Secret of the Dance by Andrea Spalding and Alfred Scow

For many First Nations in the Pacific Northwest, the potlatch is an important ceremony that marks births, deaths, weddings, and other significant events. Potlatches often last for many days and feature dancing, feasting, and the giving of gifts, names, and stories. From 1884 to 1951, the Canadian government made potlatches illegal in their effort to erase traditional First Nations culture and replace it with European, Christian values. In Secret of the Dance, Alfred Scow recounts the tale of how his family defied the government to hold a potlatch when he was very young, even though they could have been arrested for doing so.

When he grew up Alfred Scow went on to become the first Aboriginal person to graduate from law school in British Columbia. He worked as a respected lawyer and judge for many decades. AndreaSpalding has written over thirty books, many focused on the need for understanding and respect among different cultures.

Usually, we think breaking the rules is a bad thing, but sometimes the rules are unfair or unjust to begin with. Can you think of a time in your life when you broke a rule for a good reason? Can you think of any book or movie characters who broke a rule for a good reason?

Stand Like a Cedar by Nicola I. Campbell

“Nicola Campbell is Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx and Métis from the Nicola Valley, British Columbia. She is the author of, Shi-shi-etko, Shin-chi’s Canoe,and Grandpa’s Girls. A Day With Yayah, published by Tradewind Books is her most recent children’s book. A Day with Yayahshares a story of a grandmother passing on important land-based cultural teachings about harvesting traditional foods and medicines to her grandchildren. Nicola writes adult and children’s free-verse poetry, fiction and non-fiction prose and has two books forthcoming in Fall 2019 and 2020. Campbell is a finalist for numerous children’s literary awards and was recipient of the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s literature award, 2009 USBBYOutstanding International Books Listand shared the 2006 Anskohk Aboriginal Children’s Book of the Year Award. Currently a student at UBC Okanagan, her Ph.D. research is draws upon Indigenous scholarship with a focus on contemporary and traditional Indigenous storytelling practices.” - from Vancouver Public Library

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Inside Our and Back Again follows the story of Ha, a girl who grew up in Saigon but was forced to leave Vietnam and immigrate to Alabama after the Fall of Saigon. The story follows her journey as they flee the country and embark on a journey to America. This is a great story that explores a difficult transition in a young girl's life.

What is a time where you had to face a difficult transition?

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Front Desk follows the story of Mia and her parents, immigrants who moved from China to the US and are now responsible for cleaning and managing the front desk of a motel in order to make ends meet. Her parents help hide immigrants in empty rooms of the motel for free, but must keep it a secret from the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao. Mia discovers a passion for writing, but is advised against pursuing such a path due to the fact that English is her second language. This is a story of determination, passion, and drive.

What do you have a passion for?

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

When You Trap a Tiger tells the story of Lily and her family who move in with her ill and aging grandmother to take care of her. However, soon after, Lily encounters a magical tiger spirit from her Halmoni's Korean folk stories. The tiger offers Lily a deal: return something that her Halmoni stole from them during her childhood in exchange for her Halmoni's health. Lily must now decide if she can trust this tiger to save her Halmoni.

Tae Keller is also the author of The Science of Breakable Things and wrote When You Trap a Tiger as a way to explore the stories she heard growing up. When You Trap a Tiger won the Newberry Medal in 2021 and also received the APALA literature award.

What are some stories that have stuck with you from your childhood?

Stand up Yumi Chung by Jessica Kim

Stand Up, Yumi Chung tells the story of Yumi Chung, a shy Korean-American girl who has one dream, to become a standup comedian. However, that is hard to accomplish when her parents barely make enough from their Korean BBQ restaurant to pay the bills. One day, Yumi stumbles into an after-school comedy camp run by one of her favourite YouTube idols. Yumi is mistaken for a student who is absent, Kay Nakamura, and begins to follow her dreams of striking comedy gold while keeping her mistaken identity a secret from everyone else.

Jessica Kim was educated at UC Berkeley and spent a decade as a public school teacher. Stand Up, Yumi Chung was listed as a Kirkus Best Children's Book 2020 and Amazon Best Books of the Month March 2020.

What do you dream of being when you grow up?

I'm OK by Patti Kim

I'm Ok tells the story of Ok Lee, a Korean-American middle school student who recently lost his father. With his mother working three jobs, he knows that it is also his responsibility to find money for his family. Between starting a hairbraiding business for the girls at his school and entering the school's talent show, which has a big cash prize, Ok must also find the time to protect his mother from the advances of a particularly annoying deacon at his family's church.

Patti Kim immigrated to the United States from Busan, South Korea when she as just four-years-old. She holds an MFA and is the author of the picture book Here I Am as well as I'm Ok and its sequel. I'm Ok is an APALA Honor Book and has been selected as a New York Public Library Best Book for Kids.

How do you help your family?

All Dogs Go to Heaven by Nikki Wallschlaeger

“Nikki Wallschlaeger’s is the author of the full-length collections Houses (Horseless Press, 2015) and Crawlspace (Bloof Books, 2017), as well as the graphic book I Hate Telling You How I Really Feel (Bloof Books, 2019) and an artist book Operation USA, through the Baltimore based book arts group Container (a project acquired by Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee). Her work has been featured in the Nation, Brick, American Poetry Review, Witness, Kenyon Review, and others. A recent transplant from Milwaukee, she now calls the Driftless region of Wisconsin her home.” - from American Life in Poetry

Reading by Jacqueline Woodson

There are all sorts of different types of ways to read. Speed reading. Close reading. Reading for school. Reading for fun. Silent reading and reading aloud. In the poem, Reading, by Jacqueline Woodson, we learn about a girl who loves to take her time, reading a book over and over, to savour the story.

Jacqueline Woodson, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, is one of America’s most respected children’s poets. The author of numerous picture books and verse novels, she served as the poet laureate of the United States, traveling across the country to read and write with children.

Write a poem about the type of reader you are. How do you consume books? How do you absorb stories?

How Do I Know When A Poem Is Finished by Naomi Shihab Nye

It can be hard to decide when to stop editing and changing a piece of writing and trust that it’s ready for readers to see! In How Do I Know When A Poem Is Finished, writer Naomi Shihab Nye imagines a poem is like a room and wonders when you should stop decorating the room and leave it alone.

Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye has been publishing poems for children and adults for over forty years. She writes and teaches in San Antonio, Texas.

Answer the question in the poem’s title. How do YOU know when a poem (or another piece of writing) is finished? When do you stop editing and share it with readers?

BULLETPROOF By Laura Mucha

We don’t always fit in. Sometimes we look different, sometimes we sound different, or smell, or see or even taste differently than others. And sometimes we try so hard to fit in, that we can bamboozle others that we do. Yet at the end of the day, even the strongest metal bulletproof shell hosts a beautiful human soul, unique and special in its own right. Laura Mucha - in her own words - I’m an ex-lawyer turned award-winning poet, author and children’s advocate. Some of my writing is funny (or at least I hope it is…), but some is serious and addresses important things that aren’t always talked about. I often think about how we live and what we can do to make our lives, and the lives of others, a little bit better. My writing has won multiple international awards and been featured on TV, radio and public transport, as well as in hospitals, hospices, prisons, books, magazines and newspapers around the world, including virtually every newspaper in the UK. My books include Rita’s Rabbit, Dear Ugly Sisters, Being Me, and We Need to Talk About Love / Love Factually (which Richard Curtis describes as ‘much better and more useful than my film’). I’m currently working on several books for children and adults (due to be published by Walker, Nosy Crow, Bloomsbury and Audible). When not writing, I spend my time visiting schools around the world, teaching creative writing and working with organisations such as the such as the National Literacy Trust, Royal Society of Medicine and UNICEF to try to improve the lives of children.

I Am Enough by Grace Byers

The poem I Am Enough uses rhythm and rhyme to make us feel joyful and strong, no matter our skin colour, language, or body type. It was written by Grace Byers, an actress and author who lives in Los Angeles. As a kid, Grace was often bullied because both of her parents were deaf. I Am Enough reminds us that no matter what bullies say, we are wonderful and powerful--we are enough!

Write a poem, story, or letter to lift the spirits of someone who has been bullied.

This Morning I Pray for My Enemies Joy Harjo

What changes our mind? Our hearts?

Ellie in the Canoe by Cecily Nicholson

Cecily Nicholson is the recipient of the 2018 Governor General's Award for poetry.

Write about your favourite activity, with a focus on sensory details and imagery.

You Too Can Fly By Zetta Elliot

With imagery that evokes the bravery of African-Americans in the face of slavery and discrimination, You Too Can Fly by Zetta Elliot is a powerful reminder to find hope in the darkest of moments.

Zetta Elliot is a black, feminist writer who was born and raised in Canada, and now lives in the United States. You Too Can Fly is featured in the powerful anthology, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices.

Write a poem that will give others hope when they are frightened or about to give up.

Prophecy by Pauli Murray

Pauli Murray was a civil rights activist, a pioneering feminist, a labor organizer, a lawyer, an Episcopal priest, and a writer of nonfiction, memoir, and poetry. Born Anna Pauline Murray in Baltimore, she was raised by aunts and maternal grandparents. Her grandmother was born into slavery, the product of rape between her enslaved mother and her owner. Murray’s mother died when Murray was just three years old; her father, committed to an asylum “for the Negro insane” for his symptoms of long-term typhoid fever, also died during Murray’s childhood, beaten to death by a guard.

Write about yourself, your values, your future.

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

From the Desk of Zoe Washington tells the story of Zoe Washington who recieves a letter on her twelfth birthday from her father who she's never met. Marcus has been in prison all of her life, but, according to him, he has been in prison for a crime he has never committed. Though her mother wants nothing to do with Marcus anymore, Zoe decides to investigate her father's story and case while balancing an internship at a bakery and hoping to earn a spot on the Food Network's Kids Bake Challenge.

Janae Marks' debut middle grade novel helps younger readers explore themes of systemic racism in the modern day justice system and weaves it through a story of hope, family, and fighting for what you believe is right. From the Desk of Zoe Washington has earned numerous accolades including an appearance on the School Library Journal's 2020 Best Books of the Year list.

When was a time that you stood up for something that you thought was unfair?

The List of Things That WIll Not Change by Rebecca Stead

The List of Things That Will Not Change is a book that talks about the challenges one can face when their parents are going through a divorce. However, Bea, the main character of the story, keeps a list of things that will stay the same, throughout this new beginning of the next chapter of her life. Although things may seem foreign or scary, she always has those things to keep her grounded.

Albatross By Laura Mucha

Sometimes new beginnings bring a lot of sadness with them. Change is never only good or bad, it can have a bit of both. Poetry can help us speak through metaphor what we can’t say with words. Laura Mucha - in her own words - I’m an ex-lawyer turned award-winning poet, author and children’s advocate. Some of my writing is funny (or at least I hope it is…), but some is serious and addresses important things that aren’t always talked about. I often think about how we live and what we can do to make our lives, and the lives of others, a little bit better. My writing has won multiple international awards and been featured on TV, radio and public transport, as well as in hospitals, hospices, prisons, books, magazines and newspapers around the world, including virtually every newspaper in the UK. My books include Rita’s Rabbit, Dear Ugly Sisters, Being Me, and We Need to Talk About Love / Love Factually (which Richard Curtis describes as ‘much better and more useful than my film’). I’m currently working on several books for children and adults (due to be published by Walker, Nosy Crow, Bloomsbury and Audible). When not writing, I spend my time visiting schools around the world, teaching creative writing and working with organizations such as the such as the National Literacy Trust, Royal Society of Medicine and UNICEF to try to improve the lives of children.

Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull by Nancy Mike

Sometimes new beginnings involve saying goodbye. Written by Nunavut-raised author and throat singer Nancy Mike, "Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull" is about a little girl who helps a lonely little bird. But after helping it grow big and healthy, the seagull is ready to take off and start its new life. As you start the new year, consider the things you are sayin goodbye to from last year. Write a letter to say goodbye to 2021.