Thursday, June 27, 2024

Book Review: These Are My Words by Ruby Slipperjack

Title: These Are My Words
Author: Ruby Slipperjack
Series/Standalone: Dear Canada Series 
Genre: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade
Pages: 200
Publisher: Scholastic Canada
Year Published: 2016
Format: Hardcover (Library Copy)

"Violet Pesheen is struggling to adjust to her new life at Residential School. She misses her Grandma; she has run-ins with Cree girls; at her "white" school, everyone just stares; and everything she brought has been taken from her, including her name- she is now just a number. But worst of all, she has a fear. A fear of forgetting the things she treasures most: her Anishnabe language; the names of those she knew before; and her traditional customs. A fear of forgetting who she was. 

Her notebook is the one place she can record all of her worries, and heartbreaks, and memories. And maybe, just maybe there will be hope at the end of the tunnel. 

Drawing from her own experiences at Residential School, Ruby Slipperjack creates a brave, yet heartbreaking heroine in Violet, and lets young readers glimpse into an all-too important chapter in our nation's history."

My Rating: 5/5

When I was younger I would frequently read the Dear Canada series and seeing that they have expanded the series to encompass some of Canada's less than shining moments interested me. For those who do not know Residential Schools were a cultural genocide planned to eradicate the Indigenous cultures in Canada. While we know some of the things that happened in these horrible environments we will never know all of the stories from these terrible environments. I wanted to read this to proof it for the school-age class in the childcare centre I work at. I would highly recommend reading this as it gives a look at the generational trauma that Residential Schools gave to the Indigenous people in Canada.

Thanks for reading,
Sidny

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