Influenced by Peters&rsquo\; own Mi&rsquo\ ;kmaq heritage\, \;The Berry Pickers \;is a riveting expl oration of family\, grief\, and the bonds we share. \;
\nJuly 19 62. A Mi&rsquo\;kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blue berries for the summer. Weeks later\, four-year-old Ruthie\, the family&rs quo\;s youngest child\, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old bro ther\, Joe\, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister&rsquo\;s disappearance for years to c ome.
\nIn Maine\, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only chil d of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant\, her mother fr ustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams an d visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows olde r\, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren&rsqu o\;t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition\, she will spend deca des trying to uncover this family secret.
\nThe Berry Pickers \; is an intimate portrait of race\, love\, and loneliness&ndash\;and th e power of forgiveness. Register now to take part in the discussion!
\n \nAbout the Author:
\nAmanda Peters is a mixed-race woman of Mi&rsquo\;kmaq and European ancestry\, born and raised in the Annapolis Valley\, Nova Scotia. Her short fiction and non-fiction have been published in \;The Antigonish Review\, Grain Ma gazine\, The Alaska Quarterly Review\, The Dalhousie Rev iew\, \;and \;Filling Station Magazine.
\nAman da&rsquo\;s first novel\, \;The Berry Pickers\, was a finalis t for the Atwood Gibson Writers&rsquo\; Trust Fiction Prize in Canada\, an d won the Barnes and Noble Discover Prize and the Carnegie Medal for Excel lence in Fiction in the US. \;The Berry Pickers \;won the Dartmouth Book Award and the Crime Writers of Canada First Crime Novel Aw ard\, and has been translated into sixteen languages around the world. Her most recent book of short fiction\, \;Waiting for the Long Night Moon\, was published August\, 2024\, to critical acclaim.
\n\nDisclaimer:
\nThe views expr essed by presenters are their own and their appearance in a program does n ot imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or reco mmendation by The Indianapolis Public Library.
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