Description
The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel is a 128-page, full colour, adult theme graphic novel. Based on the PhD thesis, Reconciliation, repatriation and reconnection: A framework for building resilience in Canadian Indigenous families, Métis counsellor Patti Laboucane-Benson presents a fictionalized graphic novel that reads as a crime novel. This evidence-based work of creative non-fiction is illustrated by non-Aboriginal graphic artist Kelly Mellings. Pete, a young Aboriginal man wrapped up in gang violence, lives with his younger brother, Joey, and his mother who is a heroin addict. One night, Pete and his mother’s boyfriend, Dennis, get into a big fight, which sends Dennis to the morgue and Pete to jail. Initially, Pete keeps up ties to his crew, until a jail brawl forces him to realize the negative influence he has become on Joey, which encourages him to begin a process of rehabilitation that includes traditional Aboriginal healing circles and ceremonies. The illustrations reflect the overwhelmingly negative content steeped in family violence, sexual assault, gang violence, alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, colonization, and historical trauma resulting in this graphic novel for the mature reader. Author Patti Laboucane-Benson is a Métis woman and the Director of Research, Training, and Communication at Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA). She has a Ph.D. in Human Ecology from the University of Alberta, focusing on Aboriginal Family Resilience. Her doctoral research explored how providing historic trauma healing programs for Aboriginal offenders builds resilience in Aboriginal families and communities. Illustrator Kelly Mellings is an award-winning art director, illustrator, and designer. His work has appeared in comic books, magazines, apps, museum exhibits, and online games. Awarded First place, 2016 Burt Award. The Outside Circle has been selected in the Young Adult/Adult Category Longlist for First Nation Communities READ 2017.