The saga continuesĭimaline admits that writing Hunting by Stars was far from an easy process. WATCH | The Marrow Thieves book trailer, produced for Canada Reads:ĭuration 0:50 Canada Reads trailer for Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves. 'I normally don't advocate for caving in to peer pressure. But in this case, I will say that was a huge part of it!' 'A lot of young Indigenous readers reached out, really wanting to know for sure what happened to these characters that they loved,' she said.

While the characters still lived on in her mind, she felt it was 'unfair' to not continue the story and show what happens next. In hindsight, writing the sequel was inevitable for Dimaline. In The Marrow Thieves, French lost his family to the residential schools and found a new family to travel with, while dodging the 'Recruiters.' In Hunting by Stars, French embarks on a new adventure, one that leads him to learn more about himself and the dangerous world he lives in. I normally don't advocate for caving in to peer pressure. But in this case, I will say that was a huge part of it!įan favourite teen protagonist French is back as well. Residential schools are re-established to capture and hold Indigenous people, and search for the secrets to dreaming in their bones. Hunting by Stars which was nominated in the best YA book category for the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Awards, takes place in the world of The Marrow Thieves, a post-apocalyptic North America where only Indigenous people have the ability to dream. So 'French' was contacting me on Instagram, saying, 'Wow, what's next? Please don't leave me out here.''Īnd now with The Marrow Thieves sequel, Hunting by Stars, Dimaline hopes the book is something that her fans will enjoy.

There were social media accounts opened in the characters names and then they would send me a direct message. That strong type of fan response followed her online, she added. It was such a fan favourite that when she would tell classroom audiences she wasn't planning to write a sequel, the kids would boo her, Dimaline said in her interview with Shelagh Rogers. Dimaline, a Georgian Bay Métis writer, would subsequently be invited to Indigenous communities, reserves and Canadian schools across the country to talk about the breakout book.

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