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#IdleNoMore
Idle No More bewildered many Canadians. Launched by four women in Saskatchewan in reaction to a federal omnibus budget bill, the protest became the most powerful demonstration of Aboriginal identity in Canadian history. Thousands of aboriginal people and their supporters took to the streets, shopping malls, and other venues, drumming, dancing, and …
Through Flood and Fire
After travelling thousands of miles, Dorothy Bolton is still getting used to her new home in Canada — and on the prairies no less. The Barr Colonists who arrived with Dorothy and her family are getting restless. Fires and floods consume homes and resources, and many promises made to them before leaving England have proven false.
But Dorothy's fath …
The Education of Augie Merasty
"This story of a child is heartbreaking and important. It brings into dramatic focus why we need reconciliation." - James Daschuk, author of Clearing the Plains
This memoir offers a courageous and intimate chronicle of life in a residential school.
Now a retired fisherman and trapper, the author was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, …
Payepot and His People
Payepot and His People was first published serially by The Western Producer. In 1957 it was published in book form by the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society.
Abel Watetch was a nephew of Chief Payepot and a veteran of World War I. As noted in the introduction to the 1957 edition, Watetch had earlier set down in "fine, clear handwriting" the p …
West to the Bay
In 1750, Thomas Gunn, along with three friends, join the Hudson's Bay Company and sail from Stromness on the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland to York Factory fort on Hudson's Bay. They believe they are starting a new and exciting life in what is called Rupert's Land, but tragedy follows them, striking for the first time on the ship.
At the fort …
The Comic Book War
Can three comic-book superheroes, and a rock that falls from the sky, really protect Robert Tourond's brothers as they fight the enemy in Europe during World War II? It's 1943 and World War II is raging. 13-year-old Robert Tourond is safe at home in Calgary, but his three brothers are all overseas, fighting the Nazis. A dreamer, Robert closely foll …
The Nutmeg Princess
A powerful modern fable about friendship, faith, and the nature of beauty.
Best friends Aglo and Petal live on a small island in the Caribbean called the Isle of Spice (based on Grenada). When Petite Mama tells them the story of a mysterious nutmeg princess whom only she has seen, Aglo and Petal decide they must go and ind the elusive princess thems …
Razia's Ray of Hope
Razia is excited when her grandfather tells her there's a school for girls being built in their Afghan village. At last, girls will have the same opportunity to be educated as boys. “Every night I fell asleep dreaming about going to school like my brothers,” she says. Her grandfather wants Razia to enroll in the school. He remembers a time, bef …
Up Above and Down Below
“In the world, there are different kinds of people,” opens Up Above and Down Below. The ones on the top think the ones on the bottom are different. The ones down below they think the ones up above are different. But what if they all turned themselves upside down? Would everyone find that they’re all the same, except in a few small ways?
Thr …
Queer Monologues
Queer Monologues: Stories of LBGT Youth, produced by For the Love of Learning (FTLOL), offers queer youth a safe, creative outlet to share their concerns, hopes, and personal stories with the community-at-large. If an individual is unable to be themselves, the consequences can be emotional, physical, and mental harm. When feelings are shared within …
Soapstone Signs
One spring, a nine-year-old Cree boy is visited by a master soapstone carver named Lindy, who gives him four pieces of soapstone. The primary secret to carving, the boy learns, is recognizing that each piece of soapstone already holds its true form inside. Lindy teaches the boy to listen to the soapstone and look to the world around him for signs a …
Broken Circle
Now an approved curriculum resource for grade 9–12 students in British Columbia and Manitoba.
Theodore (Ted) Fontaine lost his family and freedom just after his seventh birthday, when his parents were forced to leave him at an Indian residential school by order of the Roman Catholic Church and the Government of Canada. Twelve years later, he lef …
Aziz the Storyteller
In this enchanting tale set in the Middle East, all the stories are woven into a magic carpet waiting to be told. When young Aziz learns that he is to become the new storyteller, he is forced to make a decision that will change his life forever.
If You Live Like Me
“Weber writes with a light touch and a keen ear for teen dialogue and concerns.” —CM Magazine
Before her plane even touches down in Newfoundland, Cheryl is already plotting her escape. She knows life on this rock will be no better than it was in the other places she’s been forced to live ever since her parents launched their cross-Canada to …
The Salmon Twins
In her third book inspired by First Nations’ stories, children’s author and illustrator Caroll Simpson explains the significance of community values. She introduces readers to a world of creatures like Sea Lion, Killer Whale, Dogfish and Kingfisher. Her dramatic tale of young twins and their transformation shows how working together keeps a com …
No Place for Kids
Finalist, Saskatchewan Book Awards, Best Children’s Book
Sisters Jennifer and Sarah were once part of a happy, stable family, but their idyllic life comes to an abrupt halt with the death of their mother. Unable to cope with his grief and the needs of his two young daughters, their father finds comfort in alcohol, gets fired from his job, and l …
The Last Train
The Last Train is the harrowing true story about young brothers Paul and Oscar Arato and their mother, Lenke, surviving the Nazi occupation during the final years of World War II. Living in the town of Karcag, Hungary, the Aratos felt insulated from the war — even as it raged all around them. Hungary is allied with Germany to protect its citizens …
The Matatu
Do you know why dogs always chase after the matatus?
Kioko had been watching the matatus come and go for as long as he could remember. But today, for his fifth birthday, he climbs aboard one with his grandfather. As the matatu pulls away from the market, the village dogs chase after them. When Kioko asks his grandfather why the dogs always bark and …
The Inuit Thought of It
Today’s Arctic communities have all the comforts of modern living. Yet the Inuit survived in this harsh landscape for hundreds of years with nothing but the land and their own ingenuity. Join authors Alootook Ipellie and David MacDonald as they explore the amazing innovations of traditional Inuit and how their ideas continue to echo around the wo …
The Contest
Rosy is thrilled when she learns she could win a set of L.M. Montgomery's books from the library in an Anne of Green Gables look-alike contest. But will Rosy, a half-Native brunette, be able to compete with her red-haired and freckled friend Lydia?
Dreaming in Indian
A highly-acclaimed anthology about growing up Native—now in paperback.
*Best Books of 2014, American Indians in Children’s Literature *Best Book of 2014, Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature *2015 USBBY Outstanding International Book Honor List
A collection truly universal in its themes, Dreaming in Indian will shatter commonly held s …
When I Was Eight
Bestselling memoir Fatty Legs for younger readers.
Olemaun is eight and knows a lot of things. But she does not know how to read. Ignoring her father’s warnings, she travels far from her Arctic home to the outsiders’ school to learn.
The nuns at the school call her Margaret. They cut off her long hair and force her to do menial chores, but she re …
End of the Line
Ordinary citizens risk everything to save a young Jewish girl in wartime Holland.
Five-year-old Beatrix looks on in horror as the soldier forces her mother off the tram. It is 1942 in Amsterdam, and everyone knows what happens to Jews who are taken away by the Nazis. The soldier turns his attention to Beatrix, when suddenly, the ticket-taker, Lars G …
Not My Girl
Margaret can’t wait to see her family, but her homecoming is not what she expected.
Two years ago, Margaret left her Arctic home for the outsiders’ school. Now she has returned and can barely contain her excitement as she rushes towards her waiting family—but her mother stands still as a stone. This strange, skinny child, with her hair cropped …
Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin
In this beautifully written picture book, Hana Hashimoto has signed up to play her violin at her school's talent show. The trouble is, she's only a beginner, and she's had only three lessons. Her brothers insist she isn't good enough. “It's a talent show, Hana,” they tell her. “You'll be a disaster!” Hana remembers how wonderfully her talen …
Every Day is Malala Day
This is a letter of sisterhood to Malala Yousafzai, written from the perspective of girls around the world who share her belief that every girl has the right to go to school, and who represent the many barriers a girl can face when trying to get an education. After being shot by the Taliban for the simple act of going to school in her native Pakist …
Playing With Matches
When 16-year-old Raina Resnick is expelled from her Manhattan private school, she’s sent to live with her strict aunt — but Raina feels like she’s persona non grata no matter where she goes. Her sister, Leah, blames her for her broken engagement, and she’s a social pariah at her new school. In the tight-knit Jewish community, Raina finds sh …
Child Soldier
Michel Chikwanine was five years old when he was abducted from his school-yard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a soldier for a brutal rebel militia. Against the odds, Michel managed to escape and find his way back to his family, but he was never the same again. After immigrating to Canada, Michel was encouraged …
Muinjij Becomes a Man
Muinji’j has been waiting all his life to make this trip with his grandfather-a trip to the city to sell rich otter, beaver and muskrat pelts and bring back supplies to the village. It’s a long expedition that tests Muinji’j’s reserves of strength, patience and maturity. Just as he thinks he and his niskamij have faced all of their challeng …
Raven, Stay by Me
Eleven-year-old Greenlander Inga Sigurdsdottir wakens on a cold and rocky coast after her Norse ship wrecks en route to “Vinland.” Her one comfort and companion is an injured raven she rescues. When she encounters Inuit hunters, both parties are terrified by the meeting. But when an exhausted Inga rescues a lost child, the girl’s mother insis …
Muinji'j Ji'nmus'sit
Muinji’j has been waiting all his life to make this trip with his grandfather-a trip to the city to sell rich otter, beaver and muskrat pelts and bring back supplies to the village. It’s a long expedition that tests Muinji’j’s reserves of strength, patience and maturity. Just as he thinks he and his niskamij have faced all of their challeng …
Adventures of Gus & Isaac
When Issac, the bob-tailed cat, is being beat up by the backyard bullies, Gus, the seagull, comes to the rescue. Bullies roam the backyards of downtown St. John’s, scaring and picking on everyone they find. So, when Isaac the bob-tailed cat moves into a house in the neighbourhood, you know he’ll be the next target. It’s only by forging an unl …
Little Snowshoe
Little Snowshoe is an easy-to-read book, which bases its storyline on the camouflage ability of the snowshoe rabbit. Set in the Arctic, the story unfolds with Little Snowshoe looking for his mother. Against the whiteness of the snow he is continually fooled by other objects that he mistakes for her. Finally, exhausted from his search, he falls asle …
Shu-Li and Tamara
This contemporary story of the true friendship between two girls is set in Vancouver’s Commercial Drive neighborhood. Shu-Li’s parents run a local Chinese deli and much of the story revolves around food. There is a helpful compendium of recipes at the end of the book for kids to try out. Beautifully illustrated throughout with line drawings.
I Am Not a Number
When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns who are in charge at the school and who tell her that she is not to use her own name but instead use the numb …
Everyday Hero
Alice doesn’t like noise, smells or strangers. She does like rules. Lots of rules.
Nobody at her new school knows she is autistic, and soon Alice finds herself in trouble because the rules here are different. When she meets Megan in detention, she doesn’t know what to make of her. Megan doesn’t smell, she’s not terribly noisy, and she’s no …
Where I Belong
This moving novel of self-discovery and awareness takes place during the Oka crisis in the summer of 1990. Adopted as an infant, Carrie has always felt out of place somehow. Recurring dreams haunt her, warning that someone close to her will be badly hurt. When she finds out that her birth father is Mohawk, living in Kahnawake, Quebec, she makes the …
Zoe's Extraordinary Holiday Adventures
Zoe is in a wheelchair and it bugs her that some kids think she’s not smart because her body doesn’t always do what she wants. Then, Zoe learns about the diverse cultures of her friends at school, and realizes she’s not the only different one.
Branded by the Pink Triangle
A history of the persecution of gay men by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. When the Nazis came to power in Europe, the lives of homosexuals came to be ruled by fear as raids, arrests, prison sentences and expulsions became the daily reality. When the concentration camps were built, homosexuals were imprisoned along with Jews. The pink triangl …
The Bone Collector's Son
Fourteen-year-old Bing is upset with his father for forcing him to help him dig up the bones of Chinese men and women in order to send them back to China. After they discover a skeleton without a skull, Ba is haunted by the powerful ghost. Later Bing gets a job as houseboy for a wealthy family, where he finds another ghost haunting the family. Bing …
Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts
Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts is a book in the highly-praised Fairy Tale Feasts Collection, a creative series that folds enchanting folk tales into cookbooks of kid-friendly recipes.
Hear Me Out
Twenty Gay teens speak out about their lives, about the realization of their sexuality, and the consequences for themselves. These young people discuss the reactions of their friends and families, their schoolmates and society in general.
Emily Included
The true story of Emily Eaton. Born with severe cerebral palsy, Emily and her family had to fight for her right to go to school with non-disabled children in a regular classroom. Their fight, which began at a time when children with CP were segregated, was groundbreaking. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Emily's fight would take her all the way …
Child of Dandelions
It is 1972, and fifteen-year-old Sabine enjoys a comfortable life as the daughter of Indian parents living in Uganda. But her world is turned upside down when President General Idi Amin declares Indians must be “weeded out” of Uganda in ninety days.