New Releases by Sylvia Olsen

Elizabeth May was born to be an activist. As a young girl, Elizabeth was worried about the health of the planet and believed it was her job to protect it. While other children were playing, she was raising money for important causes, researching the latest science and organizing protests. Before most people had heard about environmentalism, she was an environmentalist, living by her principle of “I have to do something.” Written with Elizabeth’s daughter Cate, this book reveals how Elizabeth’s activism led her to politics, first as leader of the Green Party of Canada and later as a Member of Parliament. Filled with environmental facts, profiles of young activists and tips for making change in your own community, this book is part biography and part blueprint for activists in the making.

Author and knitter Sylvia Olsen explore Canada''s history, landscape, economy and social issues on a cross-country knitting-themed road trip. In 2015, Sylvia Olsen and her partner, Tex, embarked on a cross-Canada journey from the Salish Sea to the Atlantic Ocean to conduct workshops, exchange experiences with other knitters and, Olsen hoped, discover a fresh appreciation for Canada. Along the way, with stops in over forty destinations, including urban centres as well as smaller communities like Sioux Lookout, ON, and Shelburne, NS, Olsen observed that the knitters of Canada are as diverse as their country’s geography. But their textured and colourful stories about knitting create a common narrative. With themes ranging from personal identity, cultural appropriation, provincial stereotypes and national icons to “boyfriend sweaters” and love stories, Unravelling Canada is both a celebration and a discovery of an ever-changing national landscape. Insightful, optimistic and beautifully written, it is a book that will speak to knitters and would-be knitters alike.

A lyrical celebration of the tradition of Cowichan knitting among the Coast Salish peoples and the joy of creating something with your hands.

While few people would say that Canada has done a good job of housing its poor citizens, this discussion goes beyond problems of housing the poor. In this dissertation I draw from government records to uncover how, between the 1930s and 1990s, the Indian Department created and oversaw a failed housing system on reserves across the country - one decision at a time. While housing is usually seen to be a result of poverty I argue that during this time the practices and policies of the Indian Department were active participants in making Indigenous people and First Nations communities poor. As a consequence of the persistent housing crisis on reserves in Canada Indigenous people suffered not only from living in substandard dwellings but also from the indignity and shame that comes from the association Canadians have made between the poor conditions of on-reserve housing and the personal characteristics of its occupants. What most people do not know is how it is that on-reserve housing remained in crisis for so long. On-reserve housing is something we have done not something we have studied. While federal government reports have charted the number of houses on reserves and their physical condition, no one has examined the history of government programs or how they were delivered until now. Recognizing that my study was not designed to recommend solutions, but believing that we cannot fix a problem until we know it, I am convinced that this dissertation provides the background information future academics will need to tell a different story about housing on reserves. And with a different story we will be better prepared to make fundamental changes needed to the way housing is delivered on reserves.

An intense novel of love, jealousy, guilt and friendship that takes place over a single day and turns everything you think you know about truth and lies, sexuality, love and redemption upside down.

A young Nootka boy, Joey, feels sad and at a loss when his grandmother dies, but is happy that she has left behind a song and a dance that will help him remember her.

When Molly learns a talent competition is coming to town, her friend Murphy (A Different Game, Murphy and Mousetrap) becomes her manager. Molly is certain she is a good singer—she has been singing in her head for as long as she can remember. She doesn''t sing out loud because of a promise she made to herself. Years ago, Molly vowed that her mom would be the first one to hear her sing. The only problem is, Molly knows nothing about her mom, who left when Molly was a baby. With the talent competition only weeks away, she has to decide whether to break her promise to herself and let her voice out into the world, or wait for her mother''s uncertain return before singing for anyone else.

A lighthearted tale about the simple yet mysterious qualities it takes to be a friend.

In this sequel to Murphy and Mousetrap, Murphy and his three friends, Danny, Jeff and Albert, are making the transition from the tribal elementary school to the community middle school. They are all trying out for the middle school''s soccer team, and they''re pretty confident that The Formidable Four will all make the team. But once the tryouts begin, Albert, the tribal-school superstar, plays like a second-stringer. Murphy''s new friend, Molly, is determined to help the boys find out what''s wrong with Albert, but when they discover the truth, they realize that Albert is playing a whole different game.

Hope and Letia become friends after Hope''s family moves to an island off the coast of British Columbia that has been the traditional summer camp for Letia''s people.

Things have changed since Raedawn and Vince started going out and the racial boundaries in town have slipped a bit. But when Dune, who never took sides, disappears, Raedawn is determined to find out where he has gone—or what happened to him. Fighting against ignorance and hate, they track Dune down and find he is in more trouble than they thought and that nothing is black and white. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

This Teaching Guide provides age-appropriate discussion questions and lessons about literary devices, relevant vocabulary, grammar points and more.

Over a series of Saturdays, Yetsa and her mother go to Yetsa''s grandmother''s house, where they help her prepare wool so that she can make Cowichan sweaters.

Vince lives in a small town—a town that is divided right down the middle by race. An unspoken rule has been there as long as Vince remembers and no one challenges it. But when Vince''s friend Sherry starts dating an Indigenous boy, Vince is outraged—until he notices Raedawn, a girl from the reserve. Trying to balance his community''s prejudices with his shifting alliances, Vince is forced to take a stand and see where his heart will lead him.

Murphy''s mother has just moved him and their cat, Mousetrap, back to the reserve in Port Alberni. Although he belongs to the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, Murphy is sure that he won''t fit in, and he worries about Mousetrap, who has always been an indoor cat. When a bunch of local boys drag him to their soccer practice, put him in goal and pelt him with balls, he believes that his worst fear has come true. However, he seems to be discovering a new talent at the same time. And perhaps he has misjudged. Being a light-skinned city boy thrust onto a reserve far from the city is not easy, but maybe Murphy has what it takes.

Once I got pregnant we thought we were going to have the perfect family. But after we had the baby we soon realized things would never be the same. Now we are separated and we both still think about how great life was before, when it was just the two of us. We think about how much fun and love we had. I wish we had waited and been able to have that fun for a while longer, that young love I''m not sure I''ll ever have again. In many First Nations communities, teen pregnancy is common. In some Coast Salish communities on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, estimates are that as many as 70 percent of new families are started by teen parents. What''s going on? Sylvia Olsen takes us behind the Indian girl with baby stereotype to try to answer that question. We enter a conversation with Coast Salish teen mothers and hear first-hand their thoughts on sex, relationships, birth control, abortion, pornography, sex education, self-image, life on the reserve, and much more. Sometimes challenging, sometimes appalling, and always compelling, their stories are essential reading for people in any community who are dealing with teen pregnancy or seeking to better understand why it happens.

This Teaching Guide provides age-appropriate discussion questions and lessons about literary devices, relevant vocabulary, grammar points and more.

The year is 1957, and Bobby lives on the Tsartlip First Nation reserve on Vancouver Island where his family has lived for generations and generations. Bobby loves his weekend job at the nearby marina. He loves to play marbles with his friends. And he loves being able to give half his weekly earnings to his mother to eke out the grocery money, but he longs to enter the up-coming fishing derby. With the help of his uncle and Dan from the marina his wish just might come true. The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

When she is fourteen years old, Josie''s mother marries an Indian and they go to live with him on a reserve outside of town, where Josie must think about such things as belonging, home, and how she perceives herself.

Because of baby Destiny, Jane dares to demand the best, not just of herself, but of her whole family, while holding on to her Aboriginal heritage and heading into the future.

A fictional account of five children sent to aboriginal boarding school, based on the recollections of a number of Tsartlip First Nations people.