Half-Bads in White Regalia by Cody Caetano

The Caetanos move into a doomed house in the highway village of Happyland before an inevitable divorce pulls Cody's parents in separate directions. His mom, Mindimooye, having discovered her Anishinaabe birth family and Sixties Scoop origin story, embarks on a series of fraught relationships and fresh starts. His dad, O Touro, a Portuguese immigrant and drifter, falls back into "big do, little think" behaviour, despite his best intentions.

Left alone at the house in Happyland, Cody and his siblings must fend for themselves, even as the pipes burst and the lights go out. His protective big sister, Kris, finds inventive waysto put food on the table, and his stoic big brother, Julian, facilitates his regular escapes into the world of video games. As life yanks them from one temporary solution to the next, they steal moments of joy and resist buckling under "baddie" temptations aplenty.

Capturing the chaos and wonder of a precarious childhood, Cody Caetano delivers a fever dream coming-of-age garnished with a slang all his own.Half-Bads in White Regaliais an unforgettable debut that unspools a tangled family history with warmth, humour, and deep generosity. (FromHamish Hamilton)

Half-Bads in White RegaliaisontheCanada Reads2023 longlist. The final five books and the panellists who chose them will be revealed on Jan. 25, 2023.

LISTEN | Cody Caetano reacts to being on the Canada Reads longlist:

The Next Chapter15:58Cody Caetano on Half- Bads in White Regalia: A Memoir

Cody Caetano talks to Shelagh Rogers about his memoir, Half- Bads in White Regalia.

Half-Bads in White Regaliawas written as part of Caetano's Masters in creative writing at the University of Toronto, under the mentorship of the acclaimed late Indigenous writer and academic Lee Maracle.Excerpts fromHalf-Bads in White Regaliawon the 2020 Indigenous Voices Award for Unpublished Prose. CBC Books named Half-Bads in White Regaliaone of the best works of Canadian nonfiction in 2022.

• Cody Caetano's memoirHalf-Bads in White Regaliaunspools a tangled family history
• The best Canadian nonfiction of 2022
• What does it mean to tell Indigenous stories? 3 authors explore the idea

Cody Caetano is a writer of Anishinaabe and Portuguese descent and an off-reserve member of Pinaymootang First Nation. Caetano has also published a short collection of poetry,Pleasure Dome Poemsand his work has appeared in publications such as Prism International and the Hart House Review.

Why Cody Caetano wrote Half-Bads in White Regalia

"I think it's important to learn about my family and where we come from, because it allows me to be a human being in a good way. It allows me to have a sense of belonging.

It's important to learn about my family and where we come from, because it allows me to be a human being in a good way.- Cody Caetano on learning his family's history

"It is an ongoing, lifelong thing. It's a commitment that you can't lose sight of. Apart of me feels how important it is to know who my family is, as someone who's both Azorean and Anishinaabe. It keeps me in check."

Read more in his interview with The Next Chapter.

More interviews with Cody Caetano

The Next Chapter16:15Three Indigenous authors on centring Indigenous values and knowledge in stories

Shelagh Rogers in conversation with Brandi Morin ( Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising), Eldon Yellowhorn (Sky Wolfs Call: The Gift of Indigenous Knowledge) and Cody Caetano (Half-Bads in White Regalia) about writing indigeneity on location at the Vancouver Writers Festival