For young Katie, her wounds may never heal.īeaton’s natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, Northern Lights, and Rocky Mountains. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet never discussed.

It does not hit home until she moves to a spartan, isolated worksite for higher pay. Being one of the few women among thousands of men, the culture shock is palpable. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, what the journey will actually cost Katie will be far more than she anticipates.Īrriving in Fort McMurray, Katie finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world's largest oil companies. After university, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush, part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. gave her an insider's view into a place and piece of Canadian history few outsiders ever see.' - Robert Ito, New York TimesĬelebrated cartoonist Kate Beaton vividly presents the untold story of Canadaīefore there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant fame, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where the lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles and gaelic folk songs. Kate Beaton headed west one of the world's most environmentally destructive oil operations, where workers lived in barracks-like camps and men vastly outnumbered women.

Kate beaton books