A review by frain04
Dear Canada: These Are My Words: The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens by Ruby Slipperjack

3.0

I understand this is a book for children/middle graders and it’s a good introduction for sure and at the end it actually does get a bit more in depth to the horrors of residential school but I definitely felt like this book lacked a lot of substance. The actual horrors of residential schools could have been addressed more. The things Violet went through were sad and lonely for sure, and it’s mentioned that her mother and some others really suffered, but the reader doesn’t actually get to experience even a fraction of how horribly the Natives were treated and what atrocities happened at residential school. The only thing the book really seems to touch upon is the separation and the loss of culture, but even so it’s glossed over a bit. Not too bad for a child’s introduction though.