SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THREE 2022 SASKATCHEWAN BOOK AWARDS

A CBC Best Canadian Fiction Book of 2021

"In Probably Ruby, Lisa Bird-Wilson explores the deep vulnerability inherent in having no sense of one’s place in the world and particularly the Indigenous world. Bird-Wilson effectively captures the sadness, anger, loneliness and alienation that Indigenous children lost to the child-welfare system are plagued by as they search for a sense of meaning and identity. In turns raw, tender, funny, despairing and hopeful, Probably Ruby tells a story that needs hearing." —Michelle Good, author of Five Little Indians

"Probably Ruby is a work of incredible depth and breadth. . . . The novel unfolds in a non-linear narrative that Bird-Wilson masterfully weaves together with elegiac prose. It is populated with revelatory passages that are at once beautiful and raw, and demand for you to sit with them a little while. . . poetic gut punches. . . . It's a difficult novel that challenges readers to make connections between the world that Bird-Wilson has created in the book and the country that we live in today, allowing us to see the world through the eyes of another: their struggles and their resiliencies. Her writing is never didactic, always engrossing, and the protagonist is a complex, unforgettable character who will stay with you long after the last page has been turned. Probably Ruby is a timely and important novel every Canadian should read." —Toronto Star

"An authentic portrait of transracial adoption. . . . Bird-Wilson's debut is a much-needed shift in the adoption narrative, long dominated by the experiences of adoptive parents. . . . In a time when truth is coveted, Probably Ruby is a refreshing reminder of the realities of forced Indigenous adoption and family separation. Bird-Wilson's writing is at times poetic and ever compelling. We are fortunate to have her and Ruby among us." —The Washington Post