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Spotlight On: 2020-2021 Longlist Titles
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I Lost My Talk
by Rita Joe (Poet/Writer) and Pauline Young (Illustrator)
I lost my talk
The talk you took away
When I was a little girl
At Shubenacadie school.
One of Rita Joe's most influential poems, "I Lost My Talk" tells the revered Mi'kmaw Elder's childhood story of losing her language while a resident of the residential school in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. An often quoted piece in this era of truth and reconciliation, Joe's powerful words explore and celebrate the survival of Mi'kmaw culture and language despite its attempted eradication. A companion book to the simultaneously published I'm Finding My Talk by Rebecca Thomas, I Lost My Talk is a necessary reminder of a dark chapter in Canada's history, a powerful reading experience, and an effective teaching tool for young readers of all cultures and backgrounds. This title includes a biography of Rita Joe and striking colour illustrations by Mi'kmaw artist Pauline Young.
The Creator:
Rita Joe was born in 1931, in Wycocomagh, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. She went to Shubencadie Residential School, which she attended until eighth grade. Rita began to write poetry in the late sixties. As a Mi'kmaq poet, her poems gently present the Indigenous experience within dominant society, and they advocate love and understanding between peoples to overcome the barriers that impede communication and peace. Rita won several awards, the most important being the Order of Canada, which is the highest honor Canada can bestow on her citizens. She is known today as the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq.
Pauline Young is a visual artist who was first exposed to the creative world through her father, Phillip Young, an internationally renowned artist, who painted the bottoms of her feet. She still recalls the smooth sensation of paint oozing between her toes. She draws her inspiration from him and the natural environment and is always looking down to see what the ground can offer, such as incorporating beach sand and red oxide sand into her paintings.
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Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket
by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
Picking Up the Pieces tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a living work of art conceived and created by Indigenous artist Carey Newman. It includes hundreds of items collected from residential schools across Canada, everything from bricks, photos and letters to hockey skates, dolls and braids. Every object tells a story.
Carey takes the reader on a journey from the initial idea behind the Witness Blanket to the challenges in making it work to its completion. The story is told through the objects and the Survivors who donated them to the project. At every step in this important journey for children and adults alike, Carey is a guide, sharing his process and motivation behind the art. It’s a personal project. Carey’s father is a residential school Survivor. Like the Blanket itself, Picking Up the Pieces calls on readers of all ages to bear witness to the residential school experience, a tragic piece of Canada’s history.
The Creators:
Carey Newman or Hayalthkin'geme is a multidisciplinary artist and master carver. Through his father he is Kwakwaka'wakw from the Kukwekum, Giiksam, and WaWalaby'ie clans of Fort Rupert, and Coast Salish from Cheam of the Stó:lo Nation along the upper Fraser Valley. Through his mother he is English, Irish, and Scottish. In his artistic practice he strives to highlight Indigenous, social or environmental issues. Carey was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2017 and was named to the Order of British Columbia in 2018. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia. For more information, visit witnessblanket.ca.
Kirstie Hudson is an editor and writer in Victoria, British Columbia. She worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for eighteen years at stations in Toronto, Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Victoria. In her award-winning career as a journalist, Kirstie's work has been recognized with a Jack Webster Award, Radio Television Digital News Association awards and an international Gabriel Award. Over the years she has covered hundreds of stories, including the making of the Witness Blanket. As an instructor at the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University, Kirstie shared her love of storytelling with students in writing, communications and journalism.
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Neekah's Knitting Needles
by Sylvia Olsen (Writer) and Sheena Lott (Illustrator)
Neekah is thrilled that she can finally learn to knit like her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother before her. But knitting a toque for Grandma Dorothy is not as easy as she had imagined. Neekah's Knitting Needles is a lyrical celebration of the tradition of Cowichan knitting among the Coast Salish peoples and the joy of creating something with your hands.
In Neekah’s Knitting Needles, the knittling style is based on the work of artist Odelia Smith from Tsartlip First Nation near Victoria, B.C.
The Creators:
Sylvia Olsen is a writer and public speaker living on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. She is the author of several picture books, a number of first readers and novels for young adults and one nonfiction, so far. Most of all she is a mother and grandmother and aunty to dozens of nieces and nephews.
Sylvia has spent most of her life living in Tsartlip First Nation, where her children and grandchildren now live. Because Sylvia is nonnative and her children are of mixed heritage most of her stories are about the place, the time, the experience of where different sorts of people come together. That's one of the things that interests her the most. It's one of the things she knows the most about, and like many authors, Sylvia writes about what she knows.
Writing is Sylvia's most important hobby. She also loves to draw, sew, knit and design clothing. Her "real" job is in housing. Her career, her dedication and her passion are to make sure everyone has a healthy place to live.
Sheena Lott is an award-winning Canadian artist.
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Owly: The Way Home
by Andy Runton
Frightening away prospective friends who fear owls, kindhearted Owly eventually bonds with a friend-seeking Wormy, who becomes his faithful companion and helper as they share adventures, problems and laughter. By the Eisner Award-winning author of Owly Flying Lessons.
The Creator:
Andy Runton is the creator of the breakout all-ages series of graphic novels, Owly, featuring a kind-hearted little owl who's always searching for new friends and adventure. Relying on a mixture of symbols and expressions to tell his silent stories, Andy's work showcases both his gift for characterization and his love of birds, animals, and the outdoors. His animated and heartwarming style has made him a favorite of both fans and critics alike.
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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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