Borders by Thomas King, Illustrated by Natasha Donovan

A stunning graphic-novel adaptation based on the work of one of Canada’s most revered and bestselling authors

On a trip to visit his older sister, who has moved away from the family home on the reserve to Salt Lake City, a young boy and his mother are posed a simple question with a not-so-simple answer. Are you Canadian, the border guards ask, or American?

“Blackfoot.”

And when border guards will not accept their citizenship, mother and son wind up trapped in an all-too-real limbo between nations that do not recognize who they are.

A powerful graphic-novel adaptation of one of Thomas King’s most celebrated short stories, Borders explores themes of identity and belonging, and is a poignant depiction of the significance of a nation’s physical borders from an Indigenous perspective. This timeless story is brought to vibrant, piercing life by the singular vision of artist Natasha Donovan.

Critical Praise
"A simple yet powerful story . . . An important and accessible modern tale about the ongoing lack of recognition by colonizers for the Indigenous communities who continue to exist on their ancestral lands." — School Library Journal (starred review)

"The story highlights both the universal feelings of a family moving apart and a very specific Indigenous experience. . . . Brilliant." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"In this sparsely worded, moving graphic novel . . . the team adeptly captures the dilemma of Native Nations whose homelands were split by political borders. This sobering yet inspiring tale effectively spotlights a Native woman who quietly demands that her voice be heard and her identity recognized." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Paperback, 192 pages ages 10 - 14

THOMAS KING is one of Canada's premier Native public intellectuals. King was the first Aboriginal person to deliver the prestigious Massey Lectures, and is also the bestselling, award-winning author of six novels, two collections of short stories and two nonfiction books. He won the 2014 Governor General's Award for Literature for his most recent novel, The Back of the Turtle. His non-fiction tour de force, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America won the BC National Award for Canadian Non Fiction and the RBC Taylor Prize, as well as being a finalist for 2015 CBC Canada Reads. He is a recipient of the Order of Canada. He lives in Guelph, ON.

NATASHA DONOVAN is a self-taught illustrator from Vancouver, British Columbia, with a focus on comics and children’s illustration. Her work has appeared in two anthologies: The Other Side, edited by Melanie Gillman and Kori Handwerker, and This Place. She illustrated the award-winning children’s book The Sockeye Mother by Brett D. Huson and the graphic novel Surviving the City by Tasha Spillett. She has a degree in anthropology from the University of British Columbia and has worked in academic and magazine publishing. She currently lives in Bellingham, Washington. Natasha Donovan is a member of the Métis Nation of British Columbia.