Dreaming in Color

Melanie Florence

Series:

Orca Soundings

Type:

Fiction

Categories:

Family | Social Themes | Diversity & Multicultural

Themes:

Siblings, Prejudice & Racism

Language:

English

Publisher:

Orca Book Publishers

Grade Level:

8-12

Age Range:

12

Where to buy it

Apple Books

Indigo

Description

In this high-interest novel for teen readers, a young teen is thrilled when she gets into art school but shocked to learn that some students feel she doesn’t belong there.

Jennifer McCaffrey has been working hard on her art for years and is thrilled when she is accepted to a prestigious art school.

The school is everything she always thought it would be, mostly. There is one group of kids who seem to resent her and say she only got in because of her skin color. Jen, who loves to create new pieces of artwork that incorporate her Indigenous heritage, finds herself a target when the group tells her to stop being “so Indian”. The night before the big art show at school, Jen’s beading art project is defaced. Jen has to find a way not to let the haters win.

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Contributors

Melanie Florence is a writer of Cree and Scottish heritage based in Toronto. She was close to her grandfather as a child, a relationship that sparked her interest in writing about Indigenous themes and characters. She is the author of Missing Nimâmâ, which won the 2016 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, Stolen Words, which won the 2018 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award and the bestselling Orca Soundings titles He Who Dreams and Dreaming in Color.

Formats

Awards

First Nation Communities Read Awards (FNCR) - Young Adult / AdultLong-listed

CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens, starred selectionCommended

Related Books

Grade 8-12

Social Themes Family

Something Girl

Beth Goobie

Will Sophie speak up about the abuse at home?

CELA Library

Grade 8-12

Family

Just Lucky

Melanie Florence

After her grandfather dies and her grandmother can no longer take care of her, fifteen-year-old Lucky must navigate the foster care system. Lucky soon learns that foster placements are lonely, some can even be dangerous, and none of them feel like home.

Grade 1-3

People & Places Social Issues Family Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island

Stolen Words

Melanie Florence, Gabrielle Grimard

A little girl sets out to help her grandfather discover the Cree language that was stolen from him when he was sent away to residential school as a boy.

CELA Library