Selkirk Reads! 2024—Become a Book Champion! 

March 26, 2024
A stack of books in the library

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 *Championed

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

Short stories

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology Eds. Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. *Championed

Memoir
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
Children's literature

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.