Not My Girl

Publisher's description (Annick Press, 2014): 
Two years ago, Margaret left her Arctic home for the outsiders' school. Now she has returned and can barely contain her excitement as she rushes towards her waiting family -- but her mother stands still as a stone. This strange, skinny child, with her hair cropped short, can't be her daughter. "Not my girl!" she says angrily. Margaret's years at school have changed her. Now ten years old, she has forgotten her language and the skills to hunt and fish. She can't even stomach her mother's food. Her only comfort is in the books she learned to read at school. Margaret Pokiak-Fenton is Inuk.

Author/Creator's biography (Annick Press, 2014):
Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton was an Inuvialuk elder and artisan who spent her early years on Banks Island in the high Arctic.

Christy Jordan-Fenton lives in Fort St. John, British Columbia. Margaret Pokiak-Fenton is her children’s grandmother. Jordan-Fenton practices traditional ceremonies with the Kainai Blackfoot. 

Resource format: Picturebook

Age recommendation: Grades 1 - 5

Keywords: residential schools, language, traditions, reading, residential school, culture, revitalization, Inuvialuit, identity, cultural crisis, culture, colonialism, resilience, reunion, reunited, family, loved ones, memories, trauma, language, culture loss, hunting, fishing, loss, Inuk, change

Year of publication: 2014

Publisher information: Annick Press