Having Faith in the Polar Girls' Prison

By Cathleen With

Subjects: Arctic, Northern Canada, pregnant teens, young mother, baby, juvenile delinquent, addiction, Inuvik, NWT, FAS, sober living, sobriety, breastfeeding, Romans, nouvelles, etc. pour la jeunesse, Mackenzie Delta, NT, Northwest Territories, jail, Juvenile fiction, prison, mentally disabled, NAS

Description: Against the stark and haunting landscape of Canada's Far North, Trista chronicles the events of her life from her room in the Polar Girls' Prison in Jackfish Bay, Northwest Territories. At age fifteen, she's already caught up in sexual abuse, drunkenness, and failed motherhood and is trying to make sense of her past, especially the events that led her to jail. Her salvation comes from the unexpected kindness of prison counsellors, visits from her best friend, and her love for her baby. With heartfelt compassion and rare insight, With lends light to the hardships and suffering of lives lived amid the clash of cultures in this remote region and contends that out of brokenness can come forgiveness and hope.