ABOUT
THE BOOK

On the peaceful shore of the Douglas Channel lies the remote Haisla community of Kitamaat, British Columbia. Seventeen-year-old Jimmy Hill, ambitious and handsome, is the pride of the village: an Olympic hopeful. Despite being sought after by the local boy-chasers, serious-minded Jimmy shows little interest in courtship, until he falls in love with Karaoke, tough as nails and the village beauty. But their young romance is cut short by the news of a horrifying accident at sea and Jimmy’s mysterious disappearance.
Circling the disaster are Monkey Beach’s remarkable and endearing characters: Jimmy’s older sister Lisamarie, the narrator; their loving parents, struggling to marry their Haisla heritage with Western ways; Uncle Mick, Native-rights activist and devoted Elvis fan; the thrifty, self-directed Ma-ma-oo (Haisla for ‘grandmother’), guardian of the old traditions. But Lisamarie has other advisors less tangible or trustworthy: ghosts, sasquatches and animal spirits that weave their way into her life as she struggles with Jimmy’s vanishing.