LCS Reads | Deepening Our Understanding of Cultures and Communities 

This month is Indigenous History Month; it’s also Pride Month. In light of this, we are sharing some of the books our students and staff have been reading throughout the year to deepen their understanding of cultures and communities. A month in which we consciously recognize the importance of Indigenous histories and our 2S+LGBTQ communities, is one step that we can all take to ensure that we continue to foster more equitable and inclusive practices. This is why we are committed to strengthening our work across the school that fully embodies and promotes the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Reading expands our awareness and cultivates our empathic capacities. Our teachers have been intentionally integrating a variety of texts that broaden our perspectives on diversity, equity and inclusion. Throughout the past school year, we have also launched several initiatives, including:

Please have a look through our list of titles and join our community of readers! 

Read by: Our Grade 11 AP Prep English Classes

Trumpet is a novel about the life and death of a fictional transgender jazz artist named Joss Moody. “In her starkly beautiful and wholly unexpected tale, Jackie Kay delves into the most intimate workings of the human heart and mind and offers a triumphant tale of loving deception and lasting devotion” (Goodreads, 2021). 

Read by: Our Grade 12 AP Literature Classes

Keeper’n Me is one of Richard Wagamese’s best-selling books and it shares the story of a three-year-old who was taken from his home on an Ojibway reserve. “By turns funny, poignant and mystical, Keeper'n Me reflects a positive view of Native life and philosophy--as well as casting fresh light on the redemptive power of one's community and traditions” (Goodreads, 2021).  

Read by: Our Grade 10 English Classes

Indian Horse is another novel by Richard Wagamese in which an eight-year-old boy is taken from his Ojibway family and incarcerated in a Residential School. “Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Wagamese writes with a spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man” (Goodreads, 2021). 

Read by: Our Grade 12 AP Literature  Classes

Braiding Sweetgrass is a bestselling book about Indigenous wisdom and the teachings of plants. “As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world” (Goodreads, 2021). 

Read by: Our Grade 9 English Classes

The Marrow Thieves is a dystopian novel about a world where the only people who can dream are Indigenous persons who are then hunted for their marrow to create a treatment for the non-dreamers. Cherie Dimaline, an author and editor from the Georgian Bay Métis community won a Governor General Literary Award for this novel. 

Read by: Students in all grade levels

Though not a novel, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action is an important document to read. The Commission established a list of Calls to Action that would help reconcile the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canadians. 

Stay tuned for more reading recommendations throughout the month. Next week, we’ll be sharing a list of titles on our staff summer reading list geared towards DEI.