‘The Prince & the Birch Tree’ is the first comic in the 15-part Seeds of Spring series. Naguset begins to learn the origin of her nickname, which means birch tree. She remembers her mother, who died when she was a child, bonds with her sister, and begins to read Kropotkin’s biography, in which his family life parallels her own experience. In this innovative serial graphic novel, Naguset, a modern Canadian Mi’kmaq teenager, exchanges books and mix tapes with her pen pal, Chris. Her imagination sparks when he sends her a biography of the 19th century Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin. The story juxtaposes Naguset’s personal and political coming-of-age in her loving family home with Kropotkin’s rocky upbringing in a princely palace. These two stories of eventful lives and bold hearts are interwoven with Kropotkin’s theories of freedom, Mi’kmaq vocabulary and social history, and an uplifting punk soundtrack, creating a unique reading experience bound to inspire readers to think in new ways about the issues of our time.
Christopher Coquard;Sacha Ravenda
Microcosm Publishing
