Edmonton public schools to review its ‘books to weed out’ list due to concerns
Edmonton Public Schools says it’s taking down its book review site after a leading Indigenous author questioned why some of his graphic novels were on a not-recommended list.
David Alexander Robertson, a Governor General-award-winning author who lives in Winnipeg, said he went through the Edmonton Public School Board’s “Books to Weed Out” section after he saw a post on Twitter calling the list a great resource.
Robertson said he was disappointed to see his graphic novel series, “7 Generations,” on the list.
“There’s a lot of Indigenous writers who are sharing their truths to own those stories about the difficult parts of our history that sometimes we don’t want to talk about, and these are the books we should be bringing into the classroom,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of work over the last decade and spoken to tens of thousands in classrooms across Canada using my books.