Maggie Lou, Firefox

Maggie Lou’s grandpa doesn’t call her Firefox for nothing. She’s always finding ways to make life more interesting — even if this means getting into big trouble. 

When her grandfather Moshôm finally agrees to teach her how to box, she decides that the rank odors, endless drills and teasing won’t stop her from wearing a tutu to the gym. Joining her father’s construction crew uncovers a surprising talent — besides learning how to use a broom — and a great source of scrap wood to build a canine hotel for her dogs. And when she turns thirteen, she figures out an ingenious way to make some smokin’ good camouflage to wear on her first deer hunt, where she joins a long family tradition. 

Through it all she is surrounded by her big extended gumbo soup of a family, pestered by annoying younger siblings, and gently guided by her strong female relatives – her mother, her kohkom and her ultra-cool cousin Jayda. “Keep taking up space,” Maggie’s mother says. “You’re only making room for the girls behind you.” 

A heroine for today, Maggie Lou discovers that with hard work and perseverance she can gain valuable new skills, without losing one iota of her irrepressible spirit.

Key Text Features

author’s note

biographical note

chapters

dialogue

epigraph

illustrations

ARNOLDA DUFOUR BOWES is a Métis writer who grew up in Saskatoon but has lived around the world, from New Zealand to Saudi Arabia. She has worked in construction and nursing, and she loves new adventures, from skydiving to surfing. She is the author of 20.12 m: A Short Story Collection of a Life Lived as a Road Allowance Métis, which won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the High Plains Book Award. Arnolda lives with her husband, three children and two dogs in a small town in Saskatchewan.

KARLENE HARVEY (she/they) is an illustrator and writer who lives on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tseil-Waututh people. Karlene is Tsilhqot’in and Syilx and grew up on territories of the Semiahmoo and Kwantlen Nations. Their work has been published by magazines such as Discorder, Kimiwan, Sad Mag and Chickadee; and in the publications #NotYourNDNPrincess and Orange Shirt Day. They illustrated the book Drum from the Heart, written by Ren Louie.

• NPR Books We LoveCommended 2023
• Kirkus Best Middle Grade Books of the YearCommended 2023
• Red Cedar Book AwardsShort-listed 2024
• Evanston Public Library 101 Great Books for KidsCommended 2023
• Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Awards, Diamond Willow AwardShort-listed 2024