This book would make an excellent introduction into Indigenous Studies. It could be introduced at a High School level. It seeks the truth and looks towards reconciliation. It's a thoughtful, open examination that looks to find a resolution & reconciliation and to find a path forward.

This book looks at the policies that gave the Government and Churches rights over Indigenous children, how these children fared, how the policies were inadequate and how the system failed an entire Culture. The Residential schools caused more damage than a poor education. It separated children from their families and culture, their homes and made them ashamed of their history & roots. This damage spread to all parts of their futures and self-esteem.

The Commission that compiled the information looks to healing this failure and the People. By bringing Truth into the open, we as a society can help repair the hurt we caused.

I particularly liked the end of the book with the statements of how we can put these repairs into action with respect, honor and total acceptance of all People. We have a long way to go and many harms to heal, but if we follow the recommendations of the Commission, we will get there.

This is a wonderful introduction to a much larger issue. I am glad to have read this and now have a larger idea of the situation and will look to learn more.

I do not think there is a better introduction to Canadian residential schools than A Knock on the Door. This is a well-written report on how the Canadian government's policies led to residential schools and then how the Native children fared and how the system failed them. It is a thoughtful and open examination of the period of time and looks for a path forward through resolution and reconciliation.

This book was excellent but reading it as an audio was incredibly tedious and not recommended. The amount of footnotes made the audio difficult to follow. I’d prefer to read a hard copy and be able to take notes or annotate.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

This is essential reading for Canadians. I'm very grateful the the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the work that they've done and for creating this book in such a way that makes it accessible to the general public without glorifying the horrific details.

At first, I found the footnote narrative distracting but once I caught on to the audio format, I was able to follow better. There are a lot of dates, names and details in this book and many of those were lost while trying to drive my car and listen at the same time so perhaps audio is not the best format to digest that level of understanding.

I have been very interested in learning more history of indigenous peoples in Canada, especially in light of the recent discovery of the mass grave in BC. This book was a highly informative, deeply moving and tremendously sad account of the residential school system in Canada. I would highly recommend this book as a place to start for anyone looking to instruct themselves on this horrific part of Canada’s history and the goals for truth and reconciliation put forth within this book. I will definitely be recommending this resource to anyone I know interested in learning more. I was able to read this book as a reviewer with Net Galley and read it as a free audiobook, which was well read and easy to follow both the reader and the content of the book.