When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to
live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly
homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from
despite the efforts of the nuns to force her to do otherwise.
This picture book is based on a true story about a young First Nations
girl — the author's grandmother - who was sent to a Residential
School. "I Am Not a Number" brings a terrible part of Canada's history
to light, in a way that children can learn from and relate to. A note
about the Residential School System can be found at the end of the
story, along with an Afterword, by the author.
