A coming-of-age novel for adults about the impact of the child welfare system and the struggle to find your identity while healing from trauma. A young girl separated from her sister by the child welfare system learns to survive in a colonizer's world and embrace her Métis (Indigenous) identity. Examines the negative impacts of the child welfare system, as well as navigating different experiences of Métis identity in the face of racism against Indigenous peoples. After 40 years in print, this book is as relevant and compelling for today's readers as when it was first published. This is a touchstone of Indigenous literature in Canada that inspired countless Indigenous authors early in their careers, including two-time Governor General's Award winner David A. Robertson, activist and columnist Dr. Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, and celebrated writer and radio host Rosanna Deerchild. Although this is a work of fiction, Métis author Beatrice Mosionier has personal experience in the child welfare system and wrote In Search of April Raintree after losing two of her sisters to suicide.

The 25th anniversary edition of In Search of April Raintree was recommended by Debbie Reese.