CANADIAN ABORIGINAL BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS 2015–2016 CATALOGUE
9
SEC
OND
AR
Y
NORVAL
MORRISSEAU
MAN CHANGING INTO
THUNDERBIRD
Armand Garnet Ruffo
Norval Morrisseau (1932–2007),
Ojibway shaman-artist, was
honoured with the Order
of Canada, an Aboriginal
Achievement award, and
became the first Aboriginal
artist to have a solo show at the
National Gallery of Canada.
In 1962, he rose to prominence
following a sold-out exhibition
in Toronto. The author draws on
extensive research from books,
newspaper articles, archival
videos, and an interview with
the painter in this captivat-
ing biography that provides
insights into the creative and
often darker sides of this prolific
artist. A residential school sur-
vivor, haunted by the demons of
alcoholism. By the end of his life
there were questions about the
authenticity of his later works.
The story intertwines teachings
from his grandfather, memories
of spirit dreams, and poetry.
GRADES: 11–12, ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS, VISUAL ART
Index/Bibliography: Yes/No
©2014 320pp. 6"x9"
b/w photographs
ISBN 9781771620468 $32.95 HC
epub 9781771620475 $32.95
Douglas & McIntyre
www.douglas-mcintyre.com
ONE STORY, ONE
SONG
Richard Wagamese
One Story, One Song comprises
over 60 short essays/stories
of personal observations and
experiences that apply the
traditional Ojibway principles of
humility, trust, and wisdom to
modern life. With humour and
sensitivity, the essays relate to
the ongoing struggle for Native
rights in Canada. Written in
an unadorned style, topics like
homelessness, alcoholism, and
drug abuse, are unsentimentally
presented through the clarity of
the author’s voice. Part memoir,
part self-help book, and part
affirmation, the author moves
towards honesty and confidence
by healing past wounds and
finding peace with his identity
as a former alcoholic who has
witnessed the range of human
flaws and kindnesses
GRADES: 10–12, ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS
Index/Bibliography: No/No
©2015 216pp. 5.5"x8"
ISBN 9781771620802 $19.95 PA
ISBN 9781553655060 $29.95 HC
epub 9781553656432 $19.95
Douglas & McIntyre
www.douglas-mcintyre.com
THE OUTSIDE
CIRCLE
A GRAPHIC NOVEL
Patti LaBoucane-Benson
Kelly Mellings, illus.
This graphic novel addresses
issues of racism and discrimina-
tion, poverty, sexual and domes-
tic abuse, alcohol and drug
addiction, and gang violence in
a search for a healing balance
for First Nations youth. The
protagonist becomes aware of
the effect that his lifestyle plays
in transmitting the intergen-
erational pain of the Aboriginal
people on to his younger
brother. He embarks on a physi-
cal and spiritual healing process
through the “In Search of Your
Warrior” program, sweat lodges,
and smudging. The Outside
Circle uses the conventions of
the graphic novel to powerful
effect in narrating a sensitive
and disturbing story.
Caution: Graphic images
and content may be disturbing
to some readers.
GRADES: 10–12, ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS, SOCIAL
STUDIES
Index/Bibliography: No/No
©2015 128pp. 6.68"x10"
colour drawings
ISBN 9781770899377 $19.95 PA
epub 9781770899384 $16.95
House of Anansi
www.houseofanansi.com
PAGE AS BONE—INK
AS BLOOD
Jónína Kirton
This book of poems is a collec-
tion of memories—of family, ill-
ness, sexual encounters, suicide,
death, and redemption. Her
voice is clearly Métis, clearly
female. Her poems, which range
from lyrics to prose poems, are
infused with rhythm and song
and employ interesting use of
white space. One piece is an
imagined after-death letter from
Louis Riel to Gabriel Dumont.
Two pages of notes at the back
of the book offer insights into
some of the poems and into the
poet’s mind.
Caution: Includes a sarcastic
reference to Jehovah Witnesses’
belief. The poems include refer-
ences to drugs.
GRADES: 11–12,
CREATIVE
WRITING, ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ARTS, SOCIAL STUDIES, TEACHER
REFERENCE
Index/Bibliography: No/No
©2015 96pp. 6"x9"
ISBN 9780889229235 $16.95 PA
Talonbooks
www.talonbooks.com
10
ASSOCIATION OF BOOK PUBLISHERS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA www.books.bc.ca
SEC
OND
AR
Y
PEACE PIPE DREAMS
THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES ABOUT
INDIANS
Darrell Dennis
Peace Pipe Dreams is a blend of
entertaining personal anec-
dotes and historical facts told
through the author’s comedic
perspective. In a very readable
writing style, Dennis exam-
ines Aboriginal issues and the
historical and religious context
that helped shape them. This
fascinating book describes
the misconceptions around
political correctness, percep-
tions of the Europeans and
North Americans, the Indian
Act, treaties, reserves, taxation,
sports mascot names, and the
implementation of residential
schools. The final chapter lists
resources.
Caution: Mature language
in the section “Captivity
Stories” describes the sex roles
of Aboriginal and non-Aborigi-
nal women in movies.
GRADES: 10–12, SOCIAL JUSTICE,
SOCIAL STUDIES, TEACHER
RESOURCE
Index/Bibliography: Yes/No
©2014 240pp. 5.5"x8"
ISBN 9781771000406 $22.95 PA
epub 9781771003629 $22.95
Douglas & McIntyre
www.douglas-mcintyre.com
THE SEARCH
FOR HEINRICH
SCHLÖGEL
Martha Baillie
This novel is narrated by an
archivist who becomes obsessed
with Schlögel’s disappearance
after seeing a news photograph
in which he is seen walking in
downtown Toronto followed
by a fox and a stag. So begins
the strange story of Heinrich
Schlögel. Fascinated by the
Arctic explorer Samuel Hearne,
influenced by his brilliant
but suicidal sister’s study of
Inukituk, and by a Canadian
who lived on Baffin Island, he
makes a journey to Pangnirtung
from his home in Germany.
During a 12-day solitary hike,
Schlögel experiences visions and
inexplicable events. When he
returns to Pangnirtung he has
not aged but time has shifted
and he emerges 30 years in
the future. Baillie’s unreliable
narrator and her use of magic
realism and time travel create
a novel that blends fantasy and
reality, while also commenting
on changing environmental
conditions in the north.
GRADES: 10–12, ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS
Index/Bibliography: No/No
©2014 240pp. 5.75"x8.5"
ISBN 9781897141632 $22.00 PA
Pedlar Press
www.pedlarpress.com
THE THUNDERBIRD
POEMS
Armand Garnet Ruffo
Here the poet links renowned
Canadian artist Norval
Morisseau’s life to his paintings
in a series of poems and brief
prose comments. Each poem
is prefaced with a comment
to set the context. The reader
learns not only of the artist’s life
and paintings but also about
Ojibway storytelling traditions
and worldview. The artist’s
struggles as a survivor of a
Catholic residential school, drug
and alcohol abuse, estrangement
from his family and home com-
munity, and artistic triumphs
are recounted. The poems also
bravely consider how Morisseau
was the first Canadian artist to
express his sexuality in his work.
Caution: Explicit sexual and
alcohol abuse references are
included.
GRADES: 10–12, CREATIVE
WRITING, ENGLISH LITERATURE,
SOCIAL STUDIES, VISUAL ARTS
Index/Bibliography: No/No
©2015 108pp. 6"x9"
ISBN 9781550177060 $18.95 PA
epub 9781550177077 $18.95
Harbour Publishing
www.harbourpublishing.com
TOFINO AND
CLAYOQUOT SOUND
A HISTORY
Margaret Horsfield &
Ian Kennedy, eds.
This compilation of essays
provides the first overall history
of the region. From the distant
past to the present day, the
authors give a complete and
lively account of the culturally
rich Nuu-chah-nulth homeland
as it evolved from obscure rain
forest to a world-renowned
wilderness destination, the
Pacific Rim National Park. We
are introduced to explorers and
sealers, missionaries and set-
tlers, First Nations leaders, chil-
dren at the residential schools,
and pre-Internment Japanese
families. Fur trading and gold-
seeking eventually gave way to
fishing and logging, and later
to tourism. Environmental
disputes erupted as the region
developed. Layers of history are
unravelled through meticulous
research, personal stories, and
an understanding of the social
and political forces driving life
on the west coast of Vancouver
Island.
GRADES: 9–12, SOCIAL STUDIES
Index/Bibliography: Yes/Yes
©2014 640pp. 6"x9"
b/w photographs, maps
ISBN 9781550176810 $36.95 HC
epub 9781550176827 $36.95
Harbour Publishing
www.harbourpublishing.com