10 Canadian books to read if you loved Canada Reads winner Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Joshua Whitehead is a two-spirit, Oji-nêhiyaw member of Peguis First Nation. He is also the author of the poetry collection full-metal indigiqueer and is the editor of the anthology Love After the End. Jonny Appleseed is his first novel.
Jonny Appleseed won Canada Reads 2021, when it was championed by Devery Jacobs.
Jonny Appleseed is a novel about a two-spirit Indigiqueer young man who leaves the reserve and becomes a cybersex worker in the big city to make ends meet. But he must reckon with his past when he returns home to attend his stepfather's funeral.
Jonny Appleseed won the Lambda Literary Award for gay fiction and was shortlisted for the the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award. It was also longlisted for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
If you finished Jonny Appleseed and are looking for similar reads, check out these great Canadian books.
Angry Queer Somali Boy by Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali
Angry Queer Somali Boy is a memoir by Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali. As a young man who left Somalia, he spent time in the Netherlands and ended up homeless in Canada. Canada was the promised land, but when he didn't fit in and life was more difficult than he expected, Ali turned to drugs and partying before finding his way.
Angry Queer Somali Boy combines Ali's personal story with the history of and commentary on the places he's called home: Somalia, Europe and Canada. It's his first book.
Both Jonny Appleseed and Angry Queer Somali Boy feature queer young men trying to build lives for themselves in unforgiving cities while also bringing their queerness together with the rest of who they are.
A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Billy-Ray Belcourt was the youngest-ever winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize. He was also the first First Nations Rhodes scholar from Canada. But he was once a young boy, growing up in Driftpile Cree Nation in Alberta. A History of My Brief Body tells his story: how his family was impacted by colonialism and intergenerational trauma and yet still hold joy and love in their hearts and lives, how he came into his queer identity and how writing became both a place of comfort and solace and a weapon for a young man trying to figure out his place in the world.
Both Jonny Appleseed and A History of My Brief Body are books about what it means to be young, Indigiqueer men who are trying to find their way in the world.
We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib
Samra Habib's memoir We Have Always Been Here is an exploration of the ways we disguise and minimize ourselves for the sake of survival. As a child, Habib hid her faith from Islamic extremists in Pakistan and later, as a refugee in Canada, endured racist bullying and the threat of an arranged marriage. In travelling the world and exploring art and sexuality, Habib searches for the truth of her identity.
We Have Always Been Here won Canada Reads 2020, when it was championed by Amanda Brugel.
Both Jonny Appleseed and We Have Always Been Here are stories about navigating how to bring being queer together with the rest of their identities, their families, their culture and their faith.
Birdie by Tracey Lindberg
Birdie is the story of Bernice, a woman who leaves her home in northern Alberta and travels to British Columbia. On her journey west, she processes earlier tragedies and learns more about her past and her history.
Birdie was championed by Bruce Poon Tip on Canada Reads 2016.
Both Jonny Appleseed and Birdie are moving stories about Indigenous characters overcoming difficult circumstances and learning to celebrate who they are.
Such a Lonely, Lovely Road by Kagiso Lesego Molope
In Such a Lonely, Lovely Road, Kabelo Mosala is a young man growing up in South Africa. He's an upstanding citizen in every sense of the term and dreams of working at his father's medical practice. But Kabelo has a secret: he's in love with his friend, Sediba. They form a strong bond as they grow up, but Kabelo struggles to come out to his community, which is in the grips of an increasingly urgent AIDS crisis.
Both Jonny Appleseed and Such a Lonely, Lovely Road, are novels about queer men who have tender relationships with a long-time friend and are returning to their communities after some time away.
When Everything Feels like the Movies by Raziel Reid
When Everything Feels like the Movies is a coming-of-age novel about a teenager named Jude. Jude is flamboyant and loves fashion — and he treats the world like a Hollywood movie, where he's a star. This helps him cope with a challenging home life and being bullied at school. When Everything Feels like the Movies is a raw and revealing story of how one teenage boy copes with a world that doesn't accept who he is, and what he needs to do in order to survive each day.
When Everything Feels like the Movies was championed by Elaine "Lainey" Lui on Canada Reads 2015. It also won the Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text in 2014.
Both Jonny Appleseed and When Everything Feels like the Movies are novels about queer young people facing life struggles while figuring out who they are. Both books feature a frank and fearless approach to sex.
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
Son of a Trickster is a novel about Jared, a compassionate 16-year-old, maker of famous weed cookies, the caretaker of his elderly neighbours, the son of an unreliable father and unhinged, though loving in her way, mother. As Jared ably cares for those around him, in between getting black-out drunk, he shrugs off the magical and strange happenings that follow him around.
Son of a Trickster was championed by Kaniehtiio Horn on Canada Reads 2020.
Both Jonny Appleseed and Son of a Trickster are novels about young Indigenous men with strong connections to their families, learning how to deal with what makes them unique.
Thunder Through My Veins by Gregory Scofield
Gregory Scofield is a poet who has helped shape contemporary Indigenous writing. But the path to getting to becoming an accomplished writer wasn't easy. Scofield's father left him when he was five years old and he grew up surrounded by violence and poverty. But he had the love of his mother, the support of a kind neighbour and a desire to figure out who he was and what he wanted. Thunder Through My Veins is a memoir that recounts Scofield's early life and his experiences defining his identity and place in the world.
Thunder Through My Veins was originally published in 1999, when Scofield was 33, and was re-released with a new foreword in 2020.
Both Jonny Appleseed and Thunder Through My Veins are moving stories about young Indigenous men learning to celebrate and accept who they are.
Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai
Funny Boy is a novel about a young gay man, Arjun Chelvaratnam, growing up in Sri Lanka during the Tamil-Sinhalese conflict of the 1970s and 1980s, before the breakout of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The story follows Arjun, known as Arjie. from his childhood to his teenage years, offering a depiction of queer identity in Sri Lanka.
You can watch the film adaptation of Funny Boy on CBC Gem.
Both Jonny Appleseed and Funny Boy are tender and eye-opening about queer men navigating how to be true to themselves while still being engaged with their family, history and culture.
The Break by Katherena Vermette
The Break is a multi-voiced narrative that unfolds in the aftermath of an assault on a young Indigenous girl. Different residents in the small Winnipeg neighbourhood take turns narrating the book, some seeking answers and others looking for escape.
The Break was defended by Candy Palmater on Canada Reads 2017.
The Strangers, a follow-up novel set in the same world as The Break, will be released in fall 2021.
Both Jonny Appleseed and The Break are Indigenous novels set in Winnipeg about strength, perseverance and the importance of family.
