Aggie and Mudgy

Aggie and Mudgy

Author: Wendy Proverbs

Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co

Published: 2021-11-17

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 1772033766

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Based on the true story of the author’s biological mother and aunt, this middle-grade novel traces the long and frightening journey of two Kaska Dena sisters as they are taken from their home to attend residential school. When Maddy discovers an old photograph of two little girls in her grandmother’s belongings, she wants to know who they are. Nan reluctantly agrees to tell her the story, though she is unsure if Maddy is ready to hear it. The girls in the photo, Aggie and Mudgy, are two Kaska Dena sisters who lived many years ago in a remote village on the BC–Yukon border. Like countless Indigenous children, they were taken from their families at a young age to attend residential school, where they endured years of isolation and abuse. As Nan tells the story, Maddy asks many questions about Aggie and Mudgy’s 1,600-kilometre journey by riverboat, mail truck, paddlewheeler, steamship, and train, from their home to Lejac Residential School in central BC. Nan patiently explains historical facts and geographical places of the story, helping Maddy understand Aggie and Mudgy’s transitional world. Unlike many books on this subject, this story focuses on the journey toresidential school rather than the experience of attending the school itself. It offers a glimpse into the act of being physically uprooted and transported far away from loved ones. Aggie and Mudgy captures the breakdown of family by the forces of colonialism, but also celebrates the survival and perseverance of the descendants of residential school survivors to reestablish the bonds of family. Winner, 2022 City of Victoria Children's Book Prize Winner, 2022 Jeanne Clarke Regional History Award Shortlisted, 2022/23 First Nations Communities READ Award Nominated, 2022 Rocky Mountain Book Award


Forest Magic

Forest Magic

Author: Sarah Grindler

Publisher: Little Explorers

Published: 2021-03-08

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781771089265

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A beautifully illustrated, compact, interactive nature guide to exploring the forest for young readers. What do you notice when you walk in the forest? Different types of trees, plants, and mushrooms? Maybe you hear a squirrel chattering or birds singing. Can you feel all the different kinds of moss? And look there! Hidden animal homes and interesting bugs. With this compact non-fiction guide, young readers will be equipped to seek out, identify, and appreciate the woodland magic that exists all around them. Featuring rich vocabulary words like nurse log, lichen, and sapling, this beautifully illustrated book is the ideal companion for little forest explorers. Incorporating all five senses and encouraging imaginative play, it even includes pixies and fairies (pixie cup lichen and fairy slipper wildflowers)! Forest Magic will be the book you reach for on the way out the door to explore your own backyard. There's so much to see in a forest. What will you discover?


Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body under the Piano

Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body under the Piano

Author: Marthe Jocelyn

Publisher: Tundra Books

Published: 2021-04-06

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0735265488

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A smart and charming middle-grade mystery series starring young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, inspired by the imagined life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. Aggie Morton lives in a small town on the coast of England in 1902. Adventurous and imaginative but deeply shy, Aggie hasn't got much to do since the death of her beloved father . . . until the fateful day when she crosses paths with twelve-year-old Belgian immigrant Hector Perot and discovers a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room! As the number of suspects grows and the murder threatens to tear the town apart, Aggie and her new friend will need every tool at their disposal -- including their insatiable curiosity, deductive skills and not a little help from their friends -- to solve the case before Aggie's beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime Aggie is sure she didn't commit.


Little Wolf

Little Wolf

Author: Teoni Spathelfer

Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co

Published: 2021-05-18

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13: 1772033480

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A young Indigenous girl moves to the big city and learns to find connections to her culture and the land wherever she goes, despite encountering bullies and feelings of isolation along the way. When Little Wolf moves to the big city with her mom and sister, she has difficulty adjusting to their new life. She misses living close to nature and seeing animals wherever she goes, and she misses fishing with her grandfather and seeing dolphins leaping beside their boat. Most of all, she misses feeling connected to her culture. At school, Little Wolf has trouble fitting in. Although her class has kids from many different cultures, no one is Heiltsuk, like her. The other kids call her names and make her feel unwelcome. Her only defence is to howl like a wolf so they run away. But this only isolates her further. Gradually, Little Wolf starts to see the beauty in her new surroundings. She discovers that there is wildlife everywhere, even in the big city. An otter swims beside her as she walks on the seawall. A chickadee chirps in a tree in the big park near her house. And her mother helps her stay connected to their culture by signing them up for beading and dance classes. Despite the difficult start, Little Wolf grows up proud of her background and ready to face the future. This inspiring tale, the first in a trilogy, combines traditional and contemporary Indigenous themes and artwork.


I Am Not a Number

I Am Not a Number

Author: Jenny Kay Dupuis

Publisher: Second Story Press

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 1772602329

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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 number they have assigned to her. When she goes home for summer holidays, Irene's parents decide never to send her and her brothers away again. But where will they hide? And what will happen when her parents disobey the law? Based on the life of co-author Jenny Kay Dupuis’ grandmother, I Am Not a Number is a hugely necessary book that brings a terrible part of Canada’s history to light in a way that children can learn from and relate to.


If This Is Freedom

If This Is Freedom

Author: Gloria Ann Wesley

Publisher: Fernwood Publishing

Published: 2013-09-02T00:00:00Z

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1552666026

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If This Is Freedom continues the story of struggle for Loyalist settlers in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War. In the black settlement of Birchtown, times are especially hard for the former slaves. They face the difficulties of a hardscrabble existence and continued discrimination from their white counterparts. Like many desperate Birchtowners, Sarah Redmond has signed an indenture agreement, a work contract meant to protect her rights and ensure a living wage. Sarah’s employers, the Blyes, do not honour the agreement, and Sarah and her family are all but shattered when Sarah takes a wrong step – one she will come to regret as it sets off a chain of unusual events that put her under further pressure. With her faith in the settlement running dry and the Birchtowners abandoning the settlement, Sarah is perplexed and soon faces the taxing option of whether to hold on to the only real life she has ever known or let go. At once a stand-alone story and a companion to Gloria Ann Wesley’s previous novel, Chasing Freedom, this story about moral courage and the enduring strength of dreams shares history with us in a way that is both honest and emotional.


White Raven

White Raven

Author: Teoni Spathelfer

Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co

Published: 2021-09-06

Total Pages: 35

ISBN-13: 1772033790

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Little Wolf, grown up with children of her own, moves to the country where her mother, White Raven, shares a sad story from her childhood. All grown up with a family of her own, Little Wolf moves from the big city to the island of her ancestors. She wants to share the beauty and mysteries of nature with her children, and she wants them to learn as much about their culture as possible. One day, Little Wolf’s mother, White Raven, visits and begins to tell her grandchildren stories from her own childhood. But the stories are not happy ones. As a child, White Raven left her family to attend St. Michael’s Residential School in Alert Bay, BC. While there, she experienced hunger, loneliness, shame, and isolation from her language and her culture. Even years later, as a grown woman and Elder, she has nightmares about her time at the school. But by sharing her story with Little Wolf and her grandchildren, White Raven begins to heal and brings the family closer together. Through simple, heartfelt text and vivid illustrations that combine contemporary and traditional Indigenous motifs, White Raven is an engaging teaching tool as well as a relatable narrative about the impact of intergenerational trauma on families. Based on the author’s own life and her mother’s residential school experience, the central message of this book is one of healing and family unity.


When We Were Alone

When We Were Alone

Author: David A. Robertson

Publisher: Portage & Main Press

Published: 2017-02-13

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 1553796969

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Winner of the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award! A young girl notices things about her grandmother that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long, braided hair and beautifully coloured clothing? Why does she speak Cree and spend so much time with her family? As the girl asks questions, her grandmother shares her experiences in a residential school, when all of these things were taken away. Also available in a bilingual Swampy Cree/English edition. Download the free teacher guide on the Portage & Main Press website.


Accomplice

Accomplice

Author: Valerie Sherrard

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2011-02-03

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 1459705238

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Short-listed for the 2012 SYRCA Snow Willow Award Lexie Malton is an average Vancouver teen with fairly typical issues. Her stepmother is far from her favourite person, she has a sister with special needs, and life outside the home is the usual mix of school, friends, and social events. But Lexie has a secret. Her ex-boyfriend, Devlin Mather, is now a heroin addict living on the street, and only Lexie knows that shes the one who put him there. Guilt makes her give in to Devlins demands for money time and time again, even though she knows how dangerous his drug use is. Lexie finally gathers the strength to stop enabling Devlin. But when he seeks treatment for his addiction, Lexie finds herself drawn back to him, never guessing what a dark and deadly path she has just chosen. Devlin relapses, and his desperation leads to an act that will change both of their lives forever.


Sarah's Legacy

Sarah's Legacy

Author: Valerie Sherrard

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2006-04

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9781550026023

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Sarah and her mother become the recipients of an unusual inheritance. A home of their own sounds too good to be true but the conditions that come with it are strange indeed.