Turtle Belly

Tragedy leads to transformation in this poignant, graceful coming-of-age debut novel about a half-white, half-Mohawk boy raised by relatives on the Six Nations reserve near Hamilton, Canada, after he witnesses his mother's murder. Murder scene aside, Sam's story gets off to a slow start as Monture focuses on the details of reservation life, but the narrative picks up when Sam leaves home to attend Dartmouth College on an art scholarship. There he struggles against his loneliness by engaging in a problematic affair with an older waitress who conceals her sideline as a prostitute from him. Governing the novel's events are the violence and substance abuse that seem endemic to reservation life, from the car wreck that takes the life of Sam's foster mother to the accidental shotgun blast from his foster father that puts Sam in the hospital. A traditional storyteller and beadwork artist, Monture shows great flair for characterization, and Sam, his Mohawk family and friends and the waitress who falls in love with him come to life on the page. Although a weak ending fails to resolve many of the novel's themes, there's more than enough talent on display here to leave readers eager for Monture's next endeavor. (Mar.)