We Are the Medicine

By Tasha Spillett
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan
Scott B. Henderson
Categories: Young Adult Fiction, Coming of Age, LGBT
Series: Surviving the City

Miikwan and Dez are in their final year of high school. Poised at the edge of the rest of their lives, they have a lot to decide on. Miikwan and her boyfriend, Riel, are preparing for university, but ...

From the Roots Up

By Tasha Spillett
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan & Donovan Yaciuk
Categories: Young Adult Fiction, Aboriginal & Indigenous, LGBT, Coming of Age, Death & Dying, Friendship
Big Ideas: Aspects of Indigenous Cultures, Worldviews, Teachings, and Protocols, Contemporary Setting, Social Emotional Learning, Death, Grief, and Bereavement, Social Justice, Family Separation, Foster Care and the Child Welfare System, Impacts of Colonization and Colonialism, Powwow, Diverse and Inclusive Representation, 2SLGBTQI+, Identity, Discrimination, Prejudice and Racism
Cultures & Peoples: Anishinaabeg, Cree, Métis
Indigenous Languages: Anishinaabemowin, Words or Phrases, Cree
Series: Surviving the City

Dez’s grandmother has passed away. Grieving, and with nowhere else to go, they’re living in a group home. On top of everything else, Dez is navigating a new relationship and coming into their identity ...

Surviving the City

By Tasha Spillett
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan & Donovan Yaciuk
Categories: Young Adult Fiction, Coming of Age, Girls & Women, Canada
Big Ideas: Aspects of Indigenous Cultures, Spirituality and Ceremony, Contemporary Setting, Social Emotional Learning, Death, Grief, and Bereavement, Social Justice, Family Separation, Foster Care and the Child Welfare System, MMIWG2S
Cultures & Peoples: Anishinaabeg, Cree
Indigenous Languages: Anishinaabemowin, Words or Phrases
Series: Surviving the City

Miikwan and Dez are best friends. Miikwan is Anishinaabe; Dez is Inninew. Together, the teens navigate the challenges of growing up in an urban landscape—they’re so close, they even completed their ...