{"product_id":"ghost-father-wild-son-9798295501395","title":"Ghost Father, Wild Son","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter his combat-veteran father dies by suicide, \u003cstrong\u003eNicholas Paul\u003c\/strong\u003e, a Maine Mi'kmaq teenager, runs away into the northern wilderness to escape a world that feels shattered beyond repair. Carrying only his father's survival lessons and a lifetime of unspoken grief, Nicholas chooses isolation over comfort, believing the forest will either kill him or make him whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiving off the land becomes a brutal rite of passage. Nicholas endures hunger, injury, storms, and near starvation while being haunted by memories of his father-especially their shared hunts and the violence his father carried home from war. These memories act as both guidance and torment, turning his father into a constant ghost presence in Nicholas's mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs his body weakens, Nicholas's spiritual awareness deepens. Teachings from his grandmother and visions tied to Mi'kmaq bear spirits reconnect him to ancestral identity and purpose. The forest becomes more than shelter-it becomes teacher, witness, and judge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNicholas eventually encounters \u003cstrong\u003eJonah\u003c\/strong\u003e, another traumatized veteran living in exile. Jonah mentors him in survival and truth, sharing his guilt over killing a child during war and showing Nicholas the cost of unprocessed violence. Jonah's death forces Nicholas to confront the difference between mere survival and meaningful living.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough disaster, rebuilding, and a powerful dream visitation with his father, Nicholas finally understands that love and damage can coexist. He discovers an old shelter his father once used and realizes his father had been fighting invisible battles long before his death.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the end, Nicholas chooses to stay. He rebuilds a cabin, accepts his role as a quiet guardian of the forest, and learns to live with his father's ghost without being ruled by it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGhost Father, Wild Son\u003c\/em\u003e is a raw, present-day coming-of-age novel about grief, inherited trauma, Indigenous identity, masculinity, and the long, painful work of choosing to live after loss.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Dawnland Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/24\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798295501395\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.38d","brand":"Corey J. Cook","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52210034704565,"sku":"9798295501395","price":12.74,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_9d465a90-8fb0-4994-8a71-13cbcfebde9f.jpg?v=1770132171","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/ghost-father-wild-son-9798295501395","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}