We'll All Be Burnt In Our Beds Some Night

Johnny Keough, a victim of poverty, exists as a small-time criminal and is charged with assaulting his girlfriend but before his court date, Madonna dies, leaving him a free man. To honour Madonna, Johnny hitchhikes across Canada to take her ashes to a Vancouver beach. His journey across Canada is plagued with misadventure, including meeting people who offer him drugs, sex, and saving, learning that his sister is really his mom, and visiting a penitentiary to meet his father. This award-winning Canadian novel, featuring an unreliable narrator and shifting point of view, deals with issues of poverty, violence, abuse, drugs, grief, and crime. Social considerations noted; teacher pre-reading recommended.