Lillian and Kokomis: The Spirit of Dance

Synopsis:

Lillian is a girl of mixed Indigenous and white ancestry who has been shuffled from foster home to foster home as long as she can remember. At school, she doesn’t feel like she fits in with the white kids and doesn’t fit in with the Indigenous kids either. She finds happiness and a sense of belonging from a surprising spirit that returns her to traditional ways.

Reviews
“I love this book. I think everyone, not just children should read it. With gentle empathy and joyous hope, Lynda Partridge paints the heartbreaking realities lived by far too many young people, while simultaneously generating optimism. She describes what is possible when we provide opportunities for generations to heal and lead us forward. The possibilities are both tremendous and endless.” - Senator Kim Pate, Senate of Canada

“Lillian has much to teach children and adults alike on the experience of utter vulnerability, resistance, and the art of the wise-child survival.” — Pamela Johnson, PhD Psychology

“A wonderful story of courage, inner strength and resilience as told through the eyes and mind of a child. Through this story of early adversity rises a person of character and wisdom who now shares her extraordinary understanding of finding a place in this world for the benefit of others”. - Leo Massi, MSW, RSW. Executive Director, H-N REACH.

“This story is from the spirit and is a message for all of our First Nations relatives that it is now time to rise up and take this responsibility back to being natural helpers, and to nurture our children who are struggling.”— Robin Decontie, MSW, Algonquin Anishinabekwe Director, Kitigan Zibi Health and Social Services

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Indigenous Spirit of Nature Series. It is also the first book in the Lillian Mystery series.

Foreword Poems by Chief R. Stacey Laforme.

Recommended ages: 7 to 12.

Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2019-2020 resource list as being useful for grades 6-8 for English Language Arts.

Additional Information
90 pages | 8.50" x 5.50" | 18 b&w illustrations