Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton (2010, Annick Press; 112 pages) Olemaun Pokiak is an Inuit girl living on a remote island in the Artic Ocean, who begs her dad to let her move far away from her village, so that she can attend the outsider’s school, a Catholic school. Her dad finally allows her to go, but before she does, he warns her: “as water wears rock smooth, your spirit will be worn down and made small.” Renamed Margaret Pokiak, she will soon encounter Raven, one of the nuns who immediately will dislike the girl. Raven forces her to wear a pair of red stockings that make her legs look fatty, becoming “fatty legs” for her classmates, and that’s the beginning of a bullying pattern that she will overcome because she decides to put an end to it. This is the story of a secret that the author kept for more of 60 years: the secret of how she made those stockings disappear. Beautiful written, the book also contains gorgeous drawings by Liz Amini-Holmes and delightful and very interesting pictures belonging to Olemaun’s (Margaret) scrapbook. Excellent reading about forced native assimilation. Best for youth 11 and older. Find this title in our catalog: Fatty Legs Recommended by: Maite
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |