What a difficult, gorgeous and abidingly humane book. It really does deserve to win all the prizes. Observer I've had so many cool opportunities come across my desk as a result of Jeopardy!, things I could have never really imagined," they said. "I feel like my life is still in the process of changing because of Jeopardy!"

Ducks by Kate Beaton | Waterstones

Sadly, I don't know a single woman currently over the age of 25 who could read this graphic novel without shaking her head in sadness or groaning with a great sense of solidarity and understanding of the circumstances described here. Concerns about oil extraction's environmental pollution and impact on indigenous people are also brought up, but more as side notes needing more exploration. a b Manning, Shaun (25 March 2009). "Kate Beaton Debuts w/ Darwin at MySpace DHP". CBR News. Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 28 March 2009. This book was beautiful, harrowing, moving and educational all at once, and it is an absolute masterclass on what can be done with the graphic novel format. An absolute must-read.

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There is a lot of history to try to understand….(Indigenous rights, misogyny, environmental issues, capitalism, the complexity of real people)…. Thankfully, there is just one incident mentioned, and it's not very graphic (pun intended). Otherwise, I would have had to DNF this.

DUCKS | Kirkus Reviews DUCKS | Kirkus Reviews

I think Beaton goes out of her way to note that many of the men didn't behave awfully and to rationalize the behavior of the rest by pointing out factors like the environment, the economy, mental health issues, and substance abuse, but some men are just shits looking for the opportunity to be shitty is the real takeaway. In October 2018, Beaton ended the ongoing serialization of her webcomic, saying, "I feel like this is a project that has run its course." [34] issues still facing the Athabaskan Chipewyan First Nation, Fort McMurray, Mikisew Cree First Nation, as well as the Métis communities in Northern Alberta. a b Hodge, Nathan (11 March 2009). "Web Comic Artist Redraws Military History". Danger Room. Wired.com . Retrieved 28 March 2009. Armistead, Claire (15 September 2022). " 'We had to leave home for a better future': Kate Beaton on the brutal, drug-filled reality of life in an oil camp". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 December 2022.It’s 8am in Nova Scotia when we talk, and Beaton’s eldest child is racing around in pyjamas, trying to escape her dad. “Potty-training: it’s a land of tears and devastation,” says Beaton, now 39, rolling her eyes. Am I defending them? I don’t know, just, they are still my people. Even at their worst, they’re more mine than she is”. Alberta’s oil sands are the third-largest oil reserve in the world. The mines are large enough to be seen from space. They’re also considered some of the most environmentally destructive oil fields in the world, and Indigenous populations say the mines have been ruinous to their way of life.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands eBook : Beaton, Kate

Because she is so patient in setting up this context, the sexual and corporate politics emerge absolutely organically, without any sense of animus or agenda. This gives the book's lessons an incredible power, while stripping them of any dogma or point-scoring. In fact Beaton doesn't shy away from questioning her own complicity in the industry, and she also makes a point of stressing the numerous perfectly nice and reasonable people who also worked around her.Her insistence on presenting her experiences as complicated and sometimes contradictory is one of the book's most compelling features. The people doing this environmentally devastating work aren't evil villains; they too are being exploited by the oil companies and have few other options for supporting themselves as blue collar workers. The men Beaton works with are suffering from isolation, terrible mental health conditions, the absolute jokes of workplace safety policies, and subsequent drug and alcohol (ab)use. Some of them are also perpetrators of rape, assault, and harassment. She is haunted by the uncertainty of how men she knows and loves would act trapped in such a toxic environment for so long. All these things are true at the same time. The oil sands operate on stolen lands. Their pollution, work camps, and ever-growing settler populations continue to have serious social, economic, cultural, environmental, and health consequences for the indigenous communities in the region. I love the way that Kate tells stories through her art and through prose," Roach said on Commotion. "One thing that graphic novels do so well is that they cut to the core of emotions, they cut to the core of storytelling because they have to present things in a way where they are not being too wordy and they are able to express really deep feelings through the artwork." P.S., Another reviewer, Seth T., notes that this book was expanded from a much shorter prototype originally published on Tumblr. Here is the URL if you are curious: The Princess and the Pony (New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2015, ISBN 978-0545637084)