Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Remembering our first school visit

[This blog is dedicated to the students of Northern Lakes College in Alberta.]

In the Fall of 2000, before As Long as the Rivers Flow was published by Groundwood Books, Larry Loyie and myself (Constance Brissenden) were invited to talk to the students at Lord Nelson Elementary School in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Since the book came out, followed by Goodbye Buffalo Bay, When the Spirits Dance and The Gathering Tree (all from Theytus Books), Larry and I (Constance Brissenden) have give more than 600 talks together. But Lord Nelson Elementary was our first.

We made a real connection with the students who were great listeners. Larry talked about his last summer in a traditional Cree setting and his years in St. Bernard Mission residential school from age 9-13.

We have saved a giant green thank-you card from the school ever since. It is two feet wide by three feet high. On the front is a painting done by a student of a Haida mask.

In the past eight years, the card has been crushed, bent, rolled, and is wet and blurry from raindrops – and it means a lot to us.

Before the thank-you card falls apart, here are some of the students’ comments, from eight years ago:

Thank you, Larry Loyie. We thank you for telling us about your life and showing us some of the different medicines you used as a child and thank you for showing us pictures [of traditional life and of residential school].

I really enjoyed your presentation.

Thank you for coming to our school and talking about your life. It was pretty hard, remembering your past.

I really liked the story about your grandmother [Bella Twin, who shot the biggest grizzly hear in North America).

Your book is cool and your life must have been hard. I’m really sorry.

Thank you for sharing your family story with us.

I think your book is going to be a big success.

Larry, I think you’re cool!

I was really interested in the book, the part where your grandmother shot the bear. I understand how hard it was not to speak Cree in that school.

I think your book is very good!

… We hope the students are doing well in high school now! Please read Larry Loyie's new books -- you will like them!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

New book Goodbye Buffalo Bay is a winner

Dear readers ... Please pass the word...

Award-winning Cree writer Larry Loyie's new book, Goodbye Buffalo Bay, will be out in a few weeks from Theytus Books.

Larry has written his first chapter book and we (Larry and Constance Brissenden) are really excited about it. As writers, we've learned we have to work hard to write and promote Larry's wonderful books. We truly appreciate the readers, librarians, teachers and many more who believe in Larry's authentic, issues-based, culturally themed books and tell others about them. Thank you!

Larry's new book, Goodbye Buffalo Bay, isn't out yet (available mid-October from Theytus Books) but it's already getting great response from pre-publication readers.

The subject "A true story of life in a residential school...and moving on" is timely due to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent apology to residential school students, survivors, and their families. It is more than 12 years since Larry Loyie first wrote about residential school. As Larry says, "There were times when I gave a presentation that listeners expressed disbelief about the horrible history of residential school, what happened to us as children, and how it affected our families. Now I can speak about my personal history and the history of the schools and know that I will be believed."

The new book is written with compassion, wit, drama, action, perception, and hope. It encourages readers to have courage, value friendship, look deep inside to make positive change, to read and make their goals come true.

Here's what Loriene Roy (Anishnabe), past president of the American Library Association, has to say:

I love the story! Goodbye Buffalo Bay will break your heart, lift you up, and leave you longing to follow Cree author Larry Loyie's remarkable life to the present day.

From stories of heartbreak and deep friendships developed in a residential school to the triumph of learning how to do a man's job, Goodbye Buffalo Bay continues Larry Loyie's remarkable journey as a modern Cree man.

Larry Loyie's story is full of lessons -- of conquering anger with assertiveness, of the secret strength of reading, of living a traditional Cree life in today's world.

Larry Loyie's six years at a residential school is a story of hope and endurance -- from dreaming of eating carrots, discovering his dream to become a writer, to standing firm in the face of injustice.

In this autobiography, Cree author Larry Loyie captures the hope, intense injustice, and lessons learned through six years at a residential school and emergence into strong young manhood.

Larry Loyie writes of some of the most difficult times a young person can face with tenderness, strength, soft Native humour, and hope.

We also want to share what professional editor Lynne Hussey in Toronto had to say:

Fantastic read! Really powerful, vivid images and well-paced story. Written with such clarity and passion and pared (edited) to the bone. Congratulations!

Please note: Larry and I will continue to share our experiences about the new book in future blogs.