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by David Starr (Author)
When an Indigenous group demands that the local school's name be changed, AJ delves into his family's history--and the town's.
AJ's family has been in this town from the very beginning, they created the mill that employs most of the town's workers, and his great-grandfather, "Hatchet" Harold Sullivan, served as the town's first mayor. Even the high school is named after him. But when the local Indigenous nation, Big River First Nation, demands Harold's name be removed from the high school, along with his statue, tensions begin to run high. Huge rifts are formed in the community, mainly between the locals and the Big River kids.
Now at odds, AJ and his former best friend Jackson, the son of the Big River chief, are locked in tense confrontation. When the statue is vandalized, the final straw breaks, and AJ and Jackson trade blows, getting them both suspended and on notice. Determined to get to the bottom of these accusations and guided by his grandmother, AJ digs through the past and discovers a series of horrifying truths about Hatchet Harold's racist actions. Defying the pressures of his father and with the help of Jackson, AJ brings the truth of the past into the present and sets the town on a path toward healing.
