Heaviness of Things that Float, The

Bernadette Perkal, a nurse who has worked for forty years in a First Nations village on Vancouver Island, is preparing to retire. But, when Chase Charlie, an Indigenous fisherman, goes missing after Bernadette treats him, Charlie’s mother-in-law and village elder blames her for mistreating Chase's injury and his disappearance, and Bernadette questions whether she has ever really been accepted into the community despite her long service. The novel has vivid and realistic characters and would be suitable for a Canadian fiction unit, to compare authentic Indigenous vs. non-Indigenous voices, or to explore limits of cultural understanding. Suitable for grades 11-12.