After years away, a young woman returns to the railroad community in northern Ontario where she was raised, only to find life there has turned for the worse. As trouble reaches her mother and her friends, will she, too, succumb to despair?

Honour the Sun

Slipperjack, Ruby

Literature & Fiction

Pemmican Pubns

Set in northwestern Ontario in the 1960s, Silent Words tells the story of a young Native boy and his journey of self-discovery. Danny's life is a daily struggle for survival. He runs away from his violent and abusive home and, on his own, finds his way through a series of Native communities along the CN mainline. Various people take the boy in for a time, including a family with other children, an elderly couple, a boy and his father, a young bachelor, and a wise old man. Through his travels and encounters, Danny learns about himself and the world he lives in. 
 Silent Words offers an intimate view of Native Communities and their values: being non-judgemental, open and accepting, sharing with others, and respecting elders. Danny starts his journey without an understanding of his Native background thus allowing readers to experience and learn with him as he undertakes his quest for self-knowledge. 
 The language in this novel is simple and accessible, and yet richly evocative of the flavour of northern Native life. Ruby Slipperjack writes with great sensitivity about the people and places she knows, and it is her unique storytelling ability that provides the power and insight in this novel. 
 She says, "I have been to all the places I write about. I know the smell, feel, and texture of the earth I walk on. I belong to it." 
 In this book, she shows a remarkable ability to convey with English words the subtle forms of non-verbal communication, the implied meanings, the silent words, that are an integral part of Native expression.

Silent Words

Contemporary

Fitzhenry-Whiteside

About the Author\nRuby Slipperjack was born in Whitewater Lake, Ontario. She learned traditional stories and crafts from her family. In the 1960s she attended a Residential School in northern Ontario for most of a year, and later, high school in Thunder Bay. She has written 5 novels for middle grade and teen readers: Dog Tracks, Little Voice, Silent Words, Weesquachak, and Honour the Sun, and indigenous story contributions to the Dear Canada anthologies Hoping for Home: Stories of Arrival and A Time for Giving. Ruby lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario.\nAcclaimed author Ruby Slipperjack delivers a haunting novel about a 12-year-old girl’s experience at a residential school in 1966. 
Violet Pesheens 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.

Dear Canada: These Are My Words

Children's Books

Growing Up & Facts of Life

Scholastic, Canada

Dear Canada: A Time for Giving: Ten Tales of Christmas

Ellis, Sarah

Matas, Carol

Little, Jean

McClintock, Norah

Haworth-Attard, Barbara

Bradford, Karleen

McNaughton, Janet

Aihoshi, Susan M.

History

See below for English description.Violette Pesheens a de la difficult? ? s'adapter ? sa nouvelle vie au pensionnat. Sa grand-m?re lui manque et de s?rieux affrontements ?clatent entre des filles cries. De plus, tout le monde la d?visage dans cette ?cole de blancs, et tout ce qu'elle a apport? lui a ?t? confisqu?, y compris son nom: elle n'est plus qu'un num?ro.Mais le pire c'est la peur qui la tient. La peur d'oublier tout ce qu'elle a toujours ch?ri; l'anishnabe, sa langue, le nom des personnes qu'elle connaissait et ses coutumes. Bref, la peur d'oublier qui elle est. Son journal est le seul endroit o? elle peut exprimer ses v?ritables inqui?tudes, ses d?chirements et se souvenir du pass?. Peut-?tre qu'?crire lui permettra de finalement voir la lumi?re au bout de ce tunnel infernal.Bas?e sur son exp?rience dans un pensionnat, Ruby Slipperjack a cr une h?ro?ne brave et touchante, Violette. Les jeunes lecteurs feront une incursion importante dans ce sombre chapitre de l'histoire de notre nation. Violette 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 Violette, and lets young readers glimpse into an all-too important chapter in our nation's history.Original title: Dear Canada: These Are My Words

Cher Journal: Les Mots Qu'il Me Reste (French Edition)

scholastic

At times heart-stopping, at times heartbreaking, but always alive with a mixture of irresistible characters and real emotions, this story is a testament to the saving graces of community, of family, of tradition.

Weesquachak

United States

Theytus Books

Abby is having trouble fitting in at Bear Creek Reserve. After having lived most of her life with her grandparents in town, it's definitely a transition moving back to the reserve. When Choom, her grandfather, falls ill, Abby must leave her best friends at school, her supportive grandparents, and her perfect pink bedroom, and adjust to living with her mom. But it's not only being back with Mom that is hard - there's a new father, John, a pesky half-brother, Blink, a schoolroom full of kids who don't know her (and don't seem to want to, either), not to mention a completely different way of life that seems so traditional, so puzzling and complicated. 
 But, with the help of the reserve's chief, Paulie, a puppy named Ki-Moot, and her parents' vision of a sled-dog tourist venture, Abby slowly begins to find her rhythm at Bear Creek. All she has to do is follow the dog tracks. 
 In Dog Tracks, Ruby Slipperjack writes the story of those who return to the reserve and rediscover their culture. The book is both a celebration of Abby's youthful determination and a series of teachings about Anishinawbe traditions, history, and culture. Woven into Abby's narrative of self-discovery, and perhaps integral to it, are the teachings of Elders and parents, knowledge of hunting, fishing, berry-picking, and living on and with the land - all drawn from Slipperjack's own knowledge of the land and her people. 
 Dog Tracks is a book that crosses genres: it is a tender story of an uprooted girl who finds home and self, and it is also a subtle text that gives readers a glimpse of traditional and non-traditional life on a northern Ontario reserve.

Dog Tracks

World Literature

Fifth House

Abby is having trouble fitting in at Bear Creek Reserve. After having lived most of her life with her grandparents in town, it's definitely a transition moving back to the reserve. When Choom, her grandfather, falls ill, Abby must leave her best friends at school, her supportive grandparents, and her perfect pink bedroom, and adjust to living with her mom. But it's not only being back with Mom that is hard -- there's a new father, John, and a pesky half-brother, Blink. There is also a schoolroom full of kids who don't know her (and don't seem to want to), not to mention a completely different way of life that seems so traditional, so puzzling and complicated. 
But, with the help of the reserve's chief, Paulie, a puppy named Ki-Moot, and her parents' vision of a sled-dog tourist venture, Abby slowly begins to find her rhythm at Bear Creek. All she has to do is follow the dog tracks.\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 4–9—Slipperjack (Eabametoong First Nation) crafts a hopeful coming-of-age tale about 13-year-old Abby who was raised by her grandparents, whom she lovingly calls Choom and Goom, her version of short form in Ojibwe. The teen must return to her family after her grandfather becomes ill, and she reconnects with her mom, stepdad, sister, and half-brother in the Bear Creek Reserve. Through Abby's journey, readers are introduced to Anishinawbe people, culture, and language. This novel of a loving Indigenous family is endearing. Abby learns her language and develops life skills based on her culture, all with the support of her family, who are always laughing and joking around. This a refreshing read that does not delve into negative stereotypes or social issues that sometimes overshadow Indigenous stories. VERDICT This uplifting coming-of-age tale is a recommended purchase.—Danielle Burbank, San Juan Coll., Farmington, NM

Teen & Young Adult

Fifth House Publishers

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