I like this book a lot because it lacks in the mysterious dream-like states that the other books contained. In a way, it relieved me from having to try and decipher the messages behind the mysterious characters and occurences that happened in books like "Kiss of the Fur Queen". "In Search of April Raintree" was a very straight-forward explanation of what happened in this girl's life and the obstacles she had to face to find her culture and decide who she wanted to be.

The most important scene is the Christmas Story scene. April was misunderstood throughout her childhood. First of all, she was a child and children tend to elaborate sometimes. Secondly, but I think most importantly, she was Metis. She wasn't white. A lot of people pushed their needs to the side and didn't really care, even when it was the job of the social workers they didn't do what they needed to. April is mentally and emotionally, sometimes even physically abused by her foster family and no one really seems to care she seems. She knows that no one will believe her. When she wrote the Christmas Story, she ended it with "All I want for Christmas is for someone to believe me." And that's what happens, someone finally believes her and she is saved, at the moment, from one of the many hell-holes she encounters.

In Search of April Raintree was a simply written and deeply provoking novel. The poignant effects that this novel had on me were astounding. It is hard to imagine a small child being wrenched from their parents for no reason apparent to the child. That this occurs frequently to aboriginal and non-native families is hard to believe, however, Culleton's semi-autobiographical account gives a keen example of the common practice. Children fall through the cracks of social services everyday and, just like when April is placed with the DeRosiers, are defenseless and have no human rights. The novel, at length shows two sisters torn at the racial seam who go down very different paths and have opposite feelings towards their heritage. The most provocative and meaningful part of the novel, to me, was the very last paragraph when, although it was due to her sister's death, April's opinion of her people is turned around and she sees hope in the future in the form of her nephew. Henry Lee is the metaphorical connection between the two sisters that bridges the gap that so profoundly affected their opinions of one another.

I think if one were to describe this book in its most simpliest terms without any detail to character, it would sound like something the Lifetime network would make into a TV movie. That said, I don't believe that is the case and the book has a tremendous amount of depth to it, even if it is relatively played out. Overcoming a horrible upbringing in foster care with foster parents who treated them as undignified beings, racism and inequality, rape, suicide and alcoholism and its effects on identity are really what defines this book. It was really interesting to track the identity of Cheryl and April in the book. April tries so hard to disestablish herself from her Metis heritage and culture to the point that she uses materialism and white culture as a coping mechanism. It helps her to ease the association through heritage and keeps her away from the problems that plague native peoples. Cheryl on the other hand embraces the culture and is proud of her Metis heritage, yet she falls into the trap of "native girl sydrome". Cheryl tries very hard to be proud of her community and herself, but eventually becomes the stereotypical native, an image she once sought to break down.

I absolutely loved In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton Mosionier. It is definitely my favorite book so far in this course, maybe even in this course and the past Canadian Literature class I took too. I think a large part of the reason why I could not put this book down was due to its brutally honest nature, which really drove what I think the point of the book to be, across. I found many moving scenes, but I will discuss three specific ones in this posting.

I am sure a lot of readers of this book would say that the most moving scene for them was the rape scene. As cliché as it seemed to say this was mine too, I could not resist. I have never been so disturbingly moved from a scene. I can picture myself when I read the excruciatingly painful depictions in the scene, such as when she “felt the urine run down” ( Mosionier 132) her chin, on the verge of vomiting after one of the men stated “Boy, do I ever feel like taking a piss right now” (132). I can clearly remembering when I read the seven full pages which described the rape scene and literally cringing and looking away. I do not think a book has ever actually had that extreme of an effect on me, where the disgust in my mind caused me to physically move. I felt that every descriptive detail, down to the placement of a word, helped me envision precisely how painful the incident was. To feel that close to another person’s experience, one which is thankfully very foreign to me is a technique that Mosionier utilized effectively.

The second aspect of In Search of April Raintree that really shook me up was the first line in Chapter Twelve. The fact that April exclaims after the rape is said and done that she “was free” and “alive!” (146) was pretty disturbing in my mind too. The fact that she was focused on the positive, that she was still living, after such an incident was admirable to me. Although we see that later she is not optimistic about the incident by any means, the line was shocking because it just reinforced how screwed up and backwards the situation was.

The third and final aspect and scene of the book that I found to be extremely emotional was when April found out that she had been for the most part attacked and raped because of her sister’s wrongdoings. As she noticed Cheryl’s ambiguous facial expressions and movements in the court room, I was so mad for April at Cheryl. I was also mad at Cheryl for Cheryl. She had defied the stereotypes, but then just caved into alcoholism and not embracing her culture as she had done prior. I was really surprised that April ended up alive, and Cheryl committed suicide. The tides kept turning between the two in terms of success and happiness and I was surprised with the outcome. I was rooting for Cheryl.

On a final note, after reading the critical edition articles I was frustrated that Mosionier rewrote a more censored version of this book. One question that came to mind about this was if Mosionier was willing or reluctant at any point to do this. From an author who obviously seems to think vulgarity gets a point across, I was shocked that she would rewrite a tamer version. The word changes discussed in Cumming’s article, like the change to “‘What did you do to my sister’” from “‘Why did you scalp my sister’” (Cumming 310) completely alter the underlying themes in the book. With this change, the act of cutting hair to represent assimilation to the white people is completely butchered now. I highly disagree with Mosionier’s decision to do this.

Despite being on the bland side with regards to creativity and aesthetic power, In Search of April Raintree was a thought provoking story that accomplished a lot while keeping the reader engrossed. My interest certainly wasn't held by the writing, as I found it mediocre at best, but rather by the story itself, which, in this case, was far more important. This is the first book that we have read that deals with Métis characters, and I found this to be of particular significance in April Raintree. The book deals a lot with April feeling like she belongs in neither white nor native society, which comes directly from being only half of each. Moisonier's choice of April as a narrator was an effective way of bringing the reader through the full journey. Her starting point, and the bulk of the novel, dealt with adopting common misconceptions and negative views of native and Métis people, and then tracked events that both enforced and, eventually, reversed these sentiments and opinions.

The rape scene was clearly one of the most powerful in the book, definitely one of those things where you're just open mouthed with shock. One thing that is interesting to take note of is the act of her rapist urinating into her mouth. Someone in class mentioned another scene in the beginning of the novel where a native girl wet her bed, and the smell remained long past the girl had left. Similarly, April just can't seem to get the stench of her attacker, of her victimization, off of her, try as she might. I think that the connection between these two incidents is an important one. Urine is dirty; it's the body's waste. April feels shame and loathing while trying to get rid of the smell, tries to cover it up with perfumes or get rid of it entirely, but she can't. Similarly, she feels as though Métis is a wasted heritage, a waste of two cultures on one poor soul that cannot reconcile the two, and try as she might, she just can't seem to wash herself clean of, or to mask what she feels to be the dirtiest, most shameful aspect of herself; her native half. (Furthermore, the rapists kept calling her "squaw" as they defiled her body, further enforcing the association between being native and dirtiness.)

At times this novel felt a little ridiculous. It was just one horrible thing after another, and by the time you get around to Cheryl killing yourself, you're just sort of like, "Good GOD, are you SERIOUS?!" It was all persuasive enough. It didn't feel exaggerated, but it just felt like so MUCH to happen to one poor soul.

In Search of April Raintree was in my opinion the quickest and most intriguing read we have completed in class thus far. It may have been Culleton's writing style, but I felt that the novel flowed much more smoothly and the details were much more to the point than in the other novels that we have read. Just because it was a quick and interesting read does not take away from the more subliminal and hidden meanings of the book, however. Throughout the last couple of classes we picked apart the book chapter by chapter, and it wasn't until we picked out small parts that showed hidden character meaning that I realized the read was a bit quicker than I should have completed.
Some of the details surprised me at first, but now I see that they were necessary in order for the author to get all of her points across. The rape scene, for example, contained language and details that would never be acceptable to read at the middle school level (and is thus why a second, more PG rated version of the book was created).
Spending a full two classes (6 hours) on analyzing the book, I think that we covered all major concepts and details worth taking second looks at. One questions that has plagued me, however, as well as my two group members before break when we met in small groups, was what happens next? We see the novel come to a close with April in charge of Cheryl's baby and a new man in her life, but if a sequel were to be written, what would it contain?
Obviously, as almost everyone else mentioned, the rape scene was very dramatic and touching because it was so graphic and had such an effect on our view of the book and April for a variety of reasons. The role of Bob, however, also plays an important role in my opinion. He is only in the book for a short period of time, but April's marriage to Bob signifies lost hope. She thought that she would be so happy for the rest of her days, but was led astray, as most if not all Native women are when they get involved with white men in the books that we have read in class. She ends up more financially secure after the marriage than she was before, but the fact that her love of Bob and vice versa was not to remain permanent is a prime example of how Native women are used and not completely respected in white society (as well as individual scenes throughout their marriage, such as the Christmas party, etc.).

At first, Raintree seemed like a boring and emotionless novel that was simply presenting the facts. But, after reading Helen Hoy's essay on the subject, my views were changed. It's a realist novel that was trying to get it's point across to a broad audience which i think in itself is a great way to form a novel because so many more can read and take in what the novel is trying to get across, in this case, the plight of the native in Canada or in most places for that matter, today. Also, in her straightforward manner of telling the story, she impressed this idea that her experience is not uncommon in today's world and in fact commoneplace. Just look at the statistics given in Perrault's essay on the subject and the startiling numbers of alchol abuse, sexual abuse, drug abuse and so on. To another end, i liked how Hoy talked about the student who didn't even want to finish the book because of it's dry manner because it reminds me of many english majors i have had classes with and even in our own class who some how seem to think their above this, to some degree, nihilistic artistic approach to storytelling. But, ultimately, the book has reached wide audiences and so the author as achieved her goal.

I loved this novel and it is definitely my favorite thus far - no matter what people say about it being too simple and predictable!! :) I felt the biggest connection with this novel, particularly I think because of the female perspective. Not to say that I relate to every book written by a female, or that I have any ofthe same experiences as this narrator, but this writing style in particular was easy for me to attach to. Some found the 'style' boring but I thought, although it was simplistic writing with little 'depth,' I think what it lacked in 'literary depth' it made up for in intense emotional description and honesty. The intense emotion of the book may just be noticed from my point of view, but I think the honesty and clarity of the novel is a very important element. Nothing is really left unsaid here (aside from a few little things), nothing's really hidden behind fancy surrealistic writing or flashbacks, and I personally prefer that when reading. I know literature SHOULD challenge you, but honestly, a book like this is just so much more enjoyable to sit back and read. but back to the characters - I found that I related to April much more than Cheryl, even though Cheryl sort of seems like the reasonable one hroughout her youth, I still fel tmore of a connection with April.Maybe it's just the self-consciousness coming out of myself as I read it. I feel like, even though my issue wouldn't be being Metis, I would feel exactly the way she is feeling when faced with situations like that. Cheryl being the strong-willed, dynamic sister who you always look up to in a way, but also frown upon since you know yourself that you can never feel/act the way she does. I thought it was very 'real' writing and I think her diary-like style is very intriguing (sort of like a Go Ask Alice type thing).

I guess the ending, in a way, surprised me, with Cheryl committing suicide and all. As her life starts to crumble it seems like she could be on that road, but from the beginning, I had no idea that the book would take such an unexpected/ironic turn of events. April, starting off hating her metis heritage and having the horrible foster home, rape, bad marriage, etc., ends up embracing her culture and finding a life that's more stable. Cheryl, who starts out confident and proud of her culture, ends up crumbling down into the "Native girl syndrome." It was pretty depressing to read , really, because it makes me think about how many other Native girls probably go through the same things. Not only Native girls, but other races as well including Caucasion. The scene which I found to be the most intense and interesting was the scene towards the end right before Cheryl takes off and commits suicide is the fight that she and April have in the kitchen/living room. So many strong words are thrown back and forth between the two, and a lot of honesty is revealed between both of them which finally gives it some closure.
It got me thinking about whether it's better to be head-strong in your beliefs and sort of have an "ignorance is bliss" attitude about the bad parts of your heritage (i.e. parents drinking) or if it's better to shut that all out of your mind and move on, knowing the truth about your painful past yet suppressing your heritage as well. Who knows who will end up better.

I liked this book a lot although it was not my favorite (Kiss of the Fur Queen holds that title). I understand the purpose for the book and why Beatrice Culleton Mosionier used the writing and narrative style she did. She wanted a book that was purposely straight forward and in that respect she was very successful. The character development was linear and complimented the development of the book and the message that she wanted the reader to get from it. April, a self-hating Cree, overcomes her prejudices and misconceptions (or begins to) in order to accept herself and her culture. This growth is brought on by misery via the rape and her sister's suicide.

With that being said, there were also many themes that were not easy to comprehend, especially if one see the book as an easy, almost simple, read. I found the archetype of water/liquid to be the most pertinent in the book. It was surprisingly complex and whether or not the author intended it to be is irrelevant for the purpose of personal understanding. I see five types of liquids that were central to the theme: alcohol, blood,semen, urine, water/rain. The first is obvious because alcoholism is an important factor to the destruction of April's loved ones. Blood is a theme that permeates the text beginning with April's disdain of her own blood (heritage) to gradual acceptance and even love of it. One can also see the alcohol as the agent that has tainted the blood of the Native people, turning them into violent "gutter creatures." There is a scene at the end of the book when April picks up a bottle of alcohol in Cheryl's room and destroys it stating, "I hate you for what you've done to my sister! I hate you for what you've done to my parents! I hate you for what you've done to my people!" (213). Semen and urine is connected because they both have to do with April's rape and degradation. Her obsession with urine as somehow being connected o the filth of the Native people is also interesting and deserves more attention than I am giving it here. Finally the theme of water/rain is perhaps the most important. Water is archetypal of birth, life, and rebirth and it acts the part in this book. The reader sees two main examples. The suicide of April's mother and the scene of April's suicide. The former is a depiction of a woman who cannot bear to live the life she is leading and therefore chooses to pass on. This explanation can be said for the latter as well but there is something more important about Cheryl's suicide which I believe to be central to the meaning of the book. This is why I choose this scene to be the most important in the book. Cheryl's death carries the same meaning as her mother's but it also signifies April's rebirth or one can argue initial birth into her true being. The rain and the river below purifies her allowing April to carry away her hatred and malice in order to finally accept her family and herself. What follows is a more understanding and sympathetic April. It is also important because it is in that scene that April states that Cheryl is her sister, out loud and more importantly to a white stranger. She was not ashamed that her sister was obviously a half-breed in that moment (and one cane believe afterwards). "She was my sister, mister" (208). This , I believe, is the most important phrase in the book.

As for questions, the character of Roger bothers me a lot but I feel that we are going to discuss him next class.

I found this book a lot easier to read then "The Kiss of the Fur Queen". It was more straight forward, I did no re-reading for comprehension. That being said, I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much. It kind of rolled out in a manner that was expectable. That's not really a bad thing, especially after I learned that it's used in many high school classes, but it does make for a different sort of read. I admit that I was more engaged in this book, maybe because I felt that I understood it more.
I was really surprised by the rape scene. Nothing was held back in detail, which helped me as a reader... the graphicness seemed gutsy, and in a good way... I've read novels where the characters have been raped before, but I found that the actual event was kind of glossed over. In this book the event doesn't seem glossed over, however April's feelings afterwards seem slightly under-stressed.
I was surprised by the ending. It seemed like a lot to handle, sister's death, finding out about child. It made it more clear to me that some kinds of pain aren't bearable. That although Cheryl had so much to live for the pain of her life overcame the good. Which might make me feel a little angry.
Anyway, overall interesting book. Straight forward with a clear message.

Seeing as I am a little late in writing my response, I found everyone else’s responses to be really interesting. In particular, I noticed that collectively, the majority of the guys in the class felt that In Search of April Raintree was simplistic and lacked depth and the majority of the girls really enjoyed the novel. This pattern seems pretty realistic to me. I really enjoyed reading the novel because of its simplicity and the way in which the story was told. Throughout the book, I felt more and more connected to each of the characters as time passed which helped me to really dive into their life events. I found there to be a lot of significant and interesting scenes in the novel but the contrast between April and Cheryl is what really intrigued me. There are so many different aspects of life that different between the two communities: the people, atmosphere, materialistic possessions, traditions, etc. The way Culleton Mosioner chose to symbolize this theme through the two characters really helped to increase the complexity of the novel.

In Search of April Raintree was a very quick and powerful book, though I agree with many other peoples opinions that it was a little over-the-top in terms of the terrible things which happen to the Metis sisters. I understand Cullenton's objective to point out numerous aspects of First Nations people tragic history, but it did seem at times like she was trying to squish too much into one book. This is apparent from the beginning, when April and Cheryl's characters begin to turn into blatantly stereotypical, pro- and anti- First Nations heritage.
That being said, I think it was a very emotional story which quickly pulled me in and captivated me. It is a well written story packed with emotion. Cullenton words seemed honest and straightforward, and at times made me forget it was fictional.
I think a there is a lot of depth in the situations and characters in Search, but because the book seems so simple at a distance, you have to really look into it. Reading the essays gave me a new perspective on character development, sibling relationships, and a closer look at the rape scene. The rape scene is so shocking at first i was inclined to just say, thats so terrible I cant imagine going through that. But by looking back at it (as well as the essay) shed new light on things like the symbols of urine and vomiting, and Aprils transformation after being raped as Cheryl.
I was also somewhat shocked by the suicide at the end. The books seemed to be so sad throughout I thought Cullenton might create a happy ending. I think her decision to include a suicide was because it is one of tragedies in the First Nations community that she has experienced first hand.

I rarely sit down and read books straight through but I felt compelled to do so with this book. I kept reading because I kept thinking that maybe in the next chapter, something will go right for April. Her constant struggle with her parents, foster homes, marraige, racial stereotypes, rape and her passionate sister reveals an acknowledgement of identity and acceptance for April.
I was surprised at the quick decline of Cheryl. A once proud and passionate native woman who falls victem to the "syndrome" that she has tried to help others with. The reader realizes April's struggle does not compare to Cheryl's battle to support her father and herself, and her desperation to do the right thing while becoming an alcoholic. I kept wishing that Cheryl would allow April to help her and stop pushing her away, but Cheryl was trying to protect April and cover for the abandonement she had felt with her parents and with April's marriage.
One of the more important scenes was the break of the barrier that April had created with the shame she felt about being Metis. At the airport, when April is honest with her sister and vice versa, there is the exposure of new trust and understanding. It is too bad she did not leave her husband then and go with Cheryl, but then we wouldn't have the other half of the story and the death of Cheryl to convince April not to be ashamed of her heritage.

In Search of April Raintree is an interesting novel. The general style of writing is so simple and subtle, I thought that it was going to be a dull read. However, the story was compelling and captivating, in spite of its simple style. After reading Janice Acoose's essay "The Problem of 'Searching' for April Raintree", certain thoughts about the novel stood out in my mind. Both deal with the idea of the 'native girl syndrome' described to April in the novel. First, what is being said about the syndrome through April and Cheryl? April is so conscious of the concept that she does everything she feels necesary to avoid it. She keeps her noise clean, goes to school, gets a job, marries, etc. Cheryl follows a different path, always challenging the mainstream and trying to embrace her heritage. In the end, she is the poster-girl for the native girl syndrome. It seems to be a dismal message underlying the novel. There is no winning in terms of identity for the Metis in this novel. The background of the girls is ridden with alcoholism and poverty which forces them into foster homes. When April tries to be white, she is made a fool by those she trusted and wanted to be accepted by. When Cheryll tries to immerse into native culture and be a social worker, she becomes what she is trying to stop: a prostitute and a drunk.
The closing lines of the book seem intended to infuse hope, but I read it differently. With April's affirmation of "MY PEOPLE, OUR PEOPLE", it is relieving for her to accept who she is inspite of the fact the world does not have a place for that identity. "All life dies to give new life" (207). This sentence seems to be imbedding hope in April's new identity and Henry Lee, youth who represents hope for the future. But what grounds does he have to stand on? A dominant culture who has a syndrome, a disease, to label the predictiment of native people.

While reading In Search of April Raintree, I found that it related a lot to Thomas King's belief that "stories are all we are." Throughout her life, April is ashamed of being Metis, and constantly relates her shame to those around her. To her, marrying Bob, and in turn becoming rich and independent, even after the divorce, shapes her into the person she longs to become. April's outlook on life and the way she develops her story seems to finally lead to her the conclusion she reaches by the end. I found the end of the novel to be a bit off-putting however, because it seems as though her new found pride for her heritage happens only because of her sister's suicide. While reading, I figured April would develop a new perspective and pride for being Metis with Cheryl's help, but found it sad that it took such drastic measures in order for her to utter the words "my people" for the first time. To me, it seemed very sudden, and made me question how such a transformation was possible in such little time. Overall, I really liked the novel, and I would agree with others in saying that it was a lot more upfront and less confusing. The scene that I found to be most interesting was one near the end when Cheryl drunkenly confronts April. She accuses her of being hypocritical, and did not agree with teh way she lived her life as a part of white society. Cheryl finally reveals that she discovered the truth about their parents, which leaves April with a sense of relief that Cheryl's anger is not fully upon her. After the fight, Cheryl runs off, and is not discovered until it is too late. Her new identity after her sister's death seem to coincide with what Cheryl was telling her. Despite all of the horrible things that had happened to them, April was finally able to accept that it was a part of her, and that she was going to find a better life: for her sister, her parents, and Henry Lee.

I enjoyed “In Search of April Raintree” for two reasons, one being the importance of sisterhood and the issues that surround it. The other reason is for the fact that it shed light on the world of some foster children and the hurdles they must jump over for survival. Once again this book is fiction however, as you ponder the issues that April and Cheryl are forced to experience could very easily happen in today’s foster system. For example, a foster parent could easily act wonderful in front of the social workers and be abusive toward the foster children as soon as his or her superior leaves, like the situation with April and Cheryl.

I found the scene when April tells Roger she loves him fascinating. I know in class many people were frustrated with the fact that her expressing her love to him so close to the end of the book could mean they would end up getting married (even though it does not matter because the book ends), regardless that notion is aggravating for the fact that Roger is among many things manipulative and not good for April. However, I read this scene differently. I thought that April was telling Roger “thank you for everything”(193) for many reasons from helping her find her confidence again as a woman after being raped to trying to help her find her sister, even if he did it ignorantly, like wanting to wait until after “supper.” She told Roger “thank you for everything. I love you,” as a way to say goodbye to Roger forever, and this is why he is symbolically not mentioned again in the book.

In Search of April Raintree was by far my favorite book we've read so far this semester. Maybe I'm just a sucker for tragedy but I absolutely loved this book. At the start of the book (the first few pages) I was apprehensive because I thought it would be a bland family story with the obvious Native themes.. the subsequent chaos of the Raintree family got me hooked because I knew the book wasn't going to be all "sunshine and Jolly Ranchers".

I was enfuriated by the stories of April's time spent with the DeRosiers.. the whole time I wanted April to snap and hit Mrs. DeRosier in the face with a frying pan. Such blatant racism, ignorance and cruelty is just appalling. And the fact that no one would believe her was just as disturbing. I was relieved when Mr. Wendell came and rescued her, but disappointed that we never got a follow-up story about Mrs. DeRosier or Maggie or that other little bastard, I would have really liked to have had them get into a car accident or get mugged and tortured. Actually that's not true. Well, it is. But the optimal scenario would be for April to be able to tell them exactly HOW undeserving of life they are, and then to execute the three of them herself.

The most interesting scene, or at least the one I found to be the most moving, was the verbal (and physical) confrontation between April and Cheryl when Cheryl was drunk and said all those harsh and disturbing things and winds up hitting April in the face.

In class a number of people had mentioned how much they disliked Roger, and how they didn't understand his character. Personally I liked him and thought he was a good character. He seemed to have a background or general knowledge of Psychology (which is my major and thus a huge topic of interest). He helped April by talking her through her problems, with Cheryl, with the rape, with her half-Metis identity. I think some people don't like Roger because of the sort-of harsh or direct nature in which he speaks. Sometimes it seemed like he was being mean, when in reality he was telling April what she needed to hear, and most of his advice was spot-on. He showed compassion by seeing her through the hunt for Cheryl. Yes he lied to her about his brother, but he did so with good intentions, (so it would be like he had some credibility and therefore justified to have an opinion on the matter), and thus would take his advice (which was the CORRECT advice) to be happy about who you are. Granted, Roger is a little shady, but he clearly cares for April in a genuine and respectable way. He's not just some prick trying to get into her pants. Give Roger a break!

Despite the opinion of the class that the novel was written in a somewhat “simplistic” way—one dimensional characters, predictable tension between the sisters, etc—I really enjoyed the way this book was written. Hearing April’s first person narrative, especially in the first chapter, left me with the knowledge that things would get better for her even as I worked my way through such a depressing novel. It’s hopeful, yes, at the end, but getting through the scenes of her childhood in an abusive foster home, the lose of any native identity she had, and her rape were especially difficult. Although the rape is probably considered the most important scene of the novel, for me the turning point was at the scene of Cheryl’s suicide where April said “She was my sister, mister.” The lose of identity she went through as a child in foster care started to come back, and with the discovery of Cheryl’s diary and son, April was able to move forward in her life. Overall I liked the book, though there were times it made me too upset to read it.

"In Search of April Raintree," at first, seemed to me to be less interesting than the other books we've read thus far, but as I got further into it, I realized it to be perhaps one of the most interesting in a certain way.

While it appears to be written "simply" as many others have mentioned, and I would agree with in a certain sense, I believe that there is a much deeper complexity that lies within the overall plot that I believe this simple style makes clearer and more easy to understand.

I was surprised by how shallow April's character appears to be for so long, and simultaneously by her distaste for her sister's pride in their native heritage. But this shallowness also seems to emphasize a larger reality; after Cheryl committs suicide, April is left alone to realize the true identity she has denied for so long.

The scene of April's rape I believe is one of the most important and significant for a few reasons; firstly, it displays so many insecurities April has, ex: when she realizes that Cheryl had formerly been a prostitute, this seems almost more disturbing to her than the fact of the rape itself. ex2: during the rape itself, one of the things April is most disturbed by is the fact that her attackers recognize her as native. But another reason this scene is so significant is in the way it has been edited and watered down over time. This fact exposes a certain insecurity in the author herself; why, after writing something so raw and powerful, would they decide to trim it down to make it more "politically correct" ?

In conclusion, I definitely warmed up to this book the more of it I read. I felt, myself, a sense of despair over the seemingly endless troubles April and Cheryl endure, and I am reminded of how grateful we should all be for the simple freedoms and priveleges many of us enjoy that many others do not.

I thought that In Search of April Raintree was a different type of novel in regards to the others we have read for the class. Although it dealt with many of the same topics such as suicide, the mistreatment of native peoples, and so on, it did so in a manner which was more straight forward and linear. I think it was this linear telling of the novel, one which was more grounded in reality then any of the books we had read previously, which made its impact clear. At times the characters did seem to be “cookie cutter” in their descriptions and actions, but in some ways this only heightened Mosonier’s ability to allow her point to come across more clearly. By putting a fictitious spin, rather then writing the novel as a memoir she was able to dwell into topics with more detail and substance then she otherwise would have. The most important scene of the novel, in my opinion, is the ending when after all the hardship she enduresp April finally accepts the Métis culture as her own.

I really liked In Search of April Raintree and was actually quite surprised of what people in class thought about it. From what I gathered, people thought that much of the story was kind of contrived (I am thinking particularly of the bull scene with Cheryl) and that the characters were paper cut-outs. I tend to disagree with this view and I really appreciated the simplistic, story-telling-like way in which it was written. Although I agree that April was ultimately a really shallow character, the way in which it was presented that she finally embraced her Nativeness was powerful and convincing. It wasn't that unrealistsic, given the context and set of circulmstances, that April wanted to embrace white culture more than her own. In fact, many demographics are embarrassed of their heritage, be they Italian, African, Irish or whatever. Historically this is a cultural normalcy that was presented very prevalantly throughout the book.
The scenes that really had a profound impact for me were ones in which Cheryl and April had gotten their hair forcibly cut off. In this way, the scenes served as sort of a prelude to the eventual rape of April towards the latter end of the novel. It also seems that in many cultures, the importance of hair (as it corresponds to representing an indigenous culture) is profound. Although I don't mean to trivialize this facet by bringing up a Hollywood movie reference (and one starring Tom Cruise no less), the hair cutting scenes reminded me of images from The Last Samurai. Namely, one scene in which a Japanese rebel is shown getting his long hair removed by an American soldier. The scene is very painful and sad to watch and shows how the cutting of the Japanese man's hair became a loss of identity, much the way it did for April and Cheryl. This facet of Native life occurred also in some of the other stories we have read. To me, this aspect of hair removal as a vehicle for a recognition of cultural identity has been a recurring theme in the class thus far.

I agree with what has been posted and discussed in class with the lack of apparent emotion from April’s character. But what I believe is that this purposeful tact further shows the coping mechanism that April chose. Both her and Cheryl deal with there past in two completely different ways. This brings the following questions to mind: Is the lie more beneficial than the truth? And which of the sisters’ coping mechanism worked best? I think to answer the first question, we must go back to King’s premise that “the truth about stories, is that that is all we are.” By creating lies and stories, April is able to make herself a different person. It allows her to not have to deal with her issues on the surface. But it ends up getting buried. As noted on page 91 “I would not go out of my way for a long, long time to try and find the parents who had abandoned Cheryl and me—all for a bottle of booze.” Her sister Cheryl attempts to deal with her past and present, but turns out that this also, is too hard. Again, whose attempts to deal with the past worked best? I think the only ones to answer that would be April and Cheryl. Nonetheless, I believe they do not know either.

Although, this novel lacked depth and the characters lacked dimension I did enjoy reading it to some degree. I do understand why this novel had often been read by high school students, since it had a rather straight foward plot and storyline and it was an easy read. Both April and Cheryl's charcters were predictible most of the way through the book. It seemed as though Cheryl and April's characters were products of their different upbringings in the foster homes they were sent to. However, it was shocking when Cheryl's rather turned from a smart, postive, compassionate person who was proud of her Metis heritage to a suicidal, alcoholic and prostitute. This was again a product of her background, however in this case it was a result of finding out the truth about her family. The rape scene was extremely disturbing, but I don't think the book would have benefited from taking that scene out. Understanding the brutality of the rape and the abuse towards native women was important to the novel. Although, this book lacked the depth of Kiss of the Fur Queen, or any of the other novels we have read, this straight forward account of the Raintree sister's lives did delve into some of the major issues that Natives have to deal with in a white dominated world. The central themes of alcoholism, abuse towards women, and racism were all imporant to the plot, and they are all common themes in Native writing.

Though April Raintree was not my favorite book covered in class this semester, I definitely appreciated many of its aspects especially the drive toward activism that it was meant to invoke in its readers. The fact that the novel was written by an activist, and not a novelist was definitely apparent in both positive and negative ways. As many people have pointed out, the artlessness of the language and contrived characters lessened my overall enjoyment of the text itself. However, I felt that the characters were tools for a greater cultural mechanism, one that was meant simply to show extremes so that the unfamiliar reader would be able to draw a conclusion on the issue of native Canadian treatment as a whole. One of the most interesting scenes, I felt, was the hair cutting scene because it was symbolic of the degrading actions imposed on young native children torn from their reserves. The way that April was willing to stand up to her foster mother in defense of Cheryl also showed the deep ties the sisters had to each other even though, as the novel progressed, those ties sunk below the surface due to societal pressures. Overall, I felt that April Raintree was a hard-hitting novel in its simplicity, that could have only slightly been improved with more depth of character and language. However, I felt that Culleton achieved her goal of portraying the horrors and pain that natives and Metis faced in the dominant culture.

I have enjoyed April Raintree a lot because of the straight forward and seemingly simplistic style and plot. The reason I enjoy this is that it provides a huge change from what I usually expect from novels. While a flowery or abstract or exceedingly “stylish” novel often offers numerous theoretical options floating from it’s ambiguities, April Raintree doesn’t provide much in the way of loose ends or intellectual bait. Thus, it forced me to attempt and be more creative in the way in which I interpreted it. I would like to say that I ultimately came up with a creative way of looking at it. Instead, I came to see it’s simplicity as resulting directly from it’s purpose–-a social commentary; viewing it through the framework I recently learned in my sociology class, it seems like a perfect demonstration of the ideas of projective self-fulfilling prophecies, internalization, and other aspects of internal colonization.

In the book, I found the scene where the social worker told the girls about the “native girl syndrome.” I found this significant first of all because the girls repeated references to the idea demonstrate that it greatly affected their psyche’s. It represents a form of a projective self-fulfilling prophecy. In this, the dominant society provides a negative stereotype. By exercising the power to make the girls orphans, and separating them from each other, a situation was created quite conducive to fulfilling the native girl syndrome. Furthermore, the fact that nobody listened to their claims regarding child abuse further reinforced this. I think much of April’s desire to distance herself from Native culture resulted from this stereotype. Furthermore, I think Cheryl’s initial embrace of Native culture was the result of positive encouragement to do so by her foster parents, which led her to see the “native girl syndrome” as a lie. But, when she ultimately found out that her parents were drunks, and a lot of what she thought was true about herself and her family was shattered, she ultimately conformed to the stereotype. Thus, I found that scene to be a major thematic element of the book.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I initially felt that I hated it, I did not like the way it was written, I didn't agree with the actions of the main character, and i disagreed with some choices made by the author. Our class discussions definitely helped me to put my feelings in perspective and to appreciate the book for what it is and what it has done as a widely read novel about issues surrounding native peoples. I judged April a lot while I was reading the novel. I did not like the way she was so eager for wealth and to deny her metis heritage to the point of losing contact with her sister. She is quick to judge her parents for their alcoholism and assumes that they did not care about her and her sister. In class I realized that we are meant to be critical of April, while understanding why she feels the way that she does. I found the rape scene to be extremely disturbing, probably the most disturbing scene I have ever read in a novel. I appreciate Culleton's honesty in this scene, yet I did not like the way that the novel progressed afterwards with April's boyfriend telling her that she needed to get over it and get on with her life. I wish that the subject had been dealt with a bit more sensitively. I think that the scene where April finds out that it was supposed to be her sister that was raped instead of her to be very interesting. I could not believe that April would, while not exactly wishing rape upon her sister, blame her sister for something that should not happen to anybody, prostitute or not. I am very critical of this book, nonetheless I am glad to have read it. It got me thinking about a lot of important issues.

I agree with many of my classmates who noted that "In Search of April Raintree" was refreshingly straightforward in its narrative. Although I enjoyed that type of book, especially after "Kiss of the Fur Queen", the first person became a little boring, repetitive, and simple. While I thought the plot and conflicts were interesting (especially her early childhood), the affect from a simple linear narrative wasnt as forceful as it could have been. With that said, both April and Cheryl were well developed and mostly convincing and their dynamic relationship was intriguing. I found the scene of the funeral to be an interesting display of how one person can positively affect so many people without really realizing it. The tragic part of the story is that because of her own ideality and April’s prejudiced views, Cheryl’s very positive and once meaningful life (as evidenced by the funeral) was turned upside down.

This was a most depressing book. I felt very deeply for the characters in it, especially April. The type of living situation that they endure and the constant abuse and cultural racism is astounding. It amazes me that either of the characters made it as far as they did. April trying to distance herself from her native culture is a very real thing. A young girl her age just fighting to assimilate will do mostly anything to achieve that goal. But April tries to achieve this goal in the most materialistic and false ways. It ends up teaching her that in fact there is no way to change who you are, you have to learn to be happy with your past and cope with your future. Cheryl eventually falls into the category she tries to fight all throughout the book, the stereotypical native. It is sad in a lot of ways, but also I think it is an awakening to both of them that what they are is not bad at all it is actually quite beautiful.

Here I am, catching up on blogs at the end of April. It doesn't do much for the discussion aspect, but it has to be done anyway. Anyhow, I agree with what many have said. This novel caught me off guard at first, because after reading The Truth About Stories, Kiss of the Fur Queen, and even Ravensong, I had become used to a sort of surreal, dreamlike style of writing--at least part of every book we'd read up to this point has possessed these qualities to an extent--and April Raintree was SO different. Because of this difference, it felt like the author was addressing some incredibly complex and disturbing things in a detached, emotionless way--the rape scene (I know, everyone has talked about this scene) especially. It was such a difficult section to read because of its unflinching bluntness, and I will certainly never forget it. But looking back, I actually feel now that the style of writing is better in this context--that is, I think the things that go on in this book, so many of which are traumatic, sort of have to be dealt with head on. The book isn't as much about the things we (or at least I) associated with Native authors (tradition, stories, etc). It is about race, and the clash of cultures, and abandonment and sorrow and harsh reality. In the face of things like this, I think this straightforward style is really the most appropriate.

I have read through many of the other posts on the site and I must agree with many of them that the first reaction to the book is extremely negative. I began reading and was taken aback at the attitude of April towards her native heritage. In many of the books we have read we see that the characters may be confused about their heritage and not completely understand where they come from but April has views that are so against her Metis tradition. Her attitude of her parents and their alchoholism is a tough subject. Alcoholism has struck my family and I know that it is difficult to deal with. This part of the book was extremely interesting to me and really showed the different reactions that people can have to the effect of alcoholism on their lives. Her disillusionment with the love that her parents really has for her seems to be such a immature way to deal with the problem but in essence it is completely natural and she does not understand the addiction. It is difficult to read "In search of April Raintree" because we are presented with a negative view on native heritage and people and it is hard to always be throwing out that view and looking at it in an unreliable way.

I think one of the most important scenes is definitely when the social worker talks about this mythological "native girl syndrome." She instills in the girls an idea that seems to change them, however, in opposite ways. I think it was a bad idea for the social worker to tell the girls about it becuase it made April feel ashamed of her people, and it probably was the stem of how Cheryl turned into this stereotype. April spends the rest of the novel, up until the end, trying to appear, and turn believe that she is white. She marries a white man, she gets a job with a bunch of other white girls as a receptionist and she lives with them in order to blend in. All she wants to do is blend in and be recognized as anything but Native. Cheryl, on the other hand, begins to drink, she becomes permiscuous, and she falls into a slump of depression and self-disrepsect. I think that, although they would be aware of this stereotype, it wouldnt be so ingrained in them as a possible or likely future, if the social worker hadn't given them the idea at such a young age that this might be their destiny.

i'm sad to say, like many i assume, i'm addressing this topic a bit late. right of the bat i'd like to say that the "artlessness" (as one of the critical pieces in the back describes it) of the novel's structure and narrative is essential to the point Culleton-Mosioner was trying to make. it's a novel of social activism, not of metaphorical expression of personal emotion in a poetic way. though we've already concluded that as a class i'd say.

i think one of the most crucial aspects of april raintree is the fact of april's intentional crafting of cheryl's memories- blanking out the bad ones and reinforcing the good- which led to a devastating realization. i think that this is a comment on the intention of the novel; no one should be left in the dark about what has happened to native people and what happens to them today.

After reading many of the post, I would have to agree with the few who said that they really liked the book. At times, I too was a little thrown off by April's intense dislike for her heritage, but felt that the book discussed a lot of issues that surround the First Nations people, which I found to be very interesting. In specific, I really liked how the characters of April and Cheryl were portrayed as such polar opposites, displaying both ends of the spectrum of what growing up with their life lead to. I would agree with Jeremy in his earlier posting when he said that he may just be "a sucker for tragedy," but I found the issues that is raised to be really interesting.

I think this book was very interesting and had a good amount of action that kept me reading. I was suprised how much April disliked her heritage considering how much her sister was involved in it and how close they were. It was weird how as they became further and further apart April wanted more and more to be involved and learn about the history of where she came from.

One of the questions that i had was why April and Cheryl lied to each other about their lives when they were apart? And why April stopped writing to Cheryl when they were put into separate foster homes?

One of the most important scenes to me in this novel was when April went to pick up Cheryl's stuff from her house and she ended up getting raped. It seems pretty obvious that scene was very important but it really changed the lives of April and Cheryl.

Despite the criticisms that I heard from many people in class about this book, I actually enjoyed it. Yes was simplistic in being straight forward, and sure the character development wasn't quite as deep as it was in Kiss of the Fur Queen, but I still feel that the motives of the main characters was relatively accurate and consistent. I do think this is where some of the secondary characters fall short. It sympathized with Cheryl's consistent efforts to rise above the stereotypes of the Indians people and was disappointed to see her ending up as a statistic. When she went missing it absolutely kept me on the edge of my seat. I do agree with Roger being a very unlikeable person and I wonder why Beatrice Culleton Mosionier wrote him to be the character to help April past her troubles with the rape. The most disturbing scene was the rape, I felt that it was much worse then the scenes in Kiss of the Fur Queen of the priest molesting Gabrielle. In Fur Queen, these scenes were some what sugar coated (for lack of a better term) with the fantasy style wording. In April Raintree the scene is presented with more graphic imagery, instilling more desperation, for a longer time. Although this is the most disturbing scene in the book, I don't feel that it is the most important. I think that the most important scene in the book was the argument right before Cheryl went missing. It was the most important because it gave the characters a chance to air out their feelings and it gave us a view into the thoughts behind Cheryl's actions. It also serves as a tipping point since she disappears after.

I thought that In Search of April Raintree was a successful social commentary revealing the perils and consequences of drug addiction. Mosionier does an excellent job at portraying Cheryl raintree, a confused and uncontrollable alcoholic. My favorite scene of the novel is the final fight between Cheryl and April. Cheryl is heavily intoxicated and hits April before leaving the house and eventually committing suicide. I thought that this was a very accurate description of addiction and the costs and daangers that one suffers as an addict. Mosionier brings a critical element of social realism into her novel which makes her story very credible. Although the story is not autbiographical it is obvious from her writing that Mosionier has had experience with drug and alcohol addiction. She does a great job at creating a believeable chain of events to demonstrate the destruction that addiction causes.

I agree with a the first comment, i found this book easier to read then the previous ones. This is due to the lack of deep mythology and more linear formatt as aposed to "The Truth about Stories" for example. I found the dynamics between Cherly and April to be the most intersting part about this book. They are two people that i feel would not be friends unless they were sisters due to thier vast differences. Yet they are important to one another because they are all the family they have left. I also found this book interesting because it was written from a metis perspective rather than a full blood native american standpoint. I think this allows for a deeper understanding of what seperates Native and Western cultures. It was very interseting to watch April and Cherly's struggles in search for identity, between Native American and White culture.

I think that with a close look the introduction to this book is very important. As April talks about memories and how hard revisitng them can be, the reader already understands alot about her as a character. The intro essentially forshadows the tone of this book.

This Novel is great for me. I would like to buy thia book for my own. For me, April Riantree novel is unforgetable.

Respectfulyy,
Ning Kee
from, Ottawa

April Raintree: A life of Racism
By: Kyra Komarniski

Has racism ever hurt you so bad you wished your parents never had you? Or wished you could change your heritage? April Raintree, main character of the novel April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton ,wished she could change her Métis heritage or the spelling of her last name, Raintree, so it would seem less native. Why? Racism and stereo-types, but most of all because of ignorant people. Read on and you will see just how bad the racism got.

“There where two different groups of children that went to the park. One group was brown-skinned children who looked like Cheryl in most ways. Some of them even came over to our house with their parents. But they were dirty-looking and they dressed in real raggedy cloths. I didn’t care to play with them at all. The other group was fair-skinned and I envied them especially the girls with blonde hair and blue eyes. They seemed so clean and fresh, and reminded me of flowers. Once I was up close to one to one as she was busily putting me down. I could smell the crisp newness of her cotton dress and it made me think of one of those quant little houses in my book where the front door could open on top like a window and the home was surrounded by hedges and flowers and neatly kept lawns.
Some of them were freckled but they didn’t seem to mind. To me, I imagined they were very rich and lived in big, beautiful houses. I wondered what their lives were like and I wished we could play with them. But they didn’t care to play with Cheryl and me. They just called us names and bullied us.”
At the early age of six April experienced racism as the quote above can tell you. Horrible isn’t it? Well the racism didn’t stop here. After a while the girls were taken from there home because their parents couldn’t take care of them anymore. Taking kids away from their parents forever because they can’t take care of them isn’t right. They should teach them how to take care of their kids not punish them be cause they were never taught how to do so.

Anyways, later when April was moved into her second foster home the racism went up to a whole different level.
“The school bus comes at eight. You will get up at six, go to the hen house and bring back the eggs. While I prepare breakfast, you will wash the eggs. After breakfast, you will do the dishes. After school, you’ll have more chores to do, then you will help me prepare the supper. After you do the supper dishes, you will go to your room and stay there. You’ll also keep yourself and the room clean. I know you half-breeds, you love to wallow in filth.”
“The boy” Ricky “said to Mrs.DeRosier, ‘Is that the new half-breed girl we’re getting? She doesn’t look like the last squaw we had’ ’’

After April had done all the dishes Maggie, the daughter, had said,
“‘You’re not finished,’ Maggie said in a bossy tone. ‘You didn’t even sweep the floor. I heard you half-breeds were dirty but now I can see it’s true.’”

How can they say that? They don’t even know anything but stereotypes about the native and Métis people.

Through out their time living with the DeRosiers, April and Cheryl (Cheryl being the younger sister who had been moved into the DeRosiers home on a later date) had faced many accounts of racism but there is only one more I am going to mention and it is one with Mrs. Semple, April’s social worker.
“Than Mrs. Semple gave us a little speech about what she called native girl syndrome.
‘…and you girls are headed in that direction. It starts out with the fighting, the running away, the lies. Next come the accusations that everyone in the world is against you. There are the sullen unco-oporated silences, the feeling sorry for yourselves. And when you’re out on your own, you get pregnant right away or can’t find or keep jobs. So you’ll start with alchohal and drugs. From there, you get into shoplifting and prostitution and in and out of jails. You’ll live with men who abuse you. And on it goes. You’ll end up like your parents, living off society. In both your cases, it would be a pity because Miss Turner and I knew you both when you were little. And you both were remarkable, well behaved youngsters. Now, you’re going the same route as many other native girls. If you don’t smarten up, you’ll end up in the same place. Skid row.’”

Stereotypes suck. Personally I can’t help but feeling offended because I’m Métis. Sure some native girls probably turn out like that, but its only because they weren’t treated right by others growing up.

April’s life was filled with more terrible acts of racism, but I will only bring up a few more details, starting with her marriage to Bob.
“ After praising all these people to Cheryl, some came out with the most patronizing remarks.
‘Oh I’ve read about Indians. Beautiful people they are. But you’re not exacticly Indians are you? What is the proper word for people like you?’ one asked.
‘Women.’ Cheryl replied instantly.
‘No, no , I mean nationality?’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. We’re Canadians.’ Cheryl smiled sweetly.”

I think Cheryl replied that question very well. Personally I don’t think that person meant to sound racist but it kind of did. Okay Quote number 2

“ ‘Didn’t you notice her sister? They’re Indians, Heather. Well, not Indians but half-breeds which is almost the same. And they’re not half-sisters. They have the same father and the same mother. That’s the trouble with mixed races. You never know how they’re going to turn out. And I would simply dread being grandmother to a bunch of snivelling little half-breeds! The only reason I can think of why bob married her after knowing what she was, was simply to get back at me. This has been on my mind ever since the first time I saw her sister.’”

How nasty. The way mother Radcliffe had acted was unacceptable and totally racist.

April’s life was much worse after this point but I can’t bring myself to continue telling you these horrible things. So to conclude the racism in April’s life was bad and I wish that didn’t happen to anyone, but sadly everyone faces even a little bit of racism at one time or anther. I am willing to admit that I to have been a little bit racist in my short life

This sounds like a really good book after reading all of the comments - thanks for introducing me to a new one to check out from the library :)

This isn't something I would normally read but I gave it a go, and was stunned.
Truly a powerful piece, and one I'll be recommedning with some caution though.