Open Book Toronto - Lucky Seven Interview
"A difficult, powerful story of friendship and hard truths, Wake the Stone Man is a raw and important Canadian story."
Jules' Tools for Social Change - All Lit Up
"The Stone Man is symbolic of a powerful spirit of compassion that has been asleep for millennia. Waking the Stone Man brings that force back to life. It wakens the primal power of forgiveness and love that can transcend all barriers. The message of Wake the Stone Man is that whatever choices are made, whatever roads are taken, whatever harm is done, there is always hope for reconciliation and healing."
The Miramichi Reader
"seeing how Molly handles life's situations has the power to make us look at how we ourselves might have reacted. It also helps us to see that being a silent witness to any type of social injustice is no longer acceptable. We need to Wake the Stone Man within all of us."
I've Read This - blog review
"I found the juxtaposition between the problems of such different women very unique. Yes, the story is about the tragic echoes of the residential school experience... but McDougall takes it one step further, forcing us to examine the impact of this abuse on not only the Aboriginal kids who were forced into it, but also on the kids on the outside, looking in."
CHRONICLE HERALD - Halifax
"The messages of love, both for self and for others, forgiveness and taking responsibility are strong, and a feeling of righting wrongs continues to linger with the reader long after the book is closed."
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
"McDougall grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in sight of the Stone Man also known as the Sleeping Giant or Nanna Bijiou, a rock formation next to Lake Superior. This natural formation features in aboriginal mythology, and McDougall uses the stone man as a comforter and rescuer in her novel Wake the Stone Man. "
CHRONICLE JOURNAL- Thunder Bay
"Carol McDougall's novel Wake the Stone Man is a love story."
JILL BRYANT - BLOG REVIEW
"Certainly, this issues-focused novel is well-timed with the growing awareness and concern for survivors of the residential schools—a terrible occurrence in Canada’s past, recently called “cultural genocide” by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s interim report."
LIVING IN THE KITCHEN WITH PUPPIES
"This book is profoundly readable, even when it is uncomfortable. I drank in every word and was affected by every page. I learned about certain Canadian history - the good, the bad, the horrendous. You live this book while you read it. And that is the best kind of book there is. Who should read it? Every Canadian. Every woman. Every First Nations person. Everyone."
SUKASA READS
"As a reader, not only will you gain a keener perspective as you peer into the lens of injustice, but perhaps you may just walk away determined to make the world a better place. Very few novels can attest to having that power."
CONSUMED BY INK
"Carol McDougall has written a story that is engaging and readable from beginning to end, and appealing to a wide audience. Which is good news, because it is the kind of book that everyone should read."
MY PEN, MY VOICE
"McDougall reminds her readers that they have the strength and courage to change their own lives, and the world."
Atlantic Books Today
"What does it take to muster courage and act? Is it enough to bear witness to our history’s tragedies when the powers that be attempt to bury them? These are questions that sit at the heart of 2013’s winner of the Beacon Award for Social Justice Literature."
