Book
36
Narrator
13
Release Date
April 14, 2020
Duration
10 hours 35 minutes
Summary
WINNER: Canada Reads 2022

WINNER: Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction

WINNER: Amazon First Novel Award

WINNER: Kobo Emerging Author Prize 

Finalist: Scotiabank Giller Prize

Finalist: Atwood Gibson Writers Trust Prize

Finalist: BC & Yukon Book Prize

Shortlist: Indigenous Voices Awards

National Bestseller; A Globe and Mail Top 100 Book of the Year; A CBC Best Book of the Year; An Apple Best Book of the Year; A Kobo Best Book of the Year; An Indigo Best Book of the Year

Taken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention.

Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn’t want them. The paths of the five friends cross and crisscross over the decades as they struggle to overcome, or at least forget, the trauma they endured during their years at the Mission.

Fuelled by rage and furious with God, Clara finds her way into the dangerous, highly charged world of the American Indian Movement. Maisie internalizes her pain and continually places herself in dangerous situations. Famous for his daring escapes from the school, Kenny can’t stop running and moves restlessly from job to job—through fishing grounds, orchards and logging camps—trying to outrun his memories and his addiction. Lucy finds peace in motherhood and nurtures a secret compulsive disorder as she waits for Kenny to return to the life they once hoped to share together. After almost beating one of his tormentors to death, Howie serves time in prison, then tries once again to re-enter society and begin life anew.

With compassion and insight, Five Little Indians chronicles the desperate quest of these residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward. 
Reviews
Profile Avatar Cindy V. Jun 2021

I think it is one of the best novels, I have heard. 10/10

Profile Avatar Joanne G. Oct 2025

This was a sad story about the devastation caused to the lives of five native Canadian people as a result of enforced separation from their families to be placed in Catholic residential schools where they were brutalised daily and denied their culture. The great tragedy is that these things really happened to so many of the indigenous people. I can’t say it was an enjoyable listen because the main emotions it raised were anger at the abuse this type of school inflicted and the lifelong damage as a result to both them and their families , the blatant racism, the threat of imprisonment if families tried to locate and rescue their children, and sadness at their struggles through life. But these awful things really happened and so for me, it was well worth the listen. The narrator was good too.

Profile Avatar Travis A. Jun 2023

the narrator was very good, my problem with the narration was the lack of accent. perhaps I'm looking for too much realism

Profile Avatar Fiona R. Mar 2023

Incredibly well written. Michelle Good does an excellent job of investing the reader in the characters and setting. She wrote the book to answer the question "why can't they just get over it?" and did a great job of illustrating why.

Five Little Indians: A Novel

Five Little Indians: A Novel

Author: Michelle Good
Read by: Kyla Garcia
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