SuitabookThe Night Wanderer
Drew Hayden Taylor
- Reading
- Consider reading alongside the young person, or checking in after the sections involving despair, racism and death. Discuss the characters’ choices without treating the vampire plot as a realistic model for handling crisis.
- Themes
- Belonging and home: Tiffany lives on the Otter Lake Reserve while Pierre returns to the land of his birth after centuries in Europe. The story presents home as connected with people, history and cultural belonging, but the full complexity of that conclusion is unclear.
- Prejudice and relationships: Tiffany’s relationship with Tony crosses racial and economic boundaries; his parents and friends oppose it, and he uses her status card before stopping when asked. The circumstances expose unequal pressures and possible exploitation rather than presenting the relationship as uncomplicated.
- Despair and choosing to live: After several painful events, Tiffany goes into the woods and appears suicidal; Pierre finds her, shares his history and helps her return home, while he intends to meet the rising sun. The narrative gives serious attention to suicidal despair and presents connection as significant, while also linking Pierre’s death to his chosen ending.
- Worth knowing
- Pay particular attention to the treatment of suicidal thoughts, bereavement-like despair, racism and a relationship involving possible exploitation. The supernatural material includes vampirism, death and an attempted self-chosen ending.