Son of a Trickster

Son of a Trickster

• Genre: Fiction; young adult contemporary fantasy
• Originally Published: 2017
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12
• Structure/Length: 40 chapters; approx. 336 pages; approx. 9 hours, 8 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Sixteen-year-old Jared is a First Nations teen living in Canada in this contemporary speculative novel. As Jared contends with school struggles and his troubled family, strange and fantastical occurrences begin to suggest that Jared is the son of a mythological trickster from Indigenous lore.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Drug use and addiction; teen pregnancy; social acceptance and anxiety; sexual experimentation; physical abuse; language; graphic depictions of violence; self-harm; attempted suicide

Eden Robinson, Author

• Bio: Born in 1968 in Kitimat, British Columbia; Canadian novelist and short story writer; attended the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia; a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations
• Other Works: Traplines (1996); Monkey Beach (2000); Trickster Drift (2018); Return of the Trickster (2021)
• Awards: Giller Prize (shortlisted; 2017); Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize (BC Book Prizes shortlist; 2018); Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen Award (shortlisted; 2018); Sunburst Award (shortlisted; 2018)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Danger and Risk of Supernatural Powers
• Native Identity and Culture
• Addiction in Dysfunctional Families

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of social and historical contexts such as those associated with addiction that incite Jared’s conflict.
• Analyze short paired texts and other resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Danger and Risk of Supernatural Powers, Native Identity and Culture, and Addiction in Dysfunctional Families.
• Plan and construct a vision board that conveys Jared’s future goals based on details from the novel.
• Analyze and evaluate the plot and character details to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding the relationship between Sarah and Jared, animals as symbols, and other topics.