The Secret Pocket (HC) (FNCR 2024)

SKU: 9781459833722

Author:
Peggy Janicki
Illustrator:
Carrielynn Victor
Grade Levels:
Four, Five, Six
Nation:
Coast Salish/Dakelh
Book Type:
Hardcover
Pages:
32
Publisher:
Orca Book Publishers
Copyright Date:
2023

Price:
Sale price$21.95

Description

Written by Peggy Janicki, Coast Salish/Dakelh, and illustrated by Carrielynn Victor, a descendant of Coast Salish ancestors, this is the true story of how Indigenous girls at a Canadian residential school sewed secret pockets into their dresses to hide food and survive.

Mary was four years old when she was first taken away to the Lejac Indian Residential School. It was far away from her home and family. Always hungry and cold, there was little comfort for young Mary. Speaking Dakelh was forbidden and the nuns and priest were always watching, ready to punish. Mary and the other girls had a genius idea: drawing on the knowledge from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers who were all master sewers, the girls would sew hidden pockets in their clothes to hide food. They secretly gathered materials and sewed at nighttime, then used their pockets to hide apples, carrots and pieces of bread to share with the younger girls.

Based on the author's mother's experience at residential school, The Secret Pocket is a story of survival and resilience in the face of genocide and cruelty. But it's also a celebration of quiet resistance to the injustice of residential schools and how the sewing skills passed down through generations of Indigenous women gave these girls a future, stitch by stitch.

The First Nation Communities 2024-2025 READ Awards, Children’s Category Shortlist.

The Prose in English Award Nominee. The 2024 Indigenous Voices Awards.

Comprehensive Teacher Resources: 

PDF of Discussion Prompts -7 Questions for the Middle/Secondary/Post-Secondary setting. By Peggy Janice (2023)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wKKLtZIehMqVo7e_rXrX_qnRTfDO_5_x/view

Cruncher Review inspired by the book, “The Secret Pocket” by Peggy Janice (2023)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DfBo9WAt9Sl64_ps0itZtI8Mp1wgpI8t/view

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