Towards the end of Beaton's tenure at the oilsands, news broke that 500 ducks had died in a pond of toxic sludge, bringing into stark relief the environmental impact of the industry. Beaton described male co-workers hitting on her, ogling her and evaluating her appearance, making her feel like an object rather than a human. The book presents sexual harassment as the norm, and gendered violence as a common occurrence. She worked long hours with few days off, and she pegged the ratio of men-to-women at roughly 50-to-one. Once she arrived in Alberta, she got a job at the base plant before moving to one of the camps - a better-paying position that was also more isolated.

With 'Ducks' she sought to lay bare the realities that came along with that opportunity. It was kind of a given that was just where the jobs were, and where the opportunity was,' Beaton said. 'Everybody around where I was living was going there for work. She worked first as a tool crib attendant, fetching tools and equipment for other workers, and then in a warehouse office. None of that was being discussed when Beaton graduated from university with a pile of debt that she decided she would try to dig herself out of in the oilsands.

So there is an angle for every person to have their perspective shifted in some way,' Roach said on the radio show 'Q' ahead of Canada Reads' Monday premiere. 'This book is a window into so many critical conversations about the environment, about Indigenous land rights, about the student debt crisis and about gender relations. This year's slate of Canada Reads contestants are fighting to be named the one book 'to shift your perspective.' Beaton's book is being defended by 'Jeopardy' super-champion Mattea Roach.

The 430-page retelling of her two years in the oilsands portrays the industry as one burdened by misogyny and corporate interests, but also a place where employees can find unexpected acts of kindness and a tight-knit community. With 'Ducks,' Beaton's graphic memoir that's now competing in Canada Reads, she sought to show people what the experience can really be like. 'If you don't have a personal connection to the actual area, the location, or the workforce, or the people that travel back and forth and work there, then it's harder to have an understanding of day-to-day life there,' Beaton said in a phone interview from her home in Cape Breton.

Those making the move now, some 15-plus years after the comics artist worked in Fort McMurray, have more information about the industry thanks to social media, she said. When Kate Beaton migrated west to work in Alberta's oilsands, she didn't know what to expect - other than a job that would allow her to pay down her student loans.

Ducks by Kate Beaton