Selkirk College is launching the second-annual Selkirk Reads!
Loosely based on Canada Reads, in which five notable Canadians champion a book they feel every Canadian should read, Selkirk Reads! aims to highlight Indigenous authors, voices and stories to help lead us toward greater understanding, truth and reconciliation.
Become a Book Champion
Champions will pitch their book to the community and invite people to join a reading circle. Reading circles will meet once to discuss the book and are open to those who have read the book and those who are interested in the subject matter.
Selkirk Reads! Long List
Browse the long list and choose a book to champion. If you would like to champion a book that's not on the list, that's okay too! Just let us know the title and author.
Fiction
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns *Championed
Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese *Championed
Empty Spaces by Jordan Abel
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
All the Quiet Places by Brian Thomas Isaac
Birdie by Tracey Lindberg
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer
Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel
Moccasin Square Gardens by Richard Van Camp
The Strangers by Katherena Vermette
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Memoir
The Outside Circle by Patti Laboucane-Benson
On/Me by Francine Cunningham
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott
Song of Rita Joe: Autobiography of a Mi'kmaq Poet by Rita Joe
Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman by Yvonne Johnson & Rudy Wiebe
In My Own Moccasins by Helen Knott
Mamaskatch by Darrel J. McLeod
The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir by Joseph Auguste Merasty
Take the Indian Out of the Child: Syilx Okanagan Experiences in the Violent and Forced Assimilation of Indian Residential Schools by Okanagan Nation Alliance
Bones by Tyler Pennock
Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential Schools to Becoming the NHL’s First Indigenous Player by Fred Sasakamoose
Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun by Paul Seesequasis
They Called Me Number One by Bev Sellars
Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls by Angela Sterritt
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Muller
Graphic novels
This Place: 150 Years Retold by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Sonny Assu, Brandon Mitchell, et al. *Championed
If I Go Missing by Brianna Jonnie with Nahanni Shingoose, art by Nshannacappo
Poetry
The All + Flesh by Brandi Bird *Championed
Treaty # by Armand Garnet Ruffo *Championed
Hope Matters by Lee Maracle, Columpa Bobb and Tania Carter
Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist
River Woman by Katherena Vermette
The Red Files by Lisa Bird-Wilson
Non-fiction
White Benevolence: Racism and Colonial Violence in the Helping Professions Eds. Amanda Gebhard, Sheelah McLean and Verna St. Denis *Championed
Decolonizing Education: Nurturing the Learning Spirit by Marie Battiste
In this Together: 15 Stories of Truth & Reconciliation by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
The Reconciliation Manifesto: Recovering the Land, Rebuilding the Economy by Arthur Manuel & Grand-Chief Ronald Derrickson
Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec & Nick Estes
Finding My Talk: How Fourteen Native Women Reclaimed their Lives After Residential School by Agnes Grant
Behind Closed Doors: Testimonials from the Kamloops Indian Residential School Ed. Agnes Jack
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call by Grand-Chief Ronald Derrickson & Arthur Manuel
Standoff: Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People and How to Fix It by Bruce McIvor
Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada by Paulette Regan
Pathways of Reconciliation: Indigenous & Settler Approaches to Implementing the TRC’s Calls to Action Eds. Aimee Kraft & Paulette Regan
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada by Chelsea Vowel
Beyond the Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad
True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change by Jody Wilson-Raybould
Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead
Reports
What We Have Learned: The Final Report of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada by Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Children's literature
The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga #1 by David Alexander Robertson *Championed
The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad
Phyllis's Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad
15 Books that Teach Children about Residential Schools compiled by Today's Parent
Everyone's a Winner
In September, Selkirk Reads! will host an event where each book champion will present their book. Everyone’s a winner! The goal is to support each other to stretch and keep learning together as we build a more inclusive, compassionate and just society.
If you are interested in becoming a book champion, please contact Jennie Barron before Wednesday, May 2, with the title of the book that you would like to champion.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.