I Am Not a Number
By Dr. Jenny Kay Dupuis, Kathy Kacer, Gillian Newland (Illustrator), Muriel Sawyer (Translator), Geraldine McLeod (Translator)
A girl fights to reclaim her identity in a harsh residential school.
Eight-year-old Irene is torn from her First Nations family to endure a residential school where her name is replaced by a number. As she struggles to hold onto her identity, her parents face a heart-wrenching decision: defy the law to protect their children or risk losing them forever. Can they find a way to keep their family together against the odds? This poignant tale sheds light on a dark chapter of history, inviting readers to explore themes of identity, resilience, and the power of family.
When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school, she is confused, frightened and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns in charge at the school, who tell her that she is not to use her own name but instead use the number they have assigned to her. When she goes home for summer holidays, Irene’s parents decide never to send her and her brothers away again. But where will they hide? And what will happen when her parents disobey the law?
- Format
- Pages
- 44
- Words
- 2,857
- Reading age
- 9–12
- Audience
- Middle Grade
- Lexile
- 640L
Book details
- ATOS
- ~4.1
- F&P level
- ~P
- Published
- September 10, 2019
- First published
- September 6, 2016
- Publisher
- Second Story Press
- Language
- Ojibwa
- Type
- Chapter Book
- ISBN
- 9781772600995
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