A Blackfoot boy and his mother, who live on a Blackfoot reserve in Alberta, Canada, pack the car with food, blankets, and clothing and set out to visit the boy’s older sister, who has left the reserve for Salt Lake City. Arriving at the border between Canada and the United States, the boy and his mother are asked to specify whether they are Canadian or American. “Blackfoot,” the boy’s mother calmly but firmly insists, refusing to concede when pressed repeatedly to choose a “side.” Prohibited entry, mother and son hunker down in the liminal space between borders, passing time in the duty-free shop and sleeping in their car overnight. One day turns into two, and then three, before the arrival of news vans prompts the border guards to permit the boy and his mother to cross into the United States. Clean artwork accompanies a tightly focused narrative about a woman who models a strong act of resistance for her son. This graphic novel deftly demonstrates the injustice of requiring member of an Indigenous nation to claim citizenship of a country established by colonizers whose geopolitical borders divide their traditional homelands. (Age 8 and older)

A People Magazine Best Book

★ "The thematic and literary richness of this story is exhilarating."— Horn Book, starred review
★ "An important and accessible modern tale."— School Library Journal, starred review

From celebrated Indigenous author Thomas King and award-winning Métis artist Natasha Donovan comes a powerful graphic novel about a family caught between nations.

Borders is a masterfully told story of a boy and his mother whose road trip is thwarted at the border when they identify their citizenship as Blackfoot. Refusing to identify as either American or Canadian first bars their entry into the US, and then their return into Canada. In the limbo between countries, they find power in their connection to their identity and to each other. 

Borders explores nationhood from an Indigenous perspective and resonates deeply with themes of identity, justice, and belonging.