Scott B. Henderson

Looking for a little mischief after finding an old flare gun, Ron and Ben suddenly find themselves in trouble when the local gas bar on Agamiing Reserve goes up in flames, and they are wrongly accused of arson by the sheriff’s son. As the investigation goes forward, community attitudes are revealed, and the truth slowly comes to light.

Reviews
"Storm's story is a very thoughtful look at the two systems of justice. The Native boys in the White system, being interrogated is a stark contrast to what the White boy experiences in the Native system of justice. It points to the path Storm is looking for: how a community can heal, rather than how it could punish and inflict more harm on people... I recommend Jen Storm's Fire Starters. There's a lot to study, think about, and of course, talk about." -- Debbie Reese, American Indians in Children's Literature

"Fire Starters reminds readers of the many perspectives involved in reconciliation. The story moves beyond Ron and Ben’s experiences as aboriginal teens poorly treated by a white community to include the experiences of law enforcement officers, family members, and even the arsonists themselves. Complementing the fast-paced plot, Henderson’s artwork is drawn from a wide variety of perspectives, and Yaciuk’s moody colours suit the rising tension experienced by all characters. A cautionary tale about the consequences of prejudice and racism, Fire Starters is a valuable addition to conversations about the importance of reconciliation and the power of the truth." -- Roseanne Gauthier, National Reading Campaign 

Educator & Series Information
Recommended Grades: 6-9

Fire Starters is one book in The Debwe Series.  This series features exceptional Indigenous writing from across Canada.

Eva and Cole are back just in time to face Mihko’s latest threat: the terrifying results of human experimentation.

Cole and Eva are reunited once more. A new terror looms as Mihko Laboratories latest human experiments are about to be unleashed. Cole is on the long road to recovery, but he’s still struggling with survivor’s guilt. He must stay focused as he, Eva, and their friends prepare for the final showdown with Mihko.

After the events of Version Control, Brady’s mind is fractured, and he can’t distinguish between what really happened and what Mikho made him believe. Eva and Cole may have to face this terrifying threat without him. It’s a grim prospect, but a new discovery might just change everything: God Flare.

Will Brady recover enough to join the fight? Can Cole come to terms with his abilities in spite of his PTSD? And will God Flare help even the odds against Mihko?

Reviews
The art style is realistic and gritty, reflecting the serious and dystopian tone of the story. Colors are dark and muted, actions are clear, and special effects of the supernatural pop off the page, a marked contrast to more normal backgrounds and objects.” — Youth Services Book Review

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for grades 8 to 12.

This book is part of the graphic novel series, The Reckoner Rises, a continuation of The Reckoner trilogy.  It is Book 3 in the series.

Additional Information
72 pages | 6.50" x 10.00" | Paperback

Echo Desjardins is adjusting to her new home, finding friends, and learning about Métis history. She just can’t stop slipping back and forth in time. One ordinary afternoon in class, Echo finds herself transported to the banks of the Red River in the summer of 1869. All is not well in the territory as Canadian surveyors have arrived to change the face of territory, and Métis families, who have lived there for generations, are losing access to their land. As the Resistance takes hold, Echo fears for her friends and the future of her people in the Red River Valley.

Educator & Series Information
This is volume 3 in the graphic novel series, A Girl Called Echo, by Katherena Vermette.

Books in this series include: 
Volume 1: Pemmican Wars
Volume 2: Red River Resistance
Volume 3: Northwest Resistance
Volume 4: Road Allowance Era

Recommended for grades 5 to 9 by publisher.

Katherena Vermette, a Governor General's Award-winning author deftly enters a format typically dominated by male creators with this graphic novel series, A Girl Called Echo. Featuring compelling illustrations, a female main character, and the contemporary foster care system, the series follows Echo Desjardins as she discovers her Métis heritage firsthand while slipping back and forth through time.

This book is available in French: Elle s'appelle Echo Tome 3: La résistance du Nord-Ouest

Additional Information
48 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

Echo Desjardins, a 13-year-old Métis girl adjusting to a new home and school, is struggling with loneliness while separated from her mother. Then an ordinary day in Mr. Bee’s history class turns extraordinary, and Echo’s life will never be the same. During Mr. Bee’s lecture, Echo finds herself transported to another time and place—a bison hunt on the Saskatchewan prairie—and back again to the present. In the following weeks, Echo slips back and forth in time. She visits a Métis camp, travels the old fur-trade routes, and experiences the perilous and bygone era of the Pemmican Wars.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 12+ by the publisher.

Pemmican Wars is the first graphic novel in the A Girl Called Echo series.

Books in this series include: 
Volume 1: Pemmican Wars
Volume 2: Red River Resistance
Volume 3: Northwest Resistance
Volume 4: Road Allowance Era

The Canadian Indigenous Books for School list recommends this for Grades 5-12 for these subject areas: Arts Education, English Language Arts, Social Studies.

This book is available in French: Elle s'appelle Echo Tome 1: La guerre du Pemmican

Additional Information
48 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

Echo Desjardins is adjusting to her new home, finding friends, and learning about Métis history. She just can’t stop slipping back and forth in time. One ordinary afternoon in class, Echo finds herself transported to the banks of the Red River in the summer of 1869. All is not well in the territory as Canadian surveyors have arrived to change the face of territory, and Métis families, who have lived there for generations, are losing access to their land. As the Resistance takes hold, Echo fears for her friends and the future of her people in the Red River Valley.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for grades 5 to 9.

Red River Resistance is volume two in the graphic novel series, A Girl Called Echo, by Katherena Vermette.

Books in this series include: 
Volume 1: Pemmican Wars
Volume 2: Red River Resistance
Volume 3: Northwest Resistance
Volume 4: Road Allowance Era

Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2019-2020 resource list as being useful for grades 5-12 with regard to these subjects: English Language Arts, Art Education, Social Studies.

This book is available in French: Elle s'appelle Echo Tome 2: La guerre du Pemmican 

Additional Information
47 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

In the Road Allowance Era, Echo’s story picks up again when she travels back in time to 1885.

The Manitoba Act’s promise of land for the Métis has gone unfulfilled, and many Métis flee to the Northwest. As part of the fallout from the Northwest Resistance, their advocate and champion Louis Riel is executed. As new legislation corrodes Métis land rights, and unscrupulous land speculators and swindlers take advantage, many Métis settle on road allowances and railway land, often on the fringes of urban centres.

For Echo, the plight of her family is apparent. Burnt out of their home in Ste. Madeleine when their land is cleared for pasture, they make their way to Rooster Town, settling on the southwest edges of Winnipeg. In this final installment of her story, Echo is reminded of the strength and resilience of her people, forged through the loss and pain of the past, as she faces a triumphant future.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages  12+.

A Girl Called Echo is a graphic novel series by Governor General Award-winning writer and author of The Seven Teaching Stories Katherena Vermette. This graphic novel series explores the life of a Métis teenager through illustrated storytelling. Each book follows Echo Desjardins and her travels back through time, which illuminates important periods and events Métis history in an engaging, visually stimulating way for teenage audiences.

This is Vol. 4 in the A Girl Called Echo series.

This book is available in French: Elle s'appelle Echo Tome 4: L'ère des réserves routières 

Additional Information
48 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

A young girl struggles to survive residential school in this timeless graphic novel from the bestselling author of The Barren Grounds—a story of strength, family, and culture, inspired by true events, that shares the awe-inspiring resilience of Betty Ross.

Abandoned as a young child, Betsy was soon adopted into a loving family. A few short years later, at the age of 8, everything changed. Betsy was taken away to a residential school. There she was forced to endure abuse and indignity, but Betsy recalled the words her father spoke to her at Sugar Falls—words that gave her the resilience, strength, and determination to survive.

Sugar Falls is based on the true story of Betty Ross, Elder from Cross Lake First Nation. We wish to acknowledge, with the utmost gratitude, Betty’s generosity in sharing her story. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Sugar Falls goes to support the bursary program for The Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation.

Educator Information
Recommended for grades 9 to 12.

This 10th-anniversary edition brings David A. Robertson’s national bestseller to life in full colour, with a foreword by Senator Murray Sinclair, Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and a touching afterword from Elder Betty Ross herself.

A Teacher Guide is available for this work: Teacher Guide for Sugar Falls: Learning About the History and Legacy of Residential Schools in Grades 9-12 

Additional Information
48 pages | 6.50" x 10.00" | full colour throughout

When a mishap delays Jessie at the end of a school day, she takes a shortcut home. But the shortcut turns into an adventure, as Jessie is transported through time and space, to early 19th-century Newfoundland. There she meets Shawnadithit who, as the last surviving member of the Beothuk, has witnessed the end of a once-great people.

Educator & Series Information
Tales from Big Spirit is a unique graphic novel series that delves into the stories of great Indigenous heroes from Canadian history—some already well known and others who deserve to be. Designed to correspond to grades 4–6 social studies curriculums across Canada, these full colour graphic novels could be used in literature circles, novel studies, and book clubs to facilitate discussion of social studies topics. These books will help students make historical connections while promoting important literacy skills.

Grades 4-6

A Teacher's Guide is also available for the Tales from the Big Spirit Series: Tales from the Big Spirit Series Teacher's Guide 

The teacher's guide is designed to help classroom teachers use the graphic novel series, Tales From Big Spirit, by David Alexander Robertson. The guide provides detailed lessons that meet a wide range of language arts and social studies goals, integrate Indigenous perspectives, and make curricular content more accessible to diverse learners.

This resource is also available in French: D'hier à aujourd'hui, L’héritage de Nancy April : Shawnadithit

Additional Information
30 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

On her way to school one day, Sarah is relieved to find the book she’d dropped the day before – shortly after an encounter with a bear. But when she opens it, the story within, about the Cree chief Mistahimaskwa, comes alive. It takes Sarah back to the Saskatchewan Plains of 1832, where the young boy who would become the great chief first learns the ways of his people, to the final days of his life.

Educator & Series Information
The Chief is one book in the Tales From Big Spirit series. Tales from Big Spirit is a unique graphic novel series that delves into the stories of great Indigenous heroes from Canadian history—some already well known and others who deserve to be. Designed to correspond to grades 4–6 social studies curriculums across Canada, these full colour graphic novels could be used in literature circles, novel studies, and book clubs to facilitate discussion of social studies topics. These books will help students make historical connections while promoting important literacy skills.

Tales from the Big Spirit Series Teacher's Guide - Tales from the Big Spirit Series Teacher's Guide. The teacher's guide is designed to help classroom teacher's use the graphic novel series, Tales From Big Spirit, by David Alexander Robertson. The guide provides detailed lessons that meet a wide range of language arts and social studies goals, integrate Indigenous perspectives, and make curricular content more accessible to diverse learners.

The Chief is available in French: Le chef : Mistahimaskwa

Additional Information
30 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

Although Kathy loves poetry, she is far too shy to recite it in front of her class. But the story of Pauline Johnson, renowned as the "Mohawk Princess," inspires Kathy to overcome her stage fright. Pauline, from the Grand River Reserve in Ontario, crisscrossed the country, reciting her poems to far-flung communities, making her among the most beloved literary figure of the Edwardian era.

Educator & Series Information
Tales from Big Spirit is a unique graphic novel series that delves into the stories of great Indigenous heroes from Canadian history—some already well known and others who deserve to be. Designed to correspond to grades 4–6 social studies curriculums across Canada, these full colour graphic novels could be used in literature circles, novel studies, and book clubs to facilitate discussion of social studies topics. These books will help students make historical connections while promoting important literacy skills.

Grades 4-6

Tales from the Big Spirit Series Teacher's Guide -  Tales from the Big Spirit Series Teacher's Guide 

The teacher's guide is designed to help classroom teacher's use the graphic novel series, Tales From Big Spirit, by David Alexander Robertson. The guide provides detailed lessons that meet a wide range of language arts and social studies goals, integrate Indigenous perspectives, and make curricular content more accessible to diverse learners.

The Poet: Pauline Johnson is available in French: La poète : Pauline Johnson

Additional Information
30 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

Written from an Anishinaabe perspective, First Nations Ceremonies explores various Anishinaabe teachings that have been handed down from Elders, encouraging mino-pimaatisiwin, the good life. These practices are still used today, crossing time from the past to the future.

Alors qu’elle tente de retrouver une balle de baseball perdue dans un sentier boisé, Pamela se retrouve en présence d’un vétéran de l’armée qui se tient devant un monument commémorant l’héroïsme du sergent Tommy Prince, le soldat autochtone le plus décoré au Canada. La curiosité de Pamela ravit le vétéran, qui se fait un plaisir de lui raconter l’histoire de ce tireur et pisteur reconnu pour le courage et l’audace dont il a fait preuve pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale et la guerre de Corée.

Educator & Series Information
NATION BIG SPIRIT : D’HIER À AUJOURD’HUI est une série unique de sept bandes dessinées qui plonge les lecteurs au cœur de l’histoire canadienne en s’intéressant à des figures autochtones marquantes, parfois méconnues.

Tales From Big Spirit was created for grades 4 to 6.

This resource is also available in English: The Scout: Tommy Prince

Retardée par un petit incident à la fin de sa journée d’école, Jessie décide de prendre, sur le chemin du retour, un raccourci qui l’entraîne malgré elle dans une aventure hors du commun : elle atterrit à Terre-Neuve… au 19e siècle! Ce voyage dans le temps et l’espace lui donnera l’occasion unique de rencontrer Shawnadithit, dernière survivante des Béothuks et témoin du déclin de ce peuple ayant autrefois connu la grandeur.

Educator & Series Information
NATION BIG SPIRIT : D’HIER À AUJOURD’HUI est une série unique de sept bandes dessinées qui plonge les lecteurs au cœur de l’histoire canadienne en s’intéressant à des figures autochtones marquantes, parfois méconnues.

Dès 9 ans

Traduit de l’anglais (Canada) par Sylvie Nicolas

This resource is also available in English: The Ballad of Nancy April: Shawnadithit

Kathy adore la poésie, mais elle est trop timide pour en réciter devant la classe. L’histoire de Pauline Johnson, aussi connue sous le nom de Tekahionwake, l’inspire cependant à vaincre ses peurs. Née dans la communauté des Six Nations de la rivière Grand, en Ontario, Johnson a parcouru le pays pour réciter ses poèmes dans des villages éloignés, ce qui a fait d’elle l’une des figures littéraires les plus aimées de l’époque édouardienne.

Educator & Series Information
NATION BIG SPIRIT : D’HIER À AUJOURD’HUI est une série unique de sept bandes dessinées qui plonge les lecteurs au cœur de l’histoire canadienne en s’intéressant à des figures autochtones marquantes, parfois méconnues.

Tales From Big Spirit was created for grades 4 to 6.

This resource is also available in English: The Poet: Pauline Johnson

En chemin vers l’école, Sarah est soulagée de trouver le livre qu’elle avait perdu la veille, juste après avoir croisé la route d’un ours. L’incroyable se produit lorsqu’elle en ouvre les premières pages : l’histoire du chef cri Mistahimaskwa prend vie. Sarah est alors transportée en 1832, dans les plaines de la Saskatchewan, au moment où le jeune garçon appelé à devenir chef apprend le mode de vie de son peuple.

Educator & Series Information
NATION BIG SPIRIT : D’HIER À AUJOURD’HUI est une série unique de sept bandes dessinées qui plonge les lecteurs au cœur de l’histoire canadienne en s’intéressant à des figures autochtones marquantes, parfois méconnues.

Tales From Big Spirit was created for grades 4 to 6.

This resource is also available in English: The Chief: Mistahimaskwa