Young Adult Nonfiction Native American
Looks Like Daylight
Voices of Indigenous Kids
- Publisher
- Groundwood Books Ltd
- Initial publish date
- Aug 2018
- Category
- Native American, Cultural Heritage, Canada
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781554981212
- Publish Date
- Aug 2018
- List Price
- $14.99
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781554981205
- Publish Date
- Sep 2013
- List Price
- $15.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781554984138
- Publish Date
- Sep 2013
- List Price
- $12.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Author Deborah Ellis travels across the continent, interviewing more than forty Native American kids and letting them tell their own stories.
They come from all over the continent — from Iqaluit to Texas, Haida Gwaii to North Carolina. Their stories are sometimes heartbreaking; more often full of pride and hope.
You’ll meet Tingo, who has spent most of his young life living in foster homes and motels, and is now thriving after becoming involved with a Native Friendship Center; Myleka and Tulane, young Navajo artists; Eagleson, who started drinking at age twelve but now continues his family tradition working as a carver in Seattle; Nena, whose Seminole ancestors remained behind in Florida during the Indian Removals, and who is heading to New Mexico as winner of her local science fair; Isabella, who defines herself more as Native than American; Destiny, with a family history of alcoholism and suicide, who is now a writer and pow-wow dancer.
Deborah briefly introduces each child and then steps back, letting the kids speak directly to the reader. The result is a collection of frank and often surprising interviews with kids aged nine to eighteen, as they talk about their daily lives, about the things that interest them, and about how being Indigenous has affected who they are and how they see the world.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.9
Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).
About the authors
Deborah Ellis is the internationally acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children, including The Breadwinner Trilogy; The Heaven Shop; Lunch With Lenin; Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees; and Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk About AIDS. She has won many national and international awards for her books, including the Governor General’s Award, the Vicky Metcalf Award, Sweden’s Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Children’s Africana Book Award Honor Book for Older Readers.Deborah knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of 11 or 12. Growing up in Paris, Ontario, she loved reading about big cities like New York. In high school, Deborah joined the Peace Movement, playing anti-Nuclear War movies at her school. Since then Deborah has become a peace activist, humanitarian and philanthropist, donating almost all of the royalties from her books to communities in need in Asia and Africa. Heavily involved with Women for Women in Afghanistan, Deborah has helped build women’s centers and schools, giving children education and finding work for women.In 2006, Deborah was named to the Order of Ontario. She now lives in Simcoe, Ontario.
Awards
- Short-listed, Red Maple Award
- Short-listed, Red Maple Award for Non-Fiction
- Commended, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices
- Commended, Notable Books for a Global Society
- Winner, Social Justice Literature Award
- Commended, Notable Books for a Global Society
- Short-listed, Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction
- Winner, Aesop Prize
Excerpt: Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids (by (author) Deborah Ellis; foreword by Loriene Roy)
I live just over the hill from where the Wounded Knee massacre took place, over by Wounded Knee Creek. … For white kids it’s just something in a history book. For me it’s my family. It’s my ground that they bled on. It’s personal.
— Destiny, 15
Even white people who know I’m Native can sometimes act like jerks. They’ll say, “Heading home to your teepee?” or go “Woo woo woo woo!” and pound their hands to their lips, doing some lame Hollywood version of a war dance.
Others ask me questions, and some of the questions are fine. You can tell when people really want to know something in order to get to know you better. But some questions go too far. Like, because I’m Ojibwe they think I was born on some sort of different spiritual plane or something.
— Brittany, l7
My chanii [grandfather] and my nana and others ran away from the residential school they were put into. Some of the older generation like my great-grandparents looked at the residential school as a good thing, but the schools weren’t as bad for them. For my nana and chanii, it was a whole lot of abuse. They were treated really badly.
My mother says there is no way to make up for the crimes of the past. There’s only forward.
— Cohen, 14
Editorial Reviews
It’s heartening that so many of these young people are positive about their lives, no matter how troubled, and about their futures....Ellis’ book is an excellent opportunity for classroom discussion and individual, empathy-inducing reading.
Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
[O]ften simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful...Unflinching and informative, this volume will appeal to a broad range of readers.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
[T]hese young people embrace their distinctive cultural practices and almost without exception, express a buoyant attitude. As gay Chippewa 16-year-old Zack puts it, 'They tried really hard to kill us all off, and we’re still here!'—a welcome and necessary reminder to all.
Kirkus Reviews
Ellis’s transcriptions of these interviews allow the authentic voices of the young people to come through...Important and provocative, this is a good choice for libraries wanting to add a contemporary, youthful perspective on issues affecting indigenous people in North America.
School Library Journal
