Saga Boy

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 SPEAKER'S BOOK AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 TORONTO BOOK AWARD

“[A] deeply moving memoir...[and] lyrical story.... Suffused with poetic prose that jumps off the page, this inspiring account sings.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Raised by his indomitable grandmother in the lush rainforest of southern Trinidad, Antonio Michael Downing, at age 11, is uprooted to Canada when she dies. He and his older brother are sent to live with his stern, evangelical Aunt Joan, in a tiny northern Ontario community where they are the only Black children in the town. In this wilderness, after a disappointing reunion with his birth parents, he begins his journey as an immigrant minority, using music and performance to dramatically transform himself.  

He tries to… Keep Reading