A new children’s novel is exploring Indigenous identity, adoption, racism and the journey of reconnecting with culture.
Letti in Progress, by award-winning Kaska Dena author Wendy Proverbs, follows 11-year-old Letti as she searches for answers about her Indigenous roots after experiencing racism at school.
The story is partly inspired by Proverbs’ own experience. She was adopted by a non-Indigenous family and did not discover her Kaska Dena roots until she was in her twenties, after meeting her biological sister.
Proverbs says growing up without knowing her cultural background left her without books that reflected her experience.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t have any books to relate to myself as a young Indigenous girl who was adopted,” she says. “I always felt there was a real void for young people to understand where they came from.”
The novel also addresses racism and bullying in a way intended for younger readers. Proverbs says children hear these conversations and need safe opportunities to talk about them.
She hopes the book will also help families have conversations about identity, adoption and cultural roots.
“You need to know your roots,” Proverbs says. “And that’s why I think this book may open some conversations that allow children and parents and grandparents and aunties and uncles to discuss these things.”
Letti in Progress is scheduled for release September 1 through Heritage House Publishing.
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