Five Little Indians (novel)

Five Little Indians is the debut novel by Cree Canadian writer Michelle Good, published in 2020 by Harper Perennial.^[1] The novel focuses on five survivors of the Canadian Indian residential school system, struggling to rebuild their lives in Vancouver, British Columbia after the end of their time in the residential schools.^[2] It also explores the love and strength that can emerge after trauma.^[3]

Five Little Indians

First edition
Author	Michelle Good
Audio read by	Kyla Garcia
Language	English
Subject	Canadian residential schools
Genre	Historical fiction
Set in	1960s Vancouver
Published	April 14, 2020
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication place	Canada
Media type	Print (hardcover, paperback), Audio
Pages	304
ISBN	9781443459198

The book received a number of awards, and was CBC's number one book in 2021.^[4] It was selected for and won the 2022 edition of Canada Reads, nominated by Christian Allaire, Ojibwe author and Vogue Fashion Editor.^[5]

Background

Although the novel is predominantly fictional, some of its stories were based on real experiences of Good's mother and grandmother, who were survivors of the residential school system.^[1] Growing up, her mother talked about the traumatic histories and experiences of attending St. Barnabas Residential School in Onion Lake, Saskatchewan.^[6] These discussions influenced Good's work.^[7] The novel's development took more than a decade, beginning in 2011 when Good was a fine arts graduate student at the University of British Columbia.^[8] As part of the writing process, Good relied on psychological assessments of children who experienced physical and sexual abuse in order to accurately depict these events' long-term impacts on a person's life.^[9]

Reception

Five Little Indians was CBC's number one book recommendation in 2021.^[4] The book also received positive reviews from the Toronto Star,^[10] Vancouver Sun,^[11] and Apple Books.^[12]

Amnesty International Book Club selected Five Little Indians for their book club in 2021.

Now named Five Little Indians one of the top ten novels of 2020.^[13] The Globe and Mail,^[14] CBC,^[15] Kobo,^[16] and Indigo^[17] also named the book in their lists of the best books of the year.

The novel was selected for the 2022 edition of Canada Reads, where it was defended by Christian Allaire.^[18] It won the competition on March 31.^[19]

Awards and honors

Year	Award		Result	Ref.
2020	Governor General's Awards	English-language fiction	Won	[20][21]
	HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize	—	Won	[22]
	Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize	—	Shortlisted	[23]
	Scotiabank Giller Prize	—	Longlisted	[24][25]
2021	Amazon.ca First Novel Award	—	Won	[26]
	Amnesty International Book Club	Reader's Choice	Selection	[27]
	BC and Yukon Book Prize	Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize	Shortlisted	[28]
		Jim Deva Prize	Shortlisted	[29]
	City of Vancouver Book Award	—	Won	[30]
	Forest of Reading Evergreen Award	—	Won	[31]
	Indigenous Voices Award	Published Prose in English: Fiction	Shortlisted	[32]
	Kobo Emerging Writer Prize	Fiction	Won	[33][34]
2022	Canada Reads	Written Book	Won	[35]

Television adaptation

Five Little Indians has been optioned by Prospero Pictures for development as a limited television series. Shannon Masters, a screenwriter of Cree Métis and Ukrainian descent, will serve as writer and show runner alongside Martin Katz and Karen Wookey, who will serve as executive producers.^[36]

Good has expressed hopes that the adaptation will make the story accessible to a broader range of people.^[36]