NEWS RELEASE
BRADFORD WEST GWILLIBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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June is a time to commemorate National Indigenous History Month – and a time to celebrate and recognize the culture, diversity, and heritage of Indigenous people across Canada. Books have the extraordinary power to educate young readers in elementary and secondary schools about the Indigenous experience through powerful and beautiful stories. Throughout this month, the BWG Library is committed to sharing and showcasing the stories of and about First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples – for readers of all ages.
Below are a selection of books for kids and young adults to read during National Indigenous History Month:
- The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, by Jen Ferguson (for Grades 10-12)
Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She'll be working in her family's ice-cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend – whose kisses never made her feel desire, only discomfort – and her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word. But when Lou gets a letter from her biological father – a man Lou hoped would stay behind bars for the rest of his life – she immediately knows that she cannot meet him, no matter how much he insists. While King's friendship makes Lou feel safer and warmer than she would have thought possible, when her family's business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can't ignore her father forever.
- Abalone Woman, by Teoni Spathelfer and Natassia Davies (for Grades 1-3)
A vivid dream teaches Little Wolf about courage and acceptance of those who are different and inspires her to show her daughters and their classmates how to be proud of their diverse cultural backgrounds.
- Hawk, by Jennifer Dance (for Grades 4-7)
As a cross-country runner, Adam aims to win gold in the upcoming provincial championship. But when he is diagnosed with leukemia, he finds himself in a different race, one that he can't afford to lose. He reclaims the name Hawk, given to him by his grandfather, and begins to fight for his life and the land of his ancestors and the creatures that inhabit it. With a little help from his grandfather and his friends, he might just succeed.
- Walking in Two Worlds, by Wab Kinew (for Grades 7-9)
Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe. Feng is a teen boy sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life and the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.
- Hunting by Stars – A Marrow Thieves Novel #2, by Cherie Dimaline (for Grades 7 and up)
French has been captured by the recruiters, confined to one of the infamous residential schools, where the government extracts the marrow of Indigenous people to steal the ability to dream, and where the captured are programmed to betray others of their kind, something which he discovers has been done to his brother. Meanwhile, the other survivors, his found family, are hunting for him, determined to rescue him – and French has to decide just how much and whom he is willing to sacrifice to survive and be reunited with Rose and the others.
- Finding Moose, by Sue Farrell Holler and Jennifer Faria (for kindergarten readers – Grade 2)
Walking as "quiet as mice and rabbits and deer," they come upon fresh moose droppings and set out to find the moose itself. They discover the branches where the moose ate breakfast, greet a chipmunk and goose, and inspect rosehips and pussy willows, but the moose is nowhere to be found. Finally, after accepting that they will have to try again next time, the boy and his grandfather head home only to be met with a big surprise.
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