A new girl at school. A mysterious crow. Weird visions he can’t explain. Grade 12 just got a lot more complicated for Damon Quinn…
Description
“Your ancestors have called us to help you.”
“I think y'all have the wrong number.”
Damon Quinn just wants to get through his senior year unscathed. His mom struggles with alcohol and is barely coping with the day-to-day. Marcus and his cronies at school are forever causing Damon trouble. The new girl, Journey, won't mind her own business. To make matters worse, now a mysterious crow is following him everywhere. After he is seized by a waking dream in the middle of a busy street, Damon is forced to confront his mom with some hard questions: Why haven't I met my dad? Where did we come from? Who am I?
Damon must look within himself, mend the bond with his mother, and rely on new friends to find the answers he so desperately needs. Travelling through time and space, Damon will have to go back before he can move forward.
Reviews
Dreams: Visions of the Crow is an honest exploration on how the journey forward often begins through an understanding of the past. Damon’s particular challenges shine an important light on past scars that still need to be healed. There’s a beautiful message of breaking the cycle of trauma with patience, empathy and perseverance.
Brenda Hickey, Cartoonist, My Little Pony, Butterfly House
Highly recommend—I read this book in one sitting! In Visions of the Crow, Wanda John-Kehewin and nicole marie burton have created an immersive world, full of pain and struggle, but also love, friendship, and beauty. And the characters living in that world are complex and compelling—I just had to find out what happened to them.
Sarah Leavitt, cartoonist and comics educator
Among BC Book Look Who's Who
BC Book Look
This graphic tale of intersection of the day-to-day, gritty real world and the sometimes intrusive, overwhelming, and hard-to-deal-with vision world is beautifully handled. Fantastic interconnectedness of the various levels of reality explored in the book—consciousness, spirit, family, society, history—with a hopefulness for the future.
Ian Perry, Educator
Among Publishers Weekly Forthcoming Children’s & YA Books by Indigenous Authors picks
Publishers Weekly
From its narrative to the vivid illustrations from artist nicole marie burton...Visions of the Crow is a sensitive blending of hard truths and magical realism.
Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun
John-Kehewin hopes that Indigenous youth and adult readers will draw from Damon’s spiritual journey. As a former employee with the Ministry of Children and Families, John-Kehewin is aware that although Indigenous youth and children may have their physical needs met, they don’t often have their emotional and spiritual needs met. She hopes Dreams: Visions of the Crow will help with that.
For non-Indigenous readers, she wants them to go beyond the stereotypes and understand that Damon’s mother’s alcoholism is “the residual effects of the residential schools and history itself."
Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
A vibrant and awe-inspiring journey of self-discovery....Definitely a series to watch [that] will be a great help for teens to understand the...history and culture of the Canadian [First Peoples] and their struggles today.
Grace Rosa, NY Public Library
Grab your copy.
Comics Beat
An important story.
Kirkus Review
[An] intriguing coming-of-age story. Recommended.
Ann Ketcheson, CM Association
This story, based on the experiences of the author, examines how Indigenous cultural connection can be a pathway towards healing from the lasting impacts of residential schools and intergenerational trauma.
49th Kids, Top Grade CanLit for the Classroom
Among Book Riot's 15 New YA Comics and Graphic Novels Coming Out April–June 2023
Book Riot
Bringing in everything from traditional cooking to magical medicine power, Van Camp’s graphic novel celebrates cultural resiliency while never shying away from the difficulty faced by his characters.
Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun