A novel by Barbara Radecki
“She will fall in seven days,” says the crow. “As she falls, so do we all.”
Who falls? wonders M. The ominous, supernatural message starts M on a quest that could save more than one life. But what if the person in danger happens to be her nemesis? Along the way, M meets up with Gray, a Cree boy with his own hopes of saving a runaway Indigenous girl. As they begin a wild journey through the city and into the bleak northern woods, M grasps for the true meaning behind the crow’s messages and pushes deeper and deeper into worlds she doesn’t know or understand, holding fast to a questionable dream that she might be a modern-day Joan of Arc.
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Press & Recognition

Forest of Reading, Red Maple, Kids Committee picks Messenger 93
Forest of Reading 2020 Kids Committee List

CBC Books includes Messenger 93 on
21 Middle-Grade and YA Books To Read In Spring 2020

“Lyrical prose and magic realism flavour the haunting story of M, a lonely girl who is called upon to find and save her enemy. The ensuing journey goes disastrously awry when M falls for a boy in search of another missing girl. This brave novel by Barbara Radecki tackles bold subjects—missing girls, celebrity culture, white privilege and cultural appropriation—as it explores one girl’s pilgrimage of self-discovery.”
– Diane Terrana, acclaimed author of THE WORLD ON EITHER SIDE
“Messenger 93 is a driving story that twists and turns and entertains. Barbara Radecki has written a poignant book that asks hard questions about compassion and belonging.”
– Ken Murray, award-winning author of EULOGY
“Radecki’s masterful turns of suspense and mystery send M, and the rest of us, on a thrill ride from downtown to the deep woods. It’s a can’t-put-down, must read adventure!”
– Thom Vernon, award-winning author of THE DRIFTS
“Radecki tackles difficult subject matter with grace, and asks tough questions for her readers to reflect upon.”
EXCERPT: …The impact of social media is one through line, as are reflections on self-worth and questions of authenticity. Crucially, Radecki also centres a discussion of white privilege and violence against Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People. As she notes in her acknowledgements, she is a “white, able-bodied, middle-class, cisgender woman” who is working to “understand and resist our systems of inequality”. This transparency is crucial, and Radecki’s approach to Indigenous characters and culture feels considerate and careful… For white readers, witnessing M’s recognition of her own complicity is perhaps the most impactful aspect of the novel. Her story reminds us that we must confront the fact that our identity is rooted in the suppression of others, and find ways to question and challenge our biases and expectations.
..Centring a cast of well-developed and intricate characters, this intense and haunting novel pulls readers along on a complicated quest, and asks critical questions for readers to return to long after M’s journey comes to an end.
– Gemma Marr, Miramichi Reader, July 2020
Read complete review on MiramichiReader.ca>