Book Reviews and More: Tribes by: Arthur Slade

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Tribes by: Arthur Slade

Tribes
Arthur Slade
Harper Trophy Canada
ISBN 9780006391708

Arthur Slade is one of my favorite children's/teen authors. His books are imaginative, unique and always a great read. I read my first Slade book when Dust won the Governor General's Literary Award back in 2001. I loved it so much I picked up this one, and was not disappointed.

This is the story of Percy Montmount Jr. and his friend Elissa who are in their final year of high school. Percy, whose father was an anthropologist, examines the social environment of high school through the eyes and methods of an anthropologist. The names of the tribes, and the social commentary associated with them, is hilarious. Some of the tribes are:

The Busybody Tribe
The Logo Tribe - exists to only wear name brands.
The Digerati Tribe - Worships bytes and silicon Chips.
The Lipstick/Hairspray Tribe
The Gee-The-Seventies-Were-Great-Even-Though-I Wasn't-Born-Yet Tribe
The Hockey Tribe - Subdivided into Canadians, Oilers, Rangers and 32 sub clans.
The Jesus Freaks
The Madonna Tribe (But in decline and near extinct)

Join Percy and Elissa as they navigate their senior year, and as Percy must come to grips with his own anthropological reality. This is a great fun and very enjoyable read.

Books by Arthur Slade:
The Dragonfly's Journey (1996)
John Diefenbaker: an Appointment with Destiny (2000)
Dust (2001)
Tribes (2002)
Monsterology (2005)
Villainology (2005)
Megiddo's Shadow (2006)
Jolted (2008)
Shades: 17 Startling Stories (2011)
Flickers (2016)
Crimson (2018)
Death by Airship (2019)
Mr. Universe (2021)

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