Mackenzie, a Cree millennial, wakes up in her one-bedroom Vancouver apartment clutching a pine bough she had been holding in her dream just moments earlier. When she blinks, it disappears. But she can still smell the sharp pine scent in the air, the nearest pine tree a thousand kilometres away in the far reaches of Treaty 8. Bad Cree is a haunting debut novel where dreams, family and spirits collide.

About Jessica Johns

Jessica Johns is a nehiyaw aunty with English-Irish ancestry and a member of Sucker Creek First Nation. Her debut novel, Bad Cree, was shortlisted for the Amazon first novel award and won the MacEwan Book of the Year prize.

Bad Cree (2023)

Mackenzie has begun to accidentally bring back items from her dreams, dreams that are eerily similar to real memories of her older sister and Kokum before their untimely deaths. As her life spirals into a living nightmare – crows are following her around and she’s getting texts from her dead sister on the other side – it becomes clear that these dreams have terrifying, real-life consequences. Desperate for help, Mackenzie returns to her mother, sister, cousin, and aunties in her small Alberta hometown. Together, they try to uncover what is haunting Mackenzie before something irrevocable happens to anyone else around her.

Haunting, fierce, an ode to female relations and the strength found in kinship, Bad Cree is a gripping, arresting debut by an unforgettable voice.

Jason Purcell is a writer and musician living on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton, where they are co-owner of Glass Bookshop. They hold a MA in English from the University of Alberta. Their debut book of poetry, Swollening, was published in 2022.