Wab Kinew – författare

A moving story of father-son reconciliation told by a charismatic aboriginal starWhen his father was given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Winnipeg broadcaster and musician Wab Kinew decided to spend a year reconnecting with the accomplished but distant aboriginal man who’d raised him. The Reason You Walk spans that 2012 year, chronicling painful moments in the past and celebrating renewed hopes and dreams for the future.  As Kinew revisits his own childhood in Winnipeg and on a reserve in Northern Ontario, he learns more about his father''s traumatic childhood at residential school. An intriguing doubleness marks The Reason You Walk, itself a reference to an Anishinaabe ceremonial song.  Born to an Anishinaabe father and a non-native mother, he has a foot in both cultures. He is a Sundancer, an academic, a former rapper, a hereditary chief and an urban activist. His father, Tobasonakwut, was both a beloved traditional chief and a respected elected leader who engaged directly with Ottawa. Internally divided, his father embraced both traditional native religion and Catholicism, the religion that was inculcated into him at the residential school where he was physically and sexually abused. In a grand gesture of reconciliation, Kinew''s father invited the Roman Catholic bishop of Winnipeg to a Sundance ceremony in which he adopted him as his brother. Kinew writes affectingly of his own struggles in his twenties to find the right path, eventually giving up a self-destructive lifestyle to passionately pursue music and martial arts. From his unique vantage point, he offers an inside view of what it means to be an educated aboriginal living in a country that is just beginning to wake up to its aboriginal history and living presence. Invoking hope, healing and forgiveness, The Reason You Walk is a poignant story of a towering but damaged father and his son as they embark on a journey to repair their family bond. By turns lighthearted and solemn, Kinew gives us an inspiring vision for family and cross-cultural reconciliation, and for a wider conversation about the future of aboriginal peoples.

Wab Kinew's acclaimed picture book tribute to historic and modern-day Indigenous heroes — now available in paperback — is sure to be shared and treasured across generations.Honoring the stories of Indigenous people across time, award-winning author Wab Kinew’s celebrated picture book is now available in paperback. Featuring figures such as Crazy Horse, Net-no-kwa, former NASA astronaut John Herrington, NHL goalie Carey price and many others, Go Show the World showcases a diverse group of Indigenous people from the United States and Canada. Individually, their stories — though briefly touched on — are inspiring; collectively, they empower us to “show the world what people who matter can do.”With breathtaking illustrations by internationally lauded artist Joe Morse, this beautiful book celebrates the potential within readers when they recognize how much they matter, and how far they can go.

In the real world, Bugz is a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and reserve life. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a multiplayer video game universe. Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Through virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impact of family and community trauma.

The boundaries between the virtual and the real world become dangerously blurred for a young Indigenous girl in the follow-up to the YA fantasy debut Walking in Two Worlds from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and the Otherworld series.Devastated by the loss of her older brother to cancer, Bugz returns to the place where she can always find solace and strength: the Floraverse. Over the past year, she has regained her position of power in that virtual world, and while the remaining Clan:LESS members still plot against her, she is easily able to overcome their attacks. Even better, she's been secretly working on a bot that will be both an incredible weapon and a source of comfort: Waawaate. With the Waawaate bot looking exactly like the brother she misses so much — even acting like him — Bugz feels ready to show him off to Feng, who has become a constant companion in the 'Verse. She cannot wait to team up with both friend and bot to secure her dominance once and for all. But Feng has his own issues to deal with, especially when news that his parents are alive and want to contact him threatens to send his new life on the Rez into upheaval. As they work through their complicated feelings of grief and loss, Feng and Bugz find themselves becoming ever closer. But disturbances in the Floraverse cannot be ignored, especially when Bugz realizes that her Waawaate bot is growing in powers beyond her control . . .

A festive, joyful Indigenous picture book that explores both Christmas traditions and Anishinaabe culture, for fans of Santa in the City and Go Show the World.One winter solstice, Mommy says, "Baby, we're going home to the Rez. We're going to have an Anishinaabe Christmas." But this is Baby's first Christmas away from the city, and they're worried! They have a lot of questions:How will Santa know where to find them?Why do we have presents on Christmas?How come they're going home to the Rez but don't live there?On the long trip to Mooshom's and Kookom's, Baby learns about animals being part of their family, about the North Star leading them home and even the meanings of some Anishinaabe words. Will this Anishinaabe Christmas be Baby's best yet?

A companion book to the bestselling Go Show the World, this is another joyous picture book celebration of 13 Indigenous heroes from the past and present.We are who we are. There's strength in this too. We kept this place free, so you can be you. Author Wab Kinew expresses this essential message and continues his work from Go Show the World by celebrating the triumphs of 13 more Indigenous heroes throughout history — and how their struggles and successes have made not just their communities but the world a better place for today's youth.From engineer Mary Golda Ross to interpreter George Bonga, from actor Chief Dan George to author Tasha Spillett, Kinew explores how each of these heroes embraced their most authentic selves (alongside gorgeous illustrations by Janine Gibbons) . . . and encourages young readers to do the same.