From the Ashes

Jesse Thistle went from dropping out of high school to becoming a respected Indigenous scholar, and this memoir traces the years he spent living rough and battling addiction on the streets. Left by his parents when he was still a toddler, he and his two brothers were placed in foster care before going to live with their paternal grandparents, who ran their home with a hard hand. Jesse's father, who was addicted to drugs, remained a presence in the family's thoughts long after he was gone. Carrying that weight, Jesse slid into drug and alcohol dependence and petty crime, and for over ten years he drifted in and out of homelessness until he understood that he would not survive unless he changed course.

The author writes frankly about the childhood abuse he suffered and about how he pieced together the truth of who his parents were. Through determination, formal education, and a new romantic partnership, he returned to the Indigenous community and family he had been cut off from. The book also examines how prejudice and racism shaped his path, and it argues that compassion and support can make a lasting difference even when the odds are stacked against a person.