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Spotlight On: 2020-2021 Longlist Titles
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The Fox Wife
by Beatrice Deer (Writer) & DJ Herron (Illustrator)
On a cloudless summer night, a fox falls to earth and comes across a family of humans. As the seasons change and they move their camp, she follows them, growing ever more intrigued by human ways--and especially by the oldest son, Irniq.
When Irniq grows older and sets out hunting on his own, he is surprised to enter his tent one day and find the lamp lit, the tea made... and a strange woman who says she is his wife. Tired of being alone, Irniq welcomes the woman. But soon he grows curious and cannot stop himself from asking too many questions. Where did the fox pelt hanging outside their tent come from? And why did the fox that had been following him suddenly disappear? Based on award-winning musician Beatrice Deer's powerful song "Fox," this graphic novel reinterprets a traditional Inuit story for a new generation.
The Creators:
Beatrice Deer is a singer, a seamstress, an advocate for good health. Beatrice has built up a group of musicians for her band—all talented in their own right—and they excel in allowing Beatrice’s Inuktitut and English lyrics to soar over a pop folk-rock sound. Inuit culture, women’s perspectives on life, love, and storytelling seep from all of Beatrice’s music in an emotional and compelling way. Beatrice has four albums under her belt, including an award winner for Best Inuit Cultural Album at the 2005 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. Beatrice has been based in Montreal since 2007. She travels north to perform and reconnect with her family ties on a regular basis. Connection to culture and a healthy lifestyle are all important aspects of Beatrice’s life—her advocacy in this regard has made her a role model for many Inuit, young and old.
DJ Herron is not a DJ Heron, a tall bird who spins sick jams. DJ studied animation at Loyalist College, where she spent the bulk of her time designing characters, writing stories, and not being an avian mixmaster. When not storyboarding, sculpting, or designing monsters, she is likely to be found thumbing through fashion history and old medieval etiquette books.
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Empire of Wild: A Novel
by Cherie Dimaline
A story inspired by the Canadian Métis legend of the Rogarou finds a woman reconnecting with her heritage when her missing husband reappears in the form of a charismatic preacher who does not recognize her.
The Creator:
Cherie Dimaline wins her first Governor General's Literary Award in 2017 with The Marrow Thieves. She is an author and editor from the Georgian Bay Métis community whose award-winning fiction has been published and anthologized internationally. She has published three other fiction works: Red Rooms(2007), The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy (2013) and A Gentle Habit (2016). In 2014, she was named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the Ontario Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and became the first Aboriginal Writer in Residence for the Toronto Public Library. Cherie Dimaline currently lives in Toronto where she coordinates the annual Indigenous Writers' Gathering.
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When We Had Sled Dogs: A Story from the Trapline = acimowin ohci wanihikīskanāhk
by Ida Tremblay (Writer) & Miriam Körner (Illustrator)
When We Had Sled Dogs: A Story from the Trapline (ācimowin ohci wanihikīskanāhk) takes readers young and old on a journey into the past when dog teams were part of the traditional way of life in Northern Saskatchewan. Inspired by Elder Ida Tremblay’s childhood memories, and told in English with Woodland Cree words and phrases, the story follows the seasonal cycle of trapline life.
The Creators:
Ida Tremblay is a First Nation Cree Elder from La Ronge, Saskatchewan. Ida raised seven children on the trapline, a five- to six-day journey north of La Ronge by canoe, teaching them the skills she learned from her parents. She scraped moose hides in her backyard and shared her teachings of traditional life with her community.
Miriam Körner is a writer, illustrator and arts educator. Miriam enjoys spending time with her sled dogs along the old trapline trails, talking to Elders about the times when they still had dogs, and writing for children and young adults about her northern adventures. Originally from Germany, she now lives at Potato Lake, Saskatchewan, just down the road from Bernice.
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2020-2021 Selected Titles: Children's and Young Adult/Adult
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Sus Yoo/The Bear's Medicine
by Clayton Gauthier (Author) and Danny Alexis and Theresa Austin (Translators)
A mother bear shares with her cubs how to be grateful for all they have in the natural world. The Bear's Medicine shows the interconnectedness of all things in the world they live in and how each season brings changes and blessings for the bears. It is a story of a mother's love for her children as she teaches them how to survive.
The Creator:
Clayton Gauthier is a Cree/Dakelh artist and a graduate from the En’owkin Centre’s National Aboriginal Professional Artist Training Program (NAPAT).
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Chasing Painted Horses
by Drew Hayden Taylor
Chasing Painted Horses has a magical, fable-like quality. It is the story of four unlikely friends who live in Otter Lake, a reserve north of Toronto. Ralph and his sister, Shelley, live with their parents. On the cusp of becoming teenagers, they and their friend William befriend an odd little girl, from a dysfunctional family. Danielle, a timid 10-year-old girl, draws an amazing, arresting image of a horse that draws her loose group of friends into her fantasy world. But those friends are not ready for what that horse may mean or represent. It represents everything that’s wrong in the girl’s life and everything she wished it could be. And the trio who meet her and witness the creation of the horse, are left trying to figure out what the horse means to the girl, and later to them. And how to help the shy little girl.
The Creator:
Drew Hayden Taylor was born on July 1, 1962 and is an Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations. In addition to his plays and books, he has worked as a scriptwriter and documentary filmmaker. Taylor lives on the Curve Lake Reserve in Ontario.
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