Gregg Hurwitz – Prodigal
IS
THIS THE END OF ORPHAN X?
Trained as a youth in an off-the-books operation, Evan Smoak was a government assassin known as Orphan X. After he broke with the Program, he adopted a new mission-helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. Now, in exchange for an unoffical pardon, Evan must cease his clandestine activities and learn to live a normal life.
But then he gets a call for help from one person he never expected, a woman he never knew-his mother. Her unlikely request: help Andrew Duran, a man whose life has gone off the rails, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, which brought him to the deadly attention of very powerful figures, leaving him with no one to turn to, and no safe place to hide. Evan is Duran’s only option, but when a hidden cabal who has ordered Duran’s murder emerges, everything Evan’s fought for is on the line-including his own life.
NEW CHILDREN’S BOOK…
Larry Loyie – Residential Schools: With The Words And Images Of Survivors
Residen
tial Schools is a must-have book for Ontario schools and libraries. Award-winning author, Larry Loyie, provides an outstanding resource for sharing the truth of the residential school system. Writing from his personal experience attending St. Bernard Mission residential school in Alberta from the age of nine to 14, Loyie provides an important lens for the telling of these stories. The well-sequenced history of residential schools is shared through the lived experiences and stories of more than 70 former students from schools across the country. Loyie includes stories of First Nations, Métis and Inuit survivors and more than 125 images, including rare archival images. Students will appreciate the many photos and short biographical stories.
Loyie shares the truth of residential schools and this does include stories of abuse and death. These are told with a caring approach that is appropriate for a middle-school reader. Loyie and his team have written a much needed resource that supports the curriculum and teacher’s responsibilities set out in the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. We have a responsibility to teach the true history. Residential schools were used to erase culture and languages and assimilate the children who attended. Despite the odds, many survived and now inspire. The resistance and resilience of former students shines through in the stories! Especially those trying to help each other maintain their languages or escape the schools. The strength of Indigenous Peoples to work to bring back ceremonies and cultural practices is also evident in the book. Elder Bill Walkem (Nlaka’pamux) is just one example. Walkem is an 84-year-old residential school survivor who brought back an important tradition to his community after it had been banned. After 100 years people once again sang and circled together around the Nkw’i7tsu’tn (pronounced kwai-chutin) tree in central British Columbia. This book tells hard truths but it also leaves the reader with hope for the future. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to the former students for sharing their stories.
Julie Richer is a member of Upper Grand Teacher Local.
NEW BOARD GAME….
Cards Against Humanity (Family Edition)
Cards Against Humanity: Family Edition is a fill-in-the-blank party game for kids and adults to play together. This brand new game written in consultation with child development experts and playtested with thousands of families. Kids get to engage in absurd wordplay with adults, and adults get to laugh at cards like “Filling my butt with spaghetti”. The game is simple. One player asks a question from a black card, and everyone answers with their funniest white card.
