Hi friends and happy Wednesday! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m posting my review of Darrel J. McLeod’s memoir, Mamaskatch.

This book was long-listed for Canada Reads 2024.

Mamaskatch by: Darrel J. McLeod: In the small town of Smith, Alberta, Darrel grew up with his mother and siblings. Growing up on his mother’s stories and Cree culture, he idolized and admired her. This laid the foundation for his love for her and what helped him get through the hardest parts of his life. This memoir took the reader on a journey through the good and bad he had with all of his family and how he’d overcome adversity of the trauma and the societal barriers thrown at him and how it led to the adventurous life he’s led. This was an emotional and at times hard-hitting memoir, full of hope and despair with a lot of story to tell. Just when the reader thought there couldn’t be more to this family, there was more. It was all really interesting and definitely thought-provoking, but for how short this book was, it felt like there was so much content that we only just scratched the surface of everything. It also made this memoir feel over-packed with info and things to keep track of. The reader appreciated and understood that all of it needed to be said and shared, but at times it felt very overwhelming to read it all. Saying that though, this was still very well written and told in a way that was full of hopefulness and optimism, even when it wasn’t always very promising what would come next. The reader really liked reading about the author’s mother and how connected he felt to her, even when it felt like there was no hope left with her, he still used his love for her to push on and continue to be the better person; it was really inspiring to read. In the end, this was heartening story that found a way to be uplifting despite all the tragedy.