David A. Robertson is the first-time children’s author of When We Were Alone, illustrated by Julie Flett (Portage & Main Press, Jan. 6, 2017)(available for pre-order). From the promotional copy:
When a young girl helps tend to her grandmother’s garden, she begins to notice things about her grandmother that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long braided hair and wear beautifully coloured clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family?
As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is told about life in a residential school a long time ago, where everything was taken away.
When We Were Alone is a story about a difficult time in history and, ultimately, a story of empowerment and strength.
What first inspired you to write for young readers?
So much of my writing is aimed at creating social change, especially in the area of relations between First Nations people and non-First Nations people.
I believe that change comes through education; what we learn from history, and its impact on contemporary society. In Canada, we have a long history of mistreatment concerning the First Nations people. As Canadians, we need to learn about this history. So, my work tries to educate in this way.
In terms of young readers, I believe that change comes from our youth. These are the people who shape our tomorrows, and they need to walk into tomorrow informed on the important issues and histories. If they do, we’ll be in a pretty good place.
What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?
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| graphic novelist-writer of Irish-Scottish-English-Cree heritage |
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada looked at the history of the residential school system, and its impact, and from that research, including residential school survivor testimony and documentation, it came up with a list of recommendations.
One of those recommendations was that the residential school system’s history needed to be taught in school as early as kindergarten.
When I saw this, I recognized that there weren’t many resources for teachers (i.e. books) that addressed the residential school system for younger learners.
So, I set out to write one, and that’s how When We Were Alone came about.
I wanted kids at that young age to learn about the system in a way that they could understand and engage with.
What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, logistical) in bringing the text to life?
For me the challenges mostly involved sensitivity and appropriateness. This is a difficult history to tell, especially to younger learners. So, I needed to tell the story in a good way.
It took a lot of research and consultation, it took finding the right rhythm in the passages to connect with readers, and we needed to find the right illustrator, too, which we did in Julie Flett.
Of course, writing these stories always has a psychological effect on you as the writer, too. Understanding that the kids you are writing about really went through these things is tough. But knowing that kids will be learning and growing and sharing makes it worth it.
What model books were most useful to you and how?
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| Also illustrated by Julie Flett |
I have the benefit of having five children. So, I’ve read my share of children’s books. This helped in terms of finding a good structure for When We Were Alone, and rhythm.
These two things are very important, and there are certainly some commonalities in books that really work in terms of how they are told, not just what is told in them.
What advice do you have for beginning children’s-YA writers?
Read a lot of children’s books, or YA books. Figure out styles, structures, approaches from the best. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be ready to write a good story that really connects with your reader.
It always comes down to reading first, and then hard work and a bit of skill.