Annotation:
Mia and Laura have been BBFs since Kindergarten. Growing up on the same block, who wouldn’t be? But now, they are 10. Nearly teenagers. And everything seems to be changing ever so slowly. When they were little the fact that Mia is Indigenous and Laura is White Mexican Hungarian didn’t really matter. But the older Mia gets, the more she tunes into the subtle (and not so subtle) racism in her community and the differences between her life and Laura’s. As Mia navigates a childhood of macroaggressions, economic disparity, and intergenerational trauma, her friendship with Laura grows ever more distant. This novel immerses the reader in life as an Urban Indigenous kid in 1980s Prince George.
Questions:
- When Laura and Owen’s bikes go missing, their dad says “it must have been the Indians.” Mia pretends that she does not hear. How do you think Mia felt in that moment?
- Can you name a few ways that Lia’s life is different from Laura’s? Why do you think those differences exist?
- A macroaggression is “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group” (Miriam-Webster) can you think of a couple of examples of macroaggressions from the book?
- Mia’s Grandmother works really hard to preserve and prepare Salmon, a traditional food. Are there foods you have in your family that are traditional and important?
- Mia lives in a house with lots of family coming and going. How do you think that shapes who she is?
Curriculum Connections:
Personal and Social – Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
#SocialStudies5
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