When he researches the legend around Jonny Appleseed at the reservation library, he is confused about why that particular legend was sung about at his summer camp.Īt school, Jonny is bullied for being gay. Jonny dislikes his name because of this association (he is named after his father), so he often names himself after vacuum cleaner brands instead. Jonny’s father struggled with substance use and is absent from his life he is presumed to have died after a fire on another reservation. His experience is not one he sees reflected in the public experiences of older, out gay men, who are largely white and come from class privilege. He is Indigenous and “a brown gay boy on the rez” (12) on the land of the Peguis First Nation in Canada. He masturbates to images of the characters.
It isn’t a style of writing that I enjoy reading.The first-person narrator, Jonny, figures out he is gay from watching Queer as Folk on his kokum’s (grandmother’s) TV as a kid. My biggest issue with the book (other than the excessive details about the sexual encounters), is the fact it was written in a narrative style. And that’s ok, but maybe it should be marketed as such. It feels as though there are many parts of this book that are more autobiographical than fictional. Jonny also seems to have a love/hate relationship with his mother, and at times seems to be more of a parent than she is.Īs I am trying to broaden my reading horizons, this book is a great step in that direction. Jonny seems to have a lot of affection for his kokum (grandmother), as she was there for him most of his life, helping him pick himself up. Others were a bit too descriptive for my taste. Did I enjoy it? Some parts I found educational and enjoyable.
Overall, I am still unsure what I think about Jonny Appleseed. Many scenes containing excessive details about dreams, thoughts, and sexual encounters.
The book was written mostly in a narrative style, with minimal dialogue. Jonny is a sex worker, and there are many descriptions of the encounters. The book paints a realistic look at the lives of the Indigenous people both on and off the “rez.” Negatives That helps add to the realism of the characters and situations in the book. What makes it even better, is the author is also a part of the community. It is wonderful to read a book that includes an Indigenous person who is a member of the LGBTQ2A+ community. Jonny is a Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer person who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We follow Jonny Appleseed over a brief period of time as they try to raise the money to return home for a funeral. Since then, it has been nominated for the CBC Canada Reads 2021 and was awarded the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction in 2019. Jonny Appleseed was written by Joshua Whitehead and was published in 2018. “You’re gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine,” is a quote from Jonny Appleseed, and is the theme of this book.
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