Small Ceremonies
A Novel
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4.3 • 7 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Part coming-of-age novel, part searing examination of a community finding itself, Small Ceremonies is a tantalizing and heartbreaking debut.
“I fear for our friendship, for the day it will end, wondering when that day will be . . .”
Tomahawk Shields (a.k.a. Tommy) and Clinton Whiteway are on the cusp of adulthood, imagining a future rife with possibility and greatness. The two friends play for their high school’s poor-performing hockey team, the Tigers, who learn at the start of the new season that the league wants them out. Their annual goal is now more important than ever: to win their first game in years and break the curse.
As we follow these two Indigenous boys over the course of a year, we are given a panoptic view of Tommy and Clinton’s Winnipeg, where a university student with grand ambitions chooses to bottle her anger when confronted with numerous micro- (and not so micro-) aggressions; an ex-convict must choose between protecting or exploiting his younger brother as he’s dragged deeper into the city’s criminal underbelly; a lonely rink attendant is haunted by the memory of a past lover and contemplates rekindling this old flame; and an aspiring journalist does everything she can to uncover why the league is threatening to remove the Tigers. These are a sampling of the chorus of voices that depicts a community filled with individuals searching for purpose, leading them all to one fateful and tragic night.
Ferociously piercing the heart of an Indigenous city, Kyle Edwards's sparkling debut is a heartbreaking yet humour-flecked portrayal of navigating identity and place, trauma and recovery, and growing up in a land that doesn't love you.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In Small Ceremonies, author Kyle Edwards paints a deeply felt portrait of a group of Indigenous teens in Winnipeg’s North End, where hockey is a lifeline and adolescence is already a full-contact sport. At the heart of the novel is Tommy Shields, a shy, image-conscious kid trying to keep his head up through a tough hockey season and an even tougher home life. Around him orbits a chorus of richly drawn teammates, elders, teachers, and family members, each navigating their own quiet battles with identity, poverty, grief, and expectations. Edwards writes with warmth and precision, capturing the push and pull between independence and belonging, heritage and reinvention. His multivoiced narrative cuts through stereotype and sentimentality, illuminating the humour, heartbreak, and everyday resilience of a community under pressure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edwards's spirited debut follows a group of Native hockey players in Winnipeg over the course of what might be their high school program's last season. Tomahawk "Tommy" Shields bets his friend and teammate Clinton Whiteway that he'll make it through the whole season without getting knocked down by an opponent. The goal is important to Tommy, who's struggled with self-confidence ever since his mother was institutionalized for schizophrenia, and he went to live with his grandmother. Clinton, an avid reader with obsessive-compulsive disorder, sees his life upended when his older brother, Kelvin, gets out of prison and tries to recruit him to his crew of drug dealers, prompting Clinton to move into a youth shelter for his own protection. The propulsive narrative toggles between several other characters' perspectives, among them a journalist investigating accusations of racism behind the league's decision to axe the school's team and a mixed-race star player whose lineage is called into question by opposing players during a tournament. Edwards excels at describing how the Native characters face challenges both personal and structural as the novel barrels toward the season's tragic final match. This will stay with readers.
Customer Reviews
Beautiful
Heartbreaking. So beautifully written. I cried.