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The hill
By Karen Bass. 2016
Jared’s plane has crashed in the Alberta wilderness, and Kyle is first on the scene. When Jared insists on hiking…
up the highest hill in search of cell phone reception, Kyle hesitates; his Cree grandmother has always forbidden him to go near it. There’s no stopping Jared, though, so Kyle reluctantly follows. After a night spent on the hilltop - with no cell service - the teens discover something odd: the plane has disappeared. Nothing in the forest surrounding them seems right. In fact, things seem very wrong. And worst of all, something - a creature that should only exist in legend - is hunting them. For senior high readers. 2016.Tales the elders told: Ojibway legends
By Basil Johnston. 1981
These legends, which include "Why birds go south in winter" and "The first butterflies", are an integral part of the…
spiritual and cultural heritage of the Ojibway people. For all ages.Red Wolf
By Jennifer Dance. 2014
Life is changing for Canada's Anishnaabek Nation and for the wolf packs that share their territory. In the late 1800s,…
both Native people and wolves are being forced from the land. Starving and lonely, an orphaned timber wolf is befriended by a boy named Red Wolf. But under the Indian Act, Red Wolf is forced to attend a residential school far from the life he knows, and the wolf is alone once more. Courage, love and fate reunite the pair, and they embark on a perilous journey home. But with winter closing in, will Red Wolf and Crooked Ear survive? And if they do, what will they find? For junior high readers. 2014.Money boy
By Paul Yee. 2011
Chinese immigrant Ray Liu is having a tough time getting grades that please his father, speaking English, and connecting to…
the other Chinese kids at his school who seem to have adjusted more easily. When his father discovers Ray has been cruising gay websites, he’s kicked out and ends up in downtown Toronto, where he gets robbed, beaten up, and seduced. Soon Ray has to decide if, to survive, he could sell himself for sex. If no one gets hurt, why should anyone care? For senior high readers. Some descriptions of sex and violence, strong language. 2011.I am not a number
By Kathy Kacer, Jenny Kay Dupuis. 2016
Based on the life of Jenny Kay Dupuis' own grandmother, a young First Nations girl who was sent to a…
residential school. 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 to force her to do otherwise. Grades 3-6. Winner of the 2018 Silver Birch Express Honour Book Award. Winner of the 2018 Hackmatack Award for non-fiction. Winner of the 2018 Red Cedar Information Book Award. 2016.Hawk
By Jennifer Dance, Allister Thompson. 2016
Hawk, a First Nations teen from northern Alberta, is a cross-country runner. But when Hawk discovers he has leukemia, his…
identity as a star athlete is stripped away, along with his muscles and energy. When he finds an osprey, “a fish hawk,” mired in a pond of toxic residue from the oil sands industry, he sees his life-or-death struggle echoed by the young bird. Slipping in and out of consciousness, Hawk has visions of the osprey and other animals that shared his childhood home: woodland caribou, wolves, and wood buffalo. They are all helpless and vulnerable, their forest and muskeg habitat vanishing. Hawk sees in these tragedies parallels with his own fragile life, and wants to forge a new identity - one that involves standing up for the voiceless creatures that share his world. But he needs to survive long enough to do it. For junior and senior high readers. 2016.Holding still for as long as possible
By Zoe Whittall. 2009
Trapped somewhere between growing up and being grown-ups, three twentysomethings hide behind excessive drinking and partying, and use text messages…
to relay their emotions. Meet Billy, a former teen pop starlet who suffers from severe panic attacks; Josh, a paramedic whose ability to patch up injured patients parallels his inability to repair his own emotional damages; and Amy, a rich kid trying to live the Bohemian indie life while dealing with her first broken heart. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2009.Totally Joe (The misfits Ser.)
By James Howe. 2005
As a school assignment, a thirteen-year-old boy writes an alphabiography--life from A to Z--and explores issues of friendship, family, school,…
and the challenges of being a gay teenager. Grades 5-8. 2007, c2005.The mask that sang
By Susan Currie. 2016
When Cass's estranged grandmother unexpectedly leaves her house and savings to Cass and her mom, it is just the thing…
they need to change their lives. Cass is being bullied at school, and her mom just lost her job—again—so they pack up and move in. Cass finds an intriguing and powerful mask in her new room, and she is inexplicably drawn to it. A strange relationship grows between Cass and the mask; it sings her songs, shows her visions of past traumas and encourages her to be brave when facing bullies. The mask eventually leads her to discover her own Cayuga heritage and leads her into the arms of a community that's been waiting for them. Winner of the Second Story Press Aboriginal Writing Contest. Grades 3-6. 2016.When everything feels like the movies
By Raziel Reid. 2014
School is just like a film set: there's The Crew, who make things happen, The Extras who fill the empty…
desks, and The Movie Stars, whom everyone wants tagged in their Facebook photos. But Jude doesn't fit in; he's not part of any of those. As the director calls action, Jude is the flamer that lights the set on fire. Before everything turns to ashes from the resulting inferno, Jude drags his best friend Angela off the casting couch and into enough melodrama to incite the paparazzi, all while trying to fend off the haters and win the heart of his favourite co-star Luke Morris. It's a total train wreck! But train wrecks always make the front page. For junior and senior high readers. 2014 Governor General's Literary Award for children's literature. Canada Reads 2015. 2014.These are my words: the residential school diary of Violet Pesheens (Dear Canada)
By Ruby Slipperjack. 2016
Twelve-year-old Violet Pesheens is taken away to Residential School in 1966. The diary recounts her experiences of travelling there, the…
first day, and first months, focusing on the everyday life she experiences--the school routine, battles with Cree girls, being quarantined over Christmas, getting home at Easter and reuniting with her family. When the time comes to gather at the train station for the trip back to the residential school, her mother looks her in the eye and asks, "Do you want to go back, or come with us to the trapline?" Violet knows the choice she must make. Grades 4-7. 2016.Boy meets boy
By David Levithan. 2003
High school sophomore Paul lives in a present-day gaytopia, where boys come out of the closet to become class president,…
and the Gay-Straight Alliance has more members than the football team. When Paul meets artistic Noah in the bookstore, they pass notes rife with meaningful detail; paint in Noah's psychedelic, art-covered room; and fall in sweet, realistic teenage love, unencumbered by gay bashing, sexual-identity crises, and parental rejection. For junior and senior high readers. 2003.Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe (The Land Is Our Story Book #9)
By Mindy Willett, Henry Beaver. 2019
Henry and Eileen Beaver and their family live in Fort Smith, on the Slave River between Lake Athabaska and Great…
Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. They have a mixed indigenous heritage of Nehiyaw or Cree and Dene Dedline or Chipewyan.Join the authors as they lead the children and parents through important cultural experiences, tell stories, and share their wisdom and truths with compassion. Learn the protocols for building a tipi, trapping a beaver, laying the grandfather stones for a fire, smudging, and harvesting salt from the Salt Plains in Wood Buffalo National Park. In Cree, tapwe means "it is so," or "the truth." In this, the ninth book in This Land Is Our Storybook series, Henry writes, "We can't tell you what to do with the truths we share in this book, but we hope that reading our story will help you get to know us a little better so that together we can make this nation a place we can all be proud of."Siha Tooskin Knows the Love of the Dance (Siha Tooskin Knows #8)
By Charlene Bearhead, Wilson Bearhead, Chloe Bluebird Mustooch. 2020
Thundering drums, rattling hooves, clinking jingles—come along with Paul, Jeff, and Uncle Lenard to the powwow! Paul Wahasaypa—Siha Tooskin—has invited…
his friend, Jeff, to a powwow. It’s Jeff’s very first powwow, and is he ever nervous! What if he says or does the wrong thing? Grass dancers, Fancy Shawl dancers, Chicken dancers—what does it all mean? Follow along as Jeff learns all about the dances and their beautiful traditions. See you at the powwow!The Siha Tooskin Knows series uses vivid narratives and dazzling illustrations in contemporary settings to share stories about an 11-year-old Nakota boy.The Fabulous Zed Watson!
By Kevin Sylvester, Basil Sylvester. 2021
The literary scavenger hunt of a lifetime, starring an endlessly endearing non-binary tween Zed Watson loves a few things: their…
name (which they chose themself!), their big rambunctious family, and—oh yeah—monsters. When Zed discovered the mystery surrounding an unpublished novel called The Monster’s Castle, they were completely hooked. Now Zed is a member of a small but dedicated legion devoted to finding the long-buried text. When a breakthrough discovery leads Zed to the route that they are sure will take them to the treasure, they know it’s time for a road trip. And with the help of their shy, flora-loving neighbour, Gabe, and his sister, Sam, a geologist who is driving back to college in Arizona, Zed and company are soon off on a wild adventure following cryptic clues. But it’s not all fun and games. Gabe doesn’t like Zed’s snacks, Sam is a bossy driver with total command of the ancient Impreza’s stereo, and Zed is often misgendered. It’s a good thing they also encounter kind strangers, potato-themed dance-offs and lots and lots of ice cream along the way. If Zed and Gabe can combine their strengths, survive Sam’s wrath and best the greedy historian who’s also hot on the book’s trail, they just might find the greatest treasure of all. Co-authored by child-parent duo Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester, this is a vibrant and enormous-hearted story about friendship, identity and belonging. It features illustrations by celebrated author and illustrator Kevin Sylvester, and an Own Voices perspective based on Basil’s experience.An Anishinaabe child and her grandmother explore the natural wonders of each season in this lyrical, bilingual story-poem. In this…
lyrical story-poem, written in Anishinaabemowin and English, a child and grandmother explore their surroundings, taking pleasure in the familiar sights that each new season brings. We accompany them through warm summer days full of wildflowers, bees and blueberries, then fall, when bears feast before hibernation and forest mushrooms are ripe for harvest. Winter mornings begin in darkness as deer, mice and other animals search for food, while spring brings green shoots poking through melting snow and the chirping of peepers. Brittany Luby and Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley have created a book inspired by childhood memories of time spent with Knowledge Keepers, observing and living in relationship with the natural world in the place they call home — the northern reaches of Anishinaabewaking, around the Great Lakes.The Case of the Burgled Bundle: A Mighty Muskrats Mystery: Book 3 (A Mighty Muskrats Mystery #3)
By Michael Hutchinson. 2021
The National Assembly of Cree Peoples has gathered together in the Windy Lake First Nation, home to the Mighty Muskrats—cousins…
Chickadee, Atim, Otter, and Sam. But when the treaty bundle, the center of a four-day-long ceremony, is taken, the four mystery-solving cousins set out to catch those responsible and help protect Windy Lake’s reputation!What’s worse, prime suspect Pearl takes off to the city with her older brother and known troublemaker, Eddie. If they have the burgled bundle with them, the Mighty Muskrats fear it may be lost for good. With clues pointing in too many different directions, the cousins need to find and return the missing bundle before the assembly comes to an end. The history and knowledge passed down to each generation through the bundle is at stake.Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer
By Leslie Gentile. 2021
Winner of the 2021 City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize It’s the summer of 1978 and most people think Elvis…
Presley has been dead for a year. But not eleven-year-old Truly Bateman – because she knows Elvis is alive and well and living in the Eagle Shores Trailer Park. Maybe no one ever thought to look for him at on the Eagle Shores First Nation on Vancouver Island. It’s a busy summer for Truly. Though her mother is less of a mother than she ought to be, and spends her time drinking and smoking and working her way through new boyfriends, Truly is determined to raise as much money for herself as she can through her lemonade stand … and to prove that her cool new neighbour is the one and only King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. And when she can’t find motherly support in her own home, she finds sanctuary with Andy El, the Salish woman who runs the trailer park.Forever Birchwood: A Novel
By Danielle Daniel. 2022
The middle-grade debut of star picture-book author and illustrator Danielle DanielAdventurous, trail-blazing Wolf lives in a northern mining town and…
spends her days exploring the mountains and wilderness with her three best friends Penny, Ann and Brandi. The girls’ secret refuge is their tree-house hideaway, Birchwood, Wolf’s favourite place on earth. When her beloved grandmother tells her that she is the great-granddaughter of a tree talker, Wolf knows that she is destined to protect the birch trees and wildlife that surround her.But Wolf’s mother doesn’t understand this connection at all. Not only is she reluctant to engage with their family’s Indigenous roots, she seems suspiciously on the wrong side of the environmental protection efforts in their hometown. To make matters worse, she’s just started dating an annoying new boyfriend named Roger, whose motives—and construction company—seem equally suspect.As summer arrives, so do bigger problems. Wolf and her friends discover orange plastic bands wrapped around the trees near their cherished hangout spot, and their once stable friendship seems on the verge of unravelling. Birchwood has given them so much—can they even stay together long enough to save this special place?With gorgeous yet understated language, Danielle Daniel beautifully captures an urgent and aching time in a young person’s life. To read this astonishing middle-grade debut is to have your heart broken and then tenderly mended.On the Line
By Eric Walters, Paul Coccia. 2022